engineering degree online : Kudos for Capella U

Posted by bposton on October 30th, 2006 — Posted in engineering degree online

I saw a press release the other day about Capella University, which is strictly an online University.

It stated that the Center for Transforming Student Services had awarded their career services programs as a “best practice” in providing student services online. They focused on the services related to resume development and CV training as “providing models for other institutions to emulate”. 

Julie Ofstedal, part of Capella’s staff that works in this area had this say about the student services they provide.

“Upon making these tools available to our students, we saw an immediate improvement in the quality of resume and CV drafts being submitted for review. They have been tremendously helpful in providing guidance to a large number of students simultaneously,”

In case you were wondering, the Center for Transforming Student Services is a virtual resource for higher education institutions interested in assessing the quality of their student services offered via the Web.

So Kudos to Capella, which is accredited online university and a leader in online education with over 16,000 online students from companies such as Boeing, Johnson & Johnson, Farmers Insurance, and Xerox.

By the way, if you work for any of these companies, you should know that they offer tuition discounts and reimbursement for their employees attending Capella.

Ben

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Engineering degree online: No Child Left Behind…in College?? - Part 1

Posted by bposton on October 21st, 2006 — Posted in engineering degree online

There have been a few news report in the past few days about how the government is trying to making colleges more accountable in how they educate their students.

I’ve been following this as best I can, but to sum up some of the opinions about this I thought I’d share with you a quote from an article I saw the other day from Eugene Hickok, who is a fellow at the Heritage Foundation.

He was also a deputy secretary of education during President Bush’s first term, so I think he knows a little about what he’s talking about :-)

Note - this is a pretty long quote, so to save my fingers I’m gonna break it up in to 3 separate posts today. :-)

Here’s part 1 of what he had to say:

” Like it or not, the No Child Left Behind Act passed under President Bush has transformed the conversation about American public education. The law has its flaws, but the nation has benefited from its focus on results and its willingness to confront gaps in educational achievement.
Now the administration has extended the discussion into what has long been considered sacred ground in Washington politics: higher education. Recent studies have highlighted higher education’s skyrocketing costs, uneven quality and poor graduation rates. Even more disturbing are reports that reading competency and comprehension are declining among college graduates — as if there should be any question about the reading skills of people with college degrees.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings has addressed these and other concerns by embracing reforms that could strengthen higher education and improve access and opportunities for America’s students. Among her commission’s recommendations are heightening fiscal and academic accountability, improving access to financial aid and assembling accurate data on the performance of students and institutions.
While no one seems to be saying that No Child Left Behind policies should be applied to the country’s colleges and universities, it does make sense to consider how some of the program’s underlying principles might help to ensure that higher education in America remains higher education. A college degree provides Americans with a competitive edge on the job market. But what is coming under increasing scrutiny is whether a college degree is truly proof of a college education. It is time for colleges to develop
accurate measures of student achievement, and of the value institutions of higher education provide.”
Eugene Hickok, a fellow at the Heritage Foundation, was a deputy secretary of education during President Bush’s first term.

Part 2 of 3 is coming later today…

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Hi and welcome to my blog!

Posted by bposton on October 13th, 2006 — Posted in engineering degree online

My name is Ben and I’d like to introduce you this blog and tell you why I’ve started it.

Like a lot of other adults, I’m always trying to improve myself and hopefully also improve my career opportunities. One way to do that is to enchance my education.

One of the first things that get in my way is - who has time to go back to school these days? Not to mention the fact that it kinda gets in the way of my full time job. :-)

So I’ve started this blog as a guide to those who, like myself, are looking at way to improve their skills and their career path through an online education. That could mean a college degree or certificate, graduate or undergraduate, whatever. Only difference is it’s through “distance learning” via the internet.

So stay tuned as I explore the world of what at least used to be called “non-traditional” education. I’m sure we’ll both learn a lot in the process.

Here’s to lifelong learning!

Ben

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