TESU Liberal Arts Capstone mentor feedback

[jsd]

petergib asked in a different thread if such a thread as this exists, and I was thinking about this same thing recently since I'll be registering for the capstone in a few months.

Anyone have any suggestions for (or feedback on) mentors to consider going with for the TESU Liberal Arts Capstone? Here are some quick ones I found already through a brief search.

Anyone else have any recent experiences, good or bad, with mentors through the course?


Regarding Dr. Casey Maugh:

Congratulations, based on my experience you are very fortunate to have Dr. Casey. She is very specific in her feedback and des not mind email consulting.

Regarding Dr. Amy Laptad:

My mentor didn't provide any sample papers so luckily I found a great paper posted here on the forum. I followed the format to a letter and although I needed an extension due to my late start, I still I got an A. Mind you, it all depends on you mentor, mine didn't care what I wrote so long as I wrote something and if I had know she would be so blase blah I would have saved myself an extension fee and not sweated so much over the topic, because in the end she didn't care.

Regarding Dr. David Weischadle:

I had Dr. Weishadle as my "mentor." I found him to be almost non-existent. The feedback/grades on your papers was poorly done with no advice or suggestions on how to do it better. There was no teaching in the class and no communication from the professor unless you asked him a question or he was grading your biweekly work. I did feel that he was extremely lenient on grades, however. I started the class getting upper 80's on most projects although halfway through it I put in less effort (usually only working on each project the night before it was due) and received lower 80's. My final paper was a quick modification of of all previous modules to update topics that had changed slightly and I got a 78 on it. Combined with the free 24% of your grade you get from the "discussions" and the free 2% from the ETS, my final grade in the class was a B. I honestly should have failed the class with as little effort as I was putting in at the end.

[Mamasaphire]

petergib asked in a different thread if such a thread as this exists, and I was thinking about this same thing recently since I'll be registering for the capstone in a few months.
Anyone have any suggestions for (or feedback on) mentors to consider going with for the TESU Liberal Arts Capstone? Here are some quick ones I found already through a brief search.

Good question. Thanks for combining various posts into a current Capstone Prof thread. I plan to take the Capstone in a few months myself, so am quite interested in the topic

I wanted to add this quote I came across while looking for mentor info. It reminds me that I should do my best to get a good mentor, but in the end I shouldn't really worry about it:

Over 40 years ago, and I still remember a sign I saw at a nurses' station. (I can't remember what I had for lunch today, but I remember the sign.) It went something like this.

There's nothing to worry about. You're either healthy, or you're ill. If you're healthy, there's nothing to worry about. If you're ill, you'll either get better, or you'll die. If you get better, there's nothing to worry about. If you die, you'll either go to heaven or you'll go to hell. If you go to heaven, there's nothing to worry about. If you go to hell, you'll be so busy shaking the hands of your friends that you won't have time to worry.

[Mamasaphire]

Regarding Dr. Tomko:

I am about to finish the Capstone course (guided study) with Dr. Tomko. He was fine with my topic not being degree-related (I'm a History major). You have to get approval with whatever topic you choose, whether degree-related or not, so you can always ask!

Another regarding Dr. Tomko:

I just finished the Liberal Arts Capstone at TESC. I took it with Dr. Andrew Tomko in the August, 2013 term, and got a 100. I like research and writing so I found this course enjoyable and ended up with a paper over twice as long as required. One thing I found useful at the beginning was looking at other people's papers to get an idea of what the professor was looking for, I got Westerner's, and links to mine are at the bottom. Hopefully you will find them useful. The only thing I would change in the final version would be to eliminate some of the repetition from the introductions to the chapters. Dr. Tomko was helpful, but this class is supposed to be your own project. If you do a good job and follow the format correctly, you will get a 100. The one thing I would do differently would be to send in drafts of the assignments before actually submitting them for grading. One reason to do this was that Dr. Tomko at least, wanted some things done differently than a strict reading of the manual and APA style would require. This ended up with me getting a 90 on the final paper, but when I changed some things and resubmitted he adjusted the grade.

