Posts: 16
Threads: 2
Joined: Dec 2007
Another recent post at Rip-off Report:
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/34...htm#320084
Quote:Submitted: 6/18/2008 4:33:11 PM
Modified: 6/20/2008 11:17:20 AM
Abd
LAKE FOREST, California
At first Northcentral University (NCU) seemed to address all my educational needs: it was convenient and stimulating. I progressed through the entire process, ultimately facing the dissertation process. Here's the unfortunate circumstances that unfolded:
My dissertation concept paper was approved by the committee and the Research Director. The director had some important comments posted to my paper, but I wasn't able to see them. Why? Um, I guess it got lost in the system. . . at least that was the excuse I was given.
Next my dissertation proposal was approved by my entire committee. And then I had to wait. . . .
The Reviewer (Research Director) finally received my paper after it had been waiting somewhere in NCU limbo for almost 20 days.
The Research Director essentially did not like my dissertation and told me in no uncertain terms to start over.
I have only a few weeks left in this class before it ends and I will have to pay for it all over again.
It turns out, I'm not the only one. My dissertation committee chair says that NCU is doing it to at least three of her other doctoral candidates and one is ready to defend.
I'm wondering if anyone else is having these issues?
As I previously stated, NCU was a dream for me in every regard up until I entered the dissertation process; then, look out!!!
I noticed another disgruntled former NCU student reported his regrets and has spoken of possible law suits. I wish him luck.
Abd
LAKE FOREST, California
U.S.A.
Posts: 16
Threads: 2
Joined: Dec 2007
Yet another recent post at Rip-off Report:
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/31...htm#304872
Quote:Submitted: 2/26/2008 2:59:49 PM
Modified: 4/11/2008 1:57:37 PM
Reverendrick
Olathe, Kansas
I had the unfortunate experience of being assigned a couple of professors at Northcentral University (NCU) who didn't even minimally meet their minimum responsibilities as instructors. In a nutshell, they barely participated at all. The class in question, RSH890A-B, is the first research class that leads up to the doctoral dissertation. This is a critical class that sets the foundation for the final dissertation. The student attrition rate at this point in any doctoral program is high because of the difficulty. Active mentorship is absolutely critical to the success of the student at this point, especially at an online university that has no personal contact between mentor and student.
When my instructor's conduct was brought to the attention of the Dean of the school via the appeals process, she chose not to acknowledge and correct the instructor issues. Dean Turner's decision was to academically dismiss me instead.
I started the RSH890A-B classes as a student in good academic and financial standing. I had a respectable GPA of 3.58. I had also prepaid the complete program.
NCU promises active and engaged instructors, as seen in their marketing materials at http://www.ncu.edu/why_ncu/one-on-one_mentoring.aspx. Here's a quote: 'At NCU, online education does not mean working in isolation â€" it means close and frequent interaction'. During the latest attempt at RSH890A-B, Dr. Muller initiated contact with me one time on Nov. 5th. One time - out of 16 weeks of class! Does this sound like Dr. Muller worked 'to support the adult's active learning role by guiding and stimulating the learning process'? When I responded to Dr. Muller's email that I was having difficulty, he never responded.
The previous attempts at RSH890A-B were similar. The instructor initiated contact no more than a couple of times. As a student, I was not aware of the importance of an active mentor until it was too late and academically dismissed. Afterward, I presented my situation to a group of PhD's and experts in distance education. They suggested that the instructors were not properly equipped to be research mentors, based on the instructor's actions or lack thereof.
Absentee professors and NCU's lack of corrective action resulted in my academic dismissal at NCU. How many other NCU students were either dismissed or just walked away because they too experienced the same situation as I? What about the current students who are not at the research phase yet? In my case, I spent 5 years and $15,000 to get to the first research class. It pains me to think that other students will lose $15,000 to a school that talks about active learning and supportive instructors, but doesn't deliver on their promises.
Check out the stats on the Higher Learning Commission's page about Northcentral University. Link: http://www.ncahlc.org/index.php?Action=S..._directory. Only 37 new doctorates awarded in the past year? NCU has been accredited for nearly 5 years now and in business longer than that. I would have expected this number to be much, much higher. I see this as a possible consumer fraud situation because NCU, which is a for-profit school, squeezes the bulk of the dollars from the students by requiring the student to take a large number of classes (8 in my case) before the student can start the research and dissertation phase of the program. NCU is NOT incented to provide reasonable and active research mentors because there are new students lined up at the door to replace everyone who walks away in despair or is academically dismissed.
