Capella University - PhD Organization & Management/Leadership

Indolents need not apply

By: jbaugh (In Progress) on September 28, 2007

Materials:		Teachers:
Institution:		Support:
Value:		Technology:

Review:

I am ABD in the School of Business and Technology, but am in the data analysis phase now and I hope to be completed with my dissertation by Thanksgiving. After earning an MBA at the Eller College of Management (a nationally ranked business school) at the University of Arizona, I freely admit that I was a little concerned about the value of an online PhD. However, working full-time and teaching part-time at the University level did not leave time to attend a traditional brick&mortar institution. I did a lot of research into different online programs and evaluated Capella as the best of the lot (I used Saaty's (1980) Analytic Hierarchy Process to do this evaluation, so I am confident in the validity of my procedures). Although expensive, the cost of the program is comparable to other institutions. While I would have liked for the SOBT to hold the AASCB accreditation, that was not a kill-point for me, as I was unable to locate any online school (in 2004) that had that accreditation. 

The Capella staff was very helpful in the enrollment process and transferred in the maximum 48 credit hours from my MBA program, which helped me immensely. Once enrolled in the program, I found that, the instructors were always available to me, and the rigor is definitely there. As one of the previous reviewers phrased it, you get out of any program what you put into it. I spent 20-25 hours a week throughout my coursework and maintained a 4.00 GPA in the program. I feel that I earned those marks and did not feel that they were given to me.

I would not classify Capella as a diploma mill by any stretch of the imagination and feel that the argument above that addressed the attrition rate belies this charge. Diploma mills do not reject anyone. I believe the disgruntled reviewers above failed to achieve their goals because they were not fully committed to the rigor required by any credible PhD program. I found the program difficult, but feasible, given good time management skills. The comps process is all about completing a very difficult task in a timed manner. I felt that the Leadership program prepared me adequately for this challenge and I got through it on the expedited plan in 8 weeks. If certain people feel that they were unfairly weeded out at the comps stage, perhaps they should examine their own culpability and lack of commmitment to producing a quality product under strenuous conditions. 

My dissertation is taking longer than I orginally projected, but that is due to work and other life pressures that interfered with my educational schedule rather than any lack on the part of Capella itself. The staff, my mentor, and my committee have been very supportive during my dissertation. In fact, other instructors, who are not on my committee, gave freely of their own time to help me locate a suitable study organization. I can't say enough about the value of that support and I hope to carry that model into my own doctoral praxis.