Regarding Dr. Haydel:

It also depends on the mentor's preferences. I am on Module Three with Dr. Haydel as my mentor. She is the creator of the capstone course for TESC, and she does require you to strictly follow APA guidelines. Beyond that, she is great to have as a mentor! When I made the mistake of submitting my last assignment without the Annotated Bibliography, she allowed me to go back and cook one up so she could adjust the grade, which she did once I submitted it. I got an 89 on the assignment for a few grammar errors. I guess I have a habit of still personalizing my writing, whereas I need to be abstract.

Regarding Dr. Steve Ryan and Dr. Casey Maugh:

As far as recommendations go, I had Steve Ryan in the Capstone class and I would HIGHLY recomend him! Great, caring, helpful mentor. He's prompt to reply to questions and doesn't just grade you--he wants to help you complete a good project, works with you and gives ideas and suggestions. I also had Casey Maugh, in a Communications class. She generally graded well, but was rarely around the discussion forums, didn't give much feedback on assignments, and was sometimes inconsistent in grading. But her demeanor was, as Professor Ryan's was too, cheerful and enthusiastic. If you can't get Prof. Ryan, get her.

Regarding Dr. Casey Maugh:

If you can sign up with Casey Maugh, then you may find it manageable.

[davewill]

I'm just finishing up with Dr. James Cody. He has been a great mentor. For one thing, he's an English professor so writing is his forte. He's active in the forums and always responds to questions in a timely fashion. The sample paper he provides is very helpful. His comments on my chapter drafts have been pointed and helpful. As far as his grading, he's prompt, and I've gotten 100% on everything so far. He has been very patient with me turning in late assignments (so long as I ask in advance) and was also proactive when it became obvious that I wasn't going to finish by the end of the term, informing me that I would need to officially apply for an extension.

Of course if he trashes my final paper, I may change my mind.

P.S. I chose him mostly because of good feedback on ratemyprofessors.com.

[SweetSecret]

Myself and another member here both had Dr. Ciacco. I would highly recommend him! He doesn't give out a sample paper, but I did find samples online and really the book shows you how to do the formatting. Dr. Ciacco had a great rating on RateMyProfessor, which is why I went with him. I really needed to make sure I was working with a mentor who was encouraging, and he lived up to that expectation. The only negative is he requires you to take 2 courses from him before he'll give a recommendation for grad school.

Gregory Caicco at Thomas Edison State University - RateMyProfessors.com

[happydayruth]

Myself and another member here both had Dr. Ciacco. I would highly recommend him! He doesn't give out a sample paper, but I did find samples online and really the book shows you how to do the formatting. Dr. Ciacco had a great rating on RateMyProfessor, which is why I went with him. I really needed to make sure I was working with a mentor who was encouraging, and he lived up to that expectation. The only negative is he requires you to take 2 courses from him before he'll give a recommendation for grad school.

Gregory Caicco at Thomas Edison State University - RateMyProfessors.com

Awww man. I had Dr. Caicco for my capstone course and I just sent him a request for a grad school recommendation letter yesterday. :-(

[Peter123456789]

Today I registered for the online capstone course with Otto.

I have not heard anything about this professor!

[jsd]

We could probably just use this as the Capstone Catch-All thread. Along with mentor reviews, if anyone is willing to share the "sample papers" they were provided in class (or brave enough to share their own work!) or any other information about the course, that'd be great too

[TrailRunr]

Here is another piece of advice:

Register on the first day of registration if you have a preferred mentor. Those sections fill up very fast (eg. within the first five days of registration).

[alldet11111]

I had Steve Ryan for my capstone. He was fantastic.

I had an assignment due on a Sunday night and an issue came up in the morning that I just could not resolve. I emailed him- he immediately responded via email and then later called me (ON A SUNDAY AFTERNOON) to help me with the problem.

Highly recommend him.