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An Assessment of My Own School: Unfair Post, Great Responses

I received a link to this story today in Rip-Off Report, and I debated with myself whether to pass it on. Eventually I figured that doing so was a good idea.

First of all, as a full time instructor at American Military University, and as a graduate student too, I think this story is so full of crap that its eyes are turning brown. I've got two years there, and nothing in my experience backs up the distorted accusations made by the original poster. You can read his work with a mirror, as it is the exact opposite of what I've found. Some professors are more active and preemptive than others, but that is the worst that I can say about my experiences there.

The real value in the story is in the rebuttals from others. They are, in my considered and informed opinion, much more valid, and closer to the truth. It's well worth reading for what others have to say than for the original post itself.

Secondly, the thread illustrates the misconceptions of online education as something closer to a diploma mill than a real school. I've been through both, and taught at both, and online education is one option among many, and one that contains its own appeal and value. It's not a brick and mortar type of education, but then in some ways brick and mortar falls short. Some of the rebuttal posts do a very good job of pointing out how and why.

With that in mind, please feel free to read, do a little more research on your own, and make up your own minds.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by John Welch on May 29, 2011 at 8:32pm

Hello Jim - Alan Emrich sent me the link via email and then I saw this I wanted to post I agree with your thoughts here - in my 10 years with the University I've not known a more forward-thinking philosophy for getting the best instructional methodologies to our students. The fact that it's one of the few schools of its type to receive traditional accreditation (just like its brick-and-mortar counterparts) is a testament to that.

I was impressed that people took the time to write such cogent rebuttals - too many years online and reading those kind of diatribes I just 'sigh' and move on. I think the market is a great way to determine the validity of a program and to me, the market has spoken and our students are the better for their respective experiences.

Permalink Reply by Jim Werbaneth on May 29, 2011 at 8:39pm

John,

Thanks for replying. I know that there are some, shall we say, problematic universities of all stripes out there, and some are for-profit online institutions. I'll not mention the names to protect the guilty. But I'm proud to teach at AMU, and very happy to see all the people with experience there come to the school's defense. You're right too, the market will definitely punish the poor performers and the shady operators, and yet AMU and APU keep on growing.

One of the best recommendations I ever heard was relayed to me by one of my students. He was a Marine rifleman in Afghanistan, and told me that he enrolled because his company commander told his Marines that they should spend their downtime going to school, and that AMU was the place to go. I don't think you get a better affirmation than that.

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