VUL introducing new doctorate in May

[PurpleReign]

VUL's communication is terrible. Is is getting better, but, how bad they are shouldn't be acceptable. The professors (minus Hampton) are pretty on point. I however didn't have as many communication issues as a previous cohort. the popularity of the DHA program definitely overwhelmed VUL. VUL is getting better at this, and started construction on their campus again, etc.

I don't regret spending $15,000 on them.

Also on this note, I had worse communication from South College... Seriously! My ex-boyfriend has been waiting for a response from UMPI for 1.5 months now, and follows up every 3 days. communication issues aren't unique.

So being also someone affected by the diploma and regalia fiasco the communication and lack of decent customer support are very real at VUL. While I think most of the coursework was fine honestly a year later I have some regrets about the program. First, only two of the faculty have any real healthcare experience (Alexander and Dr. Hampton) which limits the discussion of any real deep healthcare-related policy discussion. Second, there is no healthcare policy or finance taught in this program. I mean how can you have a program and never discuss things like the Affordable Care Act, Single Payer, Social Determinants in Health, Health Equity, etc... If it hadn't been for the COVID epidemic there was nothing that related to the current topics in healthcare. The case studies while interesting are somewhat dated. The communication course was really good but it's ironic that it is taught by the Dean who doesn't practice what he teaches when it comes to communicating with students in general in the program (I'll leave it at that for now). 

While I do think some of the rants on Facebook by students may have been a bit over the top it was mostly out of frustration with an administration that would not honestly engage with us. The administration made a commitment to provide regalia as part of the graduation fees that were collected last June. The school got a grant to pay for regalia cost for approx 300 graduations in the DHA. Something changed between July and late August as there were stories of students not paying for graduation and being given regalia. Also, there were stories of regalia being stolen during graduation rehearsal (the university failed to secure regalia and let anyone grab items at will).  Not knowing what is true or not has led to confusion and frustration. When the university quietly updated the school website to say regalia was no longer being given to those not graduating and those impacted students were left waiting weeks wondering when their diploma and regalia would be mailed. The university didn't get most of the diplomas out until late November with a few getting them in time for Christmas. After several complaints were filed with BBB, SCHEV, TRACS and several military veteran organizations did the university begin to offer regalia (minus a doctoral hood and tam) however it appears to be low quality and it is not the same custom regalia given to those that attended.   

I knew going to VUL the DHA program was all about raising funds to help support needed repairs to campus (check out the VUL website and you'll see the RFPs for construction bids and the project manager is none other than the Dean of the DHA program).  I was happy to help the school with this rebuilding effort, especially in light of the social justice issues in 2020. However, there is no excuse for mistreating and disenfranchising graduates especially since many have really decent-paying careers and who would be a great donor base in the future. There were roughly 60 students who didn't attend graduation and/or had issues with their diplomas. The mismanagement of transcripts impacted everyone (glad to see them moving to Parchment but somebody still has to enter student information in the system correctly).  

If someone is seeking just a doctorate in health leadership without any health policy, finance, or technology coursework then VUL has a solid program. However, for early careerists, I would advise exploring other offerings now in health administration (Tulane's DrPH or Oklahoma State's DHA are prime examples of good quality programs). Yes, the short 1-year timeline and current cost of $18K makes the program attractive. As a graduate sadly feel I have no connection now with the university going forward. I'm still hopeful this can be repaired and I'm still willing to help (I earlier sent the school information about internships that my company was offering, but not to my surprise it went on deaf ears).  There is much work that needs to be done at VUL and future students should be aware of the issues.