University of the People Experiences

[bjcheung77]

University of the People have so many negatives and positives, it really depends which way you look at things more... Similar to UpGrad, I've mentioned to people if you can 'handle' their learning curve and system, then go for it, otherwise I would recommend RA over NA as they've got lots to do before they'll get RA if they even get those hurdles and issues fixed...

[GoBroncos95]

Yeah, I tried University of the People in 2022 and got absolutely steamrolled by the peer assessments. I'd write a paper that was "okay" and averaged 60% - 80% grades. Meanwhile I was going through my peers and it was just a bunch of plagiarised content. Mid-way through the 2nd term I was in, I ultimately called it quits and did a full on university withdrawal and signed up for my local community college instead shortly.

It is not a bad program, its low cost and provides good cirriculums but the peer assessment is absolutely awful.

[ashkir]

I am really unhappy here.

My instructor mentor said I am not to:
* Dock points for plagiarism.
* Dock points for blatant chatgpt [Insert Name Here].

I got in trouble for not responding 3 times. My mentor requires a response Monday, Wednesday, Friday to students. But, all my students posted on Thursday/Friday. But, because I didn't post on Monday & Wednesday to "respond" to students it doesn't count.

I am to coach all students on AI use and plagiarism when found. About 35 of my 42 students are doing this. This is a lot to communicate to back/forth and of course its denied. Even when I show them their coursehero or studocu document they copied/pasted directly.

The peer reviews are bad. Half the students are going through and marking every discussion board as 0. So now I have to go and "adjust" everything.

My mentor is bitching at me every day with 4-5 emails that are 10-15 paragraphs long with a fake degreemill PhD for not "doing enough".

I was told by my mentor I should put student papers into ChatGPT and let it grade so I can be faster.

Apparently, me, actually highlighting, leaving actual comments, and real feedback on essays, etc, is not acceptable to this university. The mentor suggested I copy/paste responses for similar work and not cater to individuals.

No wonder most grad schools don't take this degree anymore.

This school is a mess. A huge mess.

[ss20ts]

So it's no wonder they were turned down for RA? Not surprised by any of the problems. Peer reviews are a disaster in the making especially in a dirt cheap program with students from around the world. The whole plagiarism thing is so cringe.

[Vle045]

So it's no wonder they were turned down for RA? Not surprised by any of the problems. Peer reviews are a disaster in the making especially in a dirt cheap program with students from around the world. The whole plagiarism thing is so cringe.

Oooohh… were they formally turned down?  If so, I missed it.  I had a hard time believing they would get RA.  It’s an interesting “experiment”, so I’ve been watching them.  But there’s a lot of things that I don’t like about them.

---

I am really unhappy here.

My instructor mentor said I am not to:
* Dock points for plagiarism.
* Dock points for blatant chatgpt [Insert Name Here].

I got in trouble for not responding 3 times. My mentor requires a response Monday, Wednesday, Friday to students. But, all my students posted on Thursday/Friday. But, because I didn't post on Monday & Wednesday to "respond" to students it doesn't count.

I am to coach all students on AI use and plagiarism when found. About 35 of my 42 students are doing this. This is a lot to communicate to back/forth and of course its denied. Even when I show them their coursehero or studocu document they copied/pasted directly.

The peer reviews are bad. Half the students are going through and marking every discussion board as 0. So now I have to go and "adjust" everything.

My mentor is bitching at me every day with 4-5 emails that are 10-15 paragraphs long with a fake degreemill PhD for not "doing enough".

I was told by my mentor I should put student papers into ChatGPT and let it grade so I can be faster.

Apparently, me, actually highlighting, leaving actual comments, and real feedback on essays, etc, is not acceptable to this university. The mentor suggested I copy/paste responses for similar work and not cater to individuals.

No wonder most grad schools don't take this degree anymore.

This school is a mess. A huge mess.

So, it seems like you can’t have any real control over your own course as an instructor?  Or could you just have a bad mentor?  Can you switch mentors or just ignore their advice and do your own thing?

[sanantone]

I started the training process to become a biology instructor there and didn't continue. I'm glad I dropped out. I now teach at a state university that will look much better on my CV. The reviews on Degreeinfo turned me off from teaching at University of the People.

[MrPanda]

As my status at the UoPeople portal changed to "BC in CS completed", I was allowed to apply to be an instructor. And I did it the same day.

