Walden MBAs Discussion & Accountability

[SweetSecret]

I'm starting this thread for those of us in the Walden University Tempo MBA programs. This forum really helped me stay motivated during my undergrad, and seeing people earning so many credits made me feel it was possible for me to still do too, and helped keep me on-track. I think it can do the same for the graduate degrees. 

I started the MBA in Healthcare Management on December 8th, so I was a little late to the "game". I also was a slacker during the holidays, mostly because I was doing a lot of fundraising for a local non-profit including planning a fundraising event. Additionally, I had two surgeries both during the term to help with pain issues I have had since I was finishing my undergrad, which makes it difficult to concentrate or study. So I might not be the best person to measure progress against, but I would love to see how far other people are getting. 

My undergrad is not in business so I had to take the Business Essentials (WMBA 4990) course. My academic coach informed me that even if my undergrad had been in business, I still would have to take the Marketing for Competitiveness (WMBA 6060) course.

So far I have finished:


Business Essentials (WMBA 4990):

• BE001 Business Leadership, Management, Business Ethics, and the Legal Environment of Business - 0cr
  
• BE002 Accounting and Finance - 0cr
  
• BE003 Economics and Quantitative Methods/Statistics - 0cr
  
• BE004 Information Systems Management and Global Dimensions of Business - 0cr
  

Fostering a Culture of Innovation (WMBA 6020):

• IG001 Creativity and Innovation in Business - 0.25cr
  
• IG002 Leadership and Innovation - 0.5cr
  
• IG003 Climate for Creativity - 1cr
  

Still working on:


IG004 Innovative Solutions in the Workplace - 1.25cr
The professor for this course and IG003 was the same for me, and seems to be really tough on grading. I was feeling bummed out about only getting "achieved" on IG003. Then I noticed people complaining on another forum, and it seems some of the students ended up switching to the course-based or dropping out due to the professor. Once you get an "achieved" the system will not let you submit new assessment edits to receive a "Mastered" score. I now have the same professor for IG004, and was very direct at the beginning that I am willing to do edits and more work to attain "Mastered" on the competency, and asked to just be graded as "Not achieved" if it was not meeting the "Mastered" level. Needless to say, the score came back as "Not achieved". I had written out nearly 50 pages for the assessment (based on an 8 page gradic rubric), but was still somehow not surprised given the professor just seems pretty hard core. I did the edits and just turned the assessment paper back in today. Finger crossed!

The material in this class I actually have found really useful already. I have someone I have to deal with every week who is beyond difficult. For once, I actually felt like I had a tool to deal with the person. I also can see how in leading teams towards innovation, the method taught would come in handy.


IG005 Marketing Strategy - 1.5cr
I am still working through this. I had hoped to be further through it, but that's nearly impossible given all the reading (11 textbook chapters plus tons of articles) and how much time IG004 has taken. The material on this is pretty repetitive to undergrad marketing, and it's hard to not fall asleep. I have installed "Read Aloud" on my computer and "Voice Aloud Reader" on my phone to help me stay awake for the articles, both of which highlight the text as it reads through.


I am planning to download everything I can before the term ends, just in case I get locked out, since I don't have funds to start the next term yet. This way I can at least turn in the assessments as soon as I can start my next term. I may have money coming soon, but just not sure when. 

Also, my academic advisor said that Walden will still accept transfer credits earned at other schools while enrolled with Walden. Given that all the reading on Walden is about like the reading on the EdX courses, I may try doing a micro-masters by having it transferred into the school offering the course and then seeing if I can transfer it back to Walden. It might not work, but it could be worth a shot, and end up saving me money. The University of Maryland is offering a MicroMasters MBA, and also the MicroMasters in Healthcare Administration at Doane which looks like it might align.

