(06-16-2019, 11:38 AM)mednat Wrote: I'm one class away from completing my ALM, with two grad certs from HES and just recently accepted a new position.  Just a couple of things to say on it.

I've had exactly three interviews, with two offers, 2 of them asked specifically about my HES (applicant) status. Specifically they asked me about my education, and I started to talk about undergrad, then my MBA and mentioned I was completing another masters degree.  Both specifically asked about the harvard applicant and I discussed a bit about the extension school.  Reception was positive, but it could be my distance from Cambridge (i'm in the southeast), or it could be that I downplayed the harvard name by emphasizing my work experience.  Difficult to say, but 2/3 from interview to offer (I declined to continue the process with the 3rd due to salary..) has not been common at my level (Director) previously.  Previously I've also never been asked about education (its at the bottom of my resume), now it comes up almost every time I speak with a recruiter/interview.

This discussion has been rehashed a number of times and everyone seems to have an opinion.  Here's mine after completing 12 classes:  

• It was worth every penny for the quality of education I received.  My professors were leaders in their field and they pushed me to learn.
  
• I'm a nerd, but the library access is phenomenal and a huge benefit I hadn't considered previously.
  
• The Harvard brand may be diluted by the extension label, but I haven't seen it and don't care.  I'm not competing for top level investment banker gigs and don't need that level of recognition.
  
• It was expensive, but I've taken extra classes that don't go towards my credential because the tuition in relation to the value is cheap
  

(06-16-2019, 11:59 AM)sanantone Wrote: I'm not arguing that HES will have a negative reception. I'm arguing that it won't have the same reception as other Harvard schools. My degree from the unranked Angelo State University has received positive comments. People were more interested in what I studied than where I studied. Just being in the process of working on a PhD at a state university has gotten me many positive comments and a lot of "wows" during interviews. My PhD is at a Top 30 criminology school, but no one outside of academia knows that. Criminal justice professionals in Texas just know that Texas State University has a popular criminal justice program. I am learning from leaders in my field. Where the leaders are is program-specific, not university-specific. One of my professors has written the most popular criminal justice ethics textbook in the country, and she's often called by police departments nationwide when they're having ethics issues. One of the professors in the program is famous worldwide for creating a popular theory in criminology. Another professor has been asked to consult on TV shows and was asked to work on a serial killer case in Europe. He helped solve that case. Texas State University is not expensive. 

I've always put my education at the top.

(06-16-2019, 12:10 PM)armstrongsubero Wrote: @sanantone as did you Harvard Grad? how was your time at Harvard Law and Harvard College? Ms. President of Harvard? Is your thesis on using quaternions to treat quadrics? How did you find your time as an MIT trustee? You can't step in his shoes.

I'll be literal here, no I did not say anything about Jeff Bezos. Did I talk about Jeff Bezos? I was talking about Harvard Extension and college education. Jeff Bezos has nothing to do with this, please keep the context relevant.

The man had vision and started something that blossomed into a glorious tree. It started by him planting the acorn (granting associates) and now it's a mighty oak tree (Harvard grants masters).

HES built on what he started. He planted the seeds and he planted a tree for Americans like yourself to sit in the shade and by extension anyone who wants to visit the garden.

It takes uppity people to get things done. They have the power, they have the money, they have the resources to implement their vision.

You know I'm right, you just have too much pride to admit you're wrong. It's not a scarlet letter, its not a fake school, and it's not a sub par education. It just burns you that ordinary people can go to Harvard.

If you like, then don't go. I'll be waiting for you to finish your HBS MBA at Harvard. Won't be holding my breath.

In the mean time I'll be congratulating mednat on his ALM at Harvard. Well done man! One class away from being a HARVARD graduate! Make sure and buy a HARVARD CLASS RING, treat yourself to an 18k ring too. Oh and visit the HARVARD MUSEUMS and HARVARD libraries that your HARVARD STUDENT ID CARD give you access too. and not that you need it but they also give HARVARD student services to you since you are a HARVARD student.

I go that information at the HARVARD extension school website that lists HARVARD in the domain.

https://www.extension.harvard.edu/degree-privileges

Oh look HARVARD.edu.

mednat is almost a HARVARD grad sanantone and he's also getting his PhD next year. Guess thats one smart fellow, I won't dobut it. He is a HARVARD man.

---

@posabsolute I know :-) . It wasn't meant to be 100% serious. Some of you do bring good points, I just think HES is such a good idea for all the hate it's getting.

(06-16-2019, 11:35 AM)Jonathan Whatley Wrote: In 2016 a group of Extension students organized a Degree Change Initiative. Their focus this time wasn’t the names of the school or the liberal arts titles of the degrees, but the suffix that appears on diplomas “in Extension Studies.”