The salary is competitive with Peru, as teaching in-person 10 hours per week (as online has been banned for bachelors and only allowed for postgrads) amounts to aprox. USD$ 300 per month at some Peruvian universities.

[sanantone]

As my status at the UoPeople portal changed to "BC in CS completed", I was allowed to apply to be an instructor. And I did it the same day.

The salary is competitive with Peru, as teaching in-person 10 hours per week (as online has been banned for bachelors and only allowed for postgrads) amounts to aprox. USD$ 300 per month at some Peruvian universities.

They're hiring their own graduates, who only have a bachelor's degree? That's not going to fly with a regional accreditor, unless the baccalaureate degree holder is only teaching associate-level courses. 

Is University of the People paying an honorarium per month or per term?

[MrPanda]

I have a different bachelor from Peru and a master from the University of Lisbon, but you are not allowed to apply, if you are an enrolled student.

I remember reading the amount per course, per term for the bachelor programs, but here they mention the amount for the master programs: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...#pid385251

[ashkir]

So it's no wonder they were turned down for RA? Not surprised by any of the problems. Peer reviews are a disaster in the making especially in a dirt cheap program with students from around the world. The whole plagiarism thing is so cringe.

Exactly. The RA accreditor told them they need to do a better job with their instructors, and get rid of peer reviews. At this point the university only cares about marketing in Arabic countries and is throwing everything at trying to grow the middle east market. Which is fine and all, but they're severely neglecting their original. 

So it's no wonder they were turned down for RA? Not surprised by any of the problems. Peer reviews are a disaster in the making especially in a dirt cheap program with students from around the world. The whole plagiarism thing is so cringe.

It seems like you can’t have any real control over your own course as an instructor?  Or could you just have a bad mentor?  Can you switch mentors or just ignore their advice and do your own thing?

Instructors have no control. We only have control over learning journals. But, everything else is peer graded. Thus, less than 10% of their grade is in reality controlled by the instructor. So if a student does amazing in learning journals, etc, but their peers are bad, it's hard to adjust their grade up. I have to give a detailed explanation why I override students. Then I get bitched at for overriding students. 

I started the training process to become a biology instructor there and didn't continue. I'm glad I dropped out. I now teach at a state university that will look much better on my CV. The reviews on Degreeinfo turned me off from teaching at University of the People.

Yep! I have a state university on my resume now. I was like oh cool, I can give a few hours a week to UoP to help them. But, no, they expect full-time staff, at $450 for 2 months. This rate is more than minimum wage where most of their professors are from. But, they're trying to get American accreditation, but, they won't pay American rates and they're pushing away American and Western instructors. 

As my status at the UoPeople portal changed to "BC in CS completed", I was allowed to apply to be an instructor. And I did it the same day.

The salary is competitive with Peru, as teaching in-person 10 hours per week (as online has been banned for bachelors and only allowed for postgrads) amounts to aprox. USD$ 300 per month at some Peruvian universities.

Exactly! It's $450 a month now. But, this is really competitive in South America and India. However, it isn't in the Western world. This is probably why a lot of their instructors are from India. However, my big issue with this isn't that, but they will cater to that market, and accept fake PhDs from diploma mills, etc. But, require Americans/Europeans to go through hoops etc to prove our accrediation, but, they accept University of My Mom's Backyard if you're from India. India has FANTASTIC schools don't get me wrong, but, some of those schools aren't legit. They're even worse than ENEB or places you just pay for a dissertation, that not even any accreditors will give NA status to. 

As my status at the UoPeople portal changed to "BC in CS completed", I was allowed to apply to be an instructor. And I did it the same day.

The salary is competitive with Peru, as teaching in-person 10 hours per week (as online has been banned for bachelors and only allowed for postgrads) amounts to aprox. USD$ 300 per month at some Peruvian universities.

They're hiring their own graduates, who only have a bachelor's degree? That's not going to fly with a regional accreditor, unless the baccalaureate degree holder is only teaching associate-level courses. 

Is University of the People paying an honorarium per month or per term?

They allow people who chat GPT all the assignments to get a degree and then hire them to do chatGPT responses LOL 

I have a different bachelor from Peru and a master from the University of Lisbon, but you are not allowed to apply, if you are an enrolled student.

I remember reading the amount per course, per term for the bachelor programs, but here they mention the amount for the master programs: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...#pid385251

Peru is cool!