Walden put out a survey about the Tempo tracks and I sent them in seven paragraphs of what I liked/disliked or what needed improvement. I also mentioned that they may want to consider partnering with EdX to attract more students through the MicroMasters track. I loved that they gave us a free term, but feel a bit ripped off that they offered this deal into February still. Had I known that, I would have just waited until February when I didn't have so much going on!

I'm also still really tempted to try a term at WGU to see which format I like better, but I really like the specializations at Walden! I wish they had more videos though and the textbook audio reader wasn't so annoying.

Where's everyone else at in the program? What's your plan for the next term?

[eriehiker]

Sweetsecret! Great job on the MBA. This is a copy/paste from my unofficial transcript. I am doing the MS in Early Childhood Studies with a focus on Admin, Management and Leadership. I have had a nice run of it so far. In addition to this list, I have one competency that I am still waiting for related to marketing. I have another one that was just returned for the second time and I need to edit. I also have a third that was returned for revision that I am kind of ignoring for the moment. I have been trying to return a paper every second or third day for the last stretch, but I don't quite always make it. My feeling is that if it isn't good enough, I can just revise it, so I will sometimes get to the third day and just turn in my paper to see what happens. I don't ever revise initially and just write the paper straight up and turn it in. I don't care about grade point and the way the program is set up, there is kind of a floor in terms of how low you can go because you have to get a B in order to pass the competency. I do find the professors to be pretty tough graders, but I am fine with that. It ends up being a legitimate program that way. They do seem very set on enforcing format.

I also received word on transfer credits. I have a previous MAT degree - Master's in the Art of Teaching. I feel that the non-admin. side of this program is basically the same as half of my previous master's. Of course, my previous master's was 13 years ago and, sure enough, Walden rejected the credits for that reason. So, I'm kind of blase about actually finishing this program. I think that I will do as much as I can in the next two weeks and then see if I can defer to the summer and decide in the intervening months if I want to finish. I'm not sure if that is possible. My mentor person told me that if I want the grad. cert. for this program in Admin, it would be a program change, so I am probably just going to roll with the credits.

My interim goal with the credits is the New Jersey Supervisor certificate, which requires a master's and two classes in curriculum and two classes in ed. leadership:

https://www.state.nj.us/education/licens.../0106S.pdf

My second goal with the credits is an application to New Hampshire for principal certification under the Alternative 3C transcript review pathway:

https://www.education.nh.gov/certificati...ctions.pdf

Note: I've been reviewing administrative, principal and superintendent certification standards across the country looking for states that don't require an ed. leadership master's and this site helps to find those states:

http://www.teaching-certification.com/te...ments.html

Name of Program: MS in Early Childhood
Studies
Program Major:
Specialization: Administration, Management,
and Leadership
Program Credit Equivalents: 9.00
Credit Type: Semester
Program Grade: 3.69
Program Status: In Progress
______________________________________________________________________________
COURSE: EDUC 6160 GRADE: A SUBSCRIPTION TERM: 12/03/2018 TO 03/03/2019
CREDIT EQUIVALENTS EARNED: 3.00
COMP DESCRIPTION CREDIT EQUIVALENTS STATUS COMPLETED
CD005 Observing, Documenting, and Assessing Children 1.00 Mastered 02/09/2019
CD004 Supporting Children with Exceptionalities 0.50 Mastered 02/01/2019
CD001 Theories of Child Development 0.25 Achieved 12/27/2018
CD003 Culture and Language and Its Influence on Development 0.50 Achieved 01/30/2019
CD002 Knowledge of the Child Development Continuum 0.75 Achieved 01/12/2019
COURSE: EDUC 6166 GRADE: A SUBSCRIPTION TERM: 12/03/2018 TO 03/03/2019
CREDIT EQUIVALENTS EARNED: 3.00
COMP DESCRIPTION CREDIT EQUIVALENTS STATUS COMPLETED
LD001 Ethical and Legal Considerations in Leadership 0.25 Achieved 01/16/2019
LD002 Leading and Developing Teams 1.00 Mastered 01/16/2019
LD004 Recruiting, Developing, and Retaining Staff 1.00 Achieved 01/23/2019
LD003 Organizational Culture 0.75 Mastered 01/06/2019
COURSE: EDUC 6167 GRADE: A SUBSCRIPTION TERM: 12/03/2018 TO 03/03/2019
CREDIT EQUIVALENTS EARNED: 3.00
COMP DESCRIPTION CREDIT EQUIVALENTS STATUS COMPLETED
MP001 Creating Grant Proposals 1.25 Mastered 02/01/2019
MP004 Creating Budgets 1.00 Mastered 02/02/2019
MP003 Allocating Resources to Effectively Manage Programs
and Facilities 0.75 Mastered 02/02/2019
TRANSCRIPT OF ACADEMIC RECORD
Page 2 of 2
COMPETENCY REPORT
Code Title Completed Status
CD001 Theories of Child Development 12/27/2018 Achieved
LD003 Organizational Culture 01/06/2019 Mastered
CD002 Knowledge of the Child Development Continuum 01/12/2019 Achieved
LD001 Ethical and Legal Considerations in Leadership 01/16/2019 Achieved
LD002 Leading and Developing Teams 01/16/2019 Mastered
LD004 Recruiting, Developing, and Retaining Staff 01/23/2019 Achieved
CD003 Culture and Language and Its Influence on Development 01/30/2019 Achieved
CD004 Supporting Children with Exceptionalities 02/01/2019 Mastered
MP001 Creating Grant Proposals 02/01/2019 Mastered
MP005 Regulations in Early Childhood Settings 02/02/2019 Achieved
MP003 Allocating Resources to Effectively Manage Programs and Facilities 02/02/2019 Mastered
MP004 Creating Budgets 02/02/2019 Mastered
CC001 Engages Families and Communities 02/06/2019 Mastered
CD005 Observing, Documenting, and Assessing Children 02/09/2019 Mastered

[ReyMysterioso]

I'm in for the March 4 start date with the free term. At this point in time, I don't intend on paying Walden any money. I just want to see how many credits I can earn within the free term and have them parked on a transcript in case they come in handy for something. Maybe transferring in somewhere. Or, if I make significant progress enough to complete it in two terms... who knows. I might drop the money and scoop up that MBA.

How should I attack this thing?

[SweetSecret]

I'm in for the March 4 start date with the free term. At this point in time, I don't intend on paying Walden any money. I just want to see how many credits I can earn within the free term and have them parked on a transcript in case they come in handy for something. Maybe transferring in somewhere. Or, if I make significant progress enough to complete it in two terms... who knows. I might drop the money and scoop up that MBA.

How should I attack this thing?

If your undergrad is not in business, but you want to make the most use of your time, I would suggest not reading all of the "Business Essentials" stuff and just take the exams instead. You can take the exams as many times as you need to, and if you get the answer wrong they will tell you where to look to find the right answer. I literally wasted weeks on Business Essentials that could have been used somewhere else.

Also, I would avoid taking IG003 & IG004 (same professor) the first term. The professor on that course is pretty hard-core and people have dropped out of the program or been forced to switch into the traditional program because of her. Build up your confidence and get all the free credits you can elsewhere first. I passed IG003, on my first attempt but was not thrilled with the outcome. A lot of other students have their problems in that competency. I had the most problems with her in IG004. There are a few things I would suggest when you do take it. First, break up each rubric point in the writing by the sub-competency within each sub-competency i.e. 2.1, 2.3, 2.4 etc. Second, quantify your business problem with a number i.e. decrease XYZ by 50%. Third, she wants the Mind Map to have problems only without any solutions and preferably in color with graphics and non-straight lines so it feels more lively/dynamic. Unfortunately, she has both of the higher credit competencies for WMBA 6020, which means you will be lucky to get anything over a "B" in the class when all is said and done. I managed an "A" just barely but didn't make a 4.0 on the GPA because she grades both the heavy weighted competencies.