The Dean of HES and the Division of Continuing Education, Hunt Lambert, spoke to a group of students who shared an excerpt to Facebook video.

Quote:“I acknowledge that the names of our degrees are inconsistent with our peers. They’re not terribly descriptive of what the programs actually are.”

“But what I have to deal with inside Harvard is respecting that names are sacred. When we chose ‘Extension Studies’ in the 1909–1910 timeframe we were the Commission on Extension Studies. You have to realize that was eight years before the federal legislation that created the agricultural extensions at the land grant universities… And so they took our name…”

“And then when we were given our degree names, the board, Harvard Corporation as it’s called here, thought very hard. What they said is, ‘We need to be enormously careful in what we call these degrees. Because the Extension School is Harvard, but it’s not Harvard College. The Extension School is Harvard but is not Harvard Business School. The Extension School is Harvard but it’s not Harvard Medical School or Dental or Divinity or Law and go down the list. And each of those schools has unique degree names appropriate to their day. What do we call these degrees? And they made a decision to call it ‘in Extension Studies.’ And… at that time, sacredness was given to those words. And at the level of our Corporation right now, I need to respect that those words are still sacred to them. My predecessor fought for a change in those words for fifteen straight years with no success. And so I have to first go back to the Corporation and say, ‘Why are those words sacred to you? What would it be?’ And we’re working through that. But it’s gonna take time…”


“I’m starting to turn my question around about that and say, maybe we should make ‘in Extension Studies’ mean something. What we can control is to say, this is what it means. It means we extended Harvard to these people. It’s not a substitute. It’s not a replacement. It’s Harvard, but for a different student.

”


“And so we’re gonna look at how we go about changing the names of the degrees, but I’ve also decided we need to look at ‘how do we bring real brand meaning to what our degrees are called?’ Because these words may be sacred at Harvard. And maybe we have to honor those words and don’t get to change the names. In which case it’s incumbent on us in the digital world to bring clearer meaning to what those words mean for the rest of the world.”

“So that’s where I am on the name change.”

(06-16-2019, 12:10 PM)armstrongsubero Wrote: @sanantone as did you Harvard Grad? how was your time at Harvard Law and Harvard College? Ms. President of Harvard? Is your thesis on using quaternions to treat quadrics? How did you find your time as an MIT trustee? You can't step in his shoes.

I'll be literal here, no I did not say anything about Jeff Bezos. Did I talk about Jeff Bezos? I was talking about Harvard Extension and college education. Jeff Bezos has nothing to do with this, please keep the context relevant.

The man had vision and started something that blossomed into a glorious tree. It started by him planting the acorn (granting associates) and now it's a mighty oak tree (Harvard grants masters).

HES built on what he started. He planted the seeds and he planted a tree for Americans like yourself to sit in the shade and by extension anyone who wants to visit the garden.

It takes uppity people to get things done. They have the power, they have the money, they have the resources to implement their vision.

You know I'm right, you just have too much pride to admit you're wrong. It's not a scarlet letter, its not a fake school, and it's not a sub par education. It just burns you that ordinary people can go to Harvard.

If you like, then don't go. I'll be waiting for you to finish your HBS MBA at Harvard. Won't be holding my breath.

In the mean time I'll be congratulating mednat on his ALM at Harvard. Well done man! One class away from being a HARVARD graduate! Make sure and buy a HARVARD CLASS RING, treat yourself to an 18k ring too. Oh and visit the HARVARD MUSEUMS and HARVARD libraries that your HARVARD STUDENT ID CARD give you access too. and not that you need it but they also give HARVARD student services to you since you are a HARVARD student.

I go that information at the HARVARD extension school website that lists HARVARD in the domain.

https://www.extension.harvard.edu/degree-privileges

Oh look HARVARD.edu.

mednat is almost a HARVARD grad sanantone and he's also getting his PhD next year. Guess thats one smart fellow, I won't dobut it. He is a HARVARD man.

---

@posabsolute I know :-) . It wasn't meant to be 100% serious. Some of you do bring good points, I just think HES is such a good idea for all the hate it's getting.

(06-16-2019, 12:35 PM)Jonathan Whatley Wrote: @armstrongsubero, I appreciate your passion and I appreciate any passion on behalf of Harvard Extension School. But please don't misrepresent sanantone's position – e.g., "It just burns you that ordinary people can go to Harvard" – and please don't personalize your difference of opinion like this.

Let's support all adult learners. sanantone is one highly accomplished one. More importantly she gives a great deal back in research, advice, and considered opinion.

– Jonathan, who actually was Mr. President of something at Harvard authorized to bear the Harvard Extension name. (A recognized student organization at the school. We did all sorts of co-curricular programming, volunteered in the community, organized social events, etc.)