[ReyMysterioso]

I frankly don't care if it's a D- as long as it meets whatever threshold is necessary to pass the course. I'm just potentially checking a box here. My undergrad is a BSBA, so hopefully they'll let me completely skip Business Essentials altogether. Thanks for the pointers. We'll see how it goes

[allvia]

I frankly don't care if it's a D- as long as it meets whatever threshold is necessary to pass the course. I'm just potentially checking a box here. My undergrad is a BSBA, so hopefully they'll let me completely skip Business Essentials altogether. Thanks for the pointers. We'll see how it goes

If you have a BSBA they will mark the Business Essentials as complete - you will not be required to take the course (which is for no credit, just a prerequisite to the program)

[eriehiker]

I am not sure if the MBA is like the MS in early childhood studies, but I have been following several items of strategy:

Walden allows three competencies to be open at any one time in the Tempo program. Once an assessment is submitted, there is about a one day wait until the system recognizes that the assessment has been turned in and then you can open a new course. Even if the assessment is returned for editing, the new course is open and can be worked on. This means that is is often of value to turn in papers that are not completely perfect or even half-done so that you can kick open a new course and work on it during the editing process of the earlier course.

There is also sometimes a several day wait for a professor to return a "grade" and requests for edits. This means that keeping a good mix of courses within the three is important. I would try to mix a big paper with a short answer assessment so that I could work on the short answer assessment in the days between big papers.

I am not sure if credits are actually awarded on a transcript for partial courses. The assessments that I have worked on have three to five competencies and I have tried to work within the competencies within a couple of courses at a time so that I don't complete partial courses and get screwed on credits at the end of the term. Right now I am finishing a paper and revising a competency with a Sunday term end. If I can complete those competencies, I will hit 15 free graduate credits in educational leadership. Fantastic deal.

Within the competencies themselves, I have a strategy. First, as soon as I get a new competency open, I immediately open the discussions and write a three to five paragraph introduction to the professor. This has met the connect with a professor requirement for all courses. I then take the self assessment and answer that I can do everything with minimal help. This takes about two minutes. I read nothing within the courses. I don't even know what Walden teaches in the courses because I just ignore the course content. Then I take all the quizzes. I answer A for all questions and keep a notepad file open to record the answers and then I answer B for all answers until the quiz hits 100%. This means that I can complete all requirements for each course in about 15 minutes.

Then I start work on the assessments. Really, every short cut above is made up for the fact that the program - as least the MS in early childhood studies - requires some pretty rigorous papers. I have probably written 200 pages to get the 15 grad. credits and that makes the program legitimate. It's a great deal, but not for the faint of heart.

---

Oh, and I have officially paused the program as of the first week of March. My free term was Dec. to March. You can pause for five months before you have to start again or stop. I don't think that I will restart in the summer, but I decided to just pause rather than canceling right away.

[ReyMysterioso]

Since the four courses of the Graduate Certificate in Business Management are the first four courses of the MBA program, I wonder if it's possible to get that certificate on the way to the MBA. Maybe if I completed those in a single term, I'd get a free certificate.... Somehow I doubt they'd let me do that without paying some tuition.

[Ideas]

Since the four courses of the Graduate Certificate in Business Management are the first four courses of the MBA program, I wonder if it's possible to get that certificate on the way to the MBA. Maybe if I completed those in a single term, I'd get a free certificate.... Somehow I doubt they'd let me do that without paying some tuition.

Probably not because you wouldn't be enrolled in the cert. Eriehiker said you had to be enrolled in the cert not the degree. The cert isn't part of the self-paced program.

[eriehiker]

You CAN get the grad cert for free.  You just have to enroll in the grad cert right from the start.  If you start in the masters program and switch to the cert you have to pay for a second term because it is a program change.  I highly recommend going for the free grad. certs.