NCU has also demonstrated bad faith by selectively enforcing and changing their own policies. Section 3 of the Learner's Handbook states 'As a matter of policy, faculty mentors are required to maintain frequent and active contact with Learners.' This was not enforced during my attempts at RSH890A-B. When I recently extended an olive branch and requested readmission back into NCU, per section 2.13.6 - 'Learners who have been dismissed for lack of academic progress will be re admitted as a non degree Learner and must successfully complete 9 credits. After successfully completing 9 credits, the Learner will be admitted to a degree program.' NCU's response was to pile on additional criteria beyond that stated in their policy. This smacks as additional bad faith on the part of the NCU towards their students.
If you want to waste time and money, go to Northcentral University. If you want a reasonable chance at getting your degree, go elsewhere. NCU is a glorified correspondence school with a poor mentor-student communication system. You can do better than NCU.
NCU actively markets to the military and veterans. As a US Navy veteran and a Veterans of Foreign Wars member, I urge my military brethren to look elsewhere for their education. We had a term for misspent money in the service. It was called 'Fraud, Waste and Abuse'. NCU's actions clearly fit into this category. As a taxpayer, it's insulting to know that NCU profits at the expense of our military by making marketing promises that they won't keep.
ReverendRick
Olathe, Kansas
U.S.A.
Posts: 16
Threads: 2
Joined: Dec 2007
Also note this post by Reverend Rick at Rip-off Report. Apparently he has taken legal action against Northcentral.
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/34...htm#320302
Quote:Submitted: 6/20/2008 8:21:25 AM
Modified: 6/20/2008 11:17:20 AM
Reverendrick
Olathe, Kansas
U.S.A.
...My first lawsuit against an NCU mentor is on the court docket for July 15th. Repeated contacts with NCU have been met with silence. If their choice is to deal with me in court instead of handling the issues like a responsible business would, then so be it.
Posts: 646
Threads: 74
Joined: May 2007
Being screwed around in a doctoral program. Who's ever heard of such a thing? Doesn't NCU allow a committee made up of personal friends?
Posts: 145
Threads: 3
Joined: Apr 2008
Ben?Johnson Wrote:Being screwed around in a doctoral program. Who's ever heard of such a thing? Doesn't NCU allow a committee made up of personal friends?
Do you mean like George Gollin (George Dana Gollin, George D. Gollin)?
Posts: 646
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Joined: May 2007
06-30-2008, 02:27 AM
(This post was last modified: 06-30-2008, 02:28 AM by Ben Johnson.)
Brian Crawford Wrote:Ben Johnson Wrote:Being screwed around in a doctoral program. Who's ever heard of such a thing? Doesn't NCU allow a committee made up of personal friends?
Do you mean like George Gollin (George Dana Gollin, George D. Gollin)?
No. Gollin's friends wrote his diss. Bomber Douglas's friends graded his. Keep your facts straight.
Posts: 648
Threads: 104
Joined: Feb 2008
When the Board of Directors (?) meets to consider George Gollin (George D. Gollin, George D. Gollin) for the Hall of Shame, can they also consider Northcentral for membership?
I don't know what the rules are (assuming there are any rules here) about membership, but the NCU PhD program seems to be doing more harm than good to the notion of distance learning.
First of all, because the PhD program is ineptly administered, it is bringing down the few other distance PhD programs out there. The cartel can point to these idiots as an example of why DL doctorates are a bad idea. DL doctorates are in fact a good idea and have been around for decades, but just not the way NCU does it. Nobody there seems to have any clue what they are doing, and the only people suffering are the students. The fact that lots of unis screw over their doctoral students doesn't mitigate NCU's conduct.
Also, not only does the NCU program suck, but it looks like their response to complaints on public forums is to employ shills to blame the students rather than fixing the problem.
Did anyone else notice how the link to this thread got dropped at Wikipedia? That's the second time NCU has conspired with the perv Wiki admins to eradicate links to their bad publicity.
If the NCACS isn't going to do its job, and instead continues to accredit this disaster for another three years, then let's do ours. Let's give NCU its due.
Posts: 145
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Joined: Apr 2008
Ben?Johnson Wrote:Brian?Crawford Wrote:Ben?Johnson Wrote:Being screwed around in a doctoral program. Who's ever heard of such a thing? Doesn't NCU allow a committee made up of personal friends?
Do you mean like George Gollin (George Dana Gollin, George D. Gollin)?
No. Gollin's friends wrote his diss. Bomber Douglas's friends graded his. Keep your facts straight.
Oh, sorry. I thought we were taling about George Gollin (George Dana Gollin, George D. Gollin.
Posts: 445
Threads: 50
Joined: Dec 2007
RAW Wrote:Reverendrick
Olathe, Kansas
U.S.A.
...My first lawsuit against an NCU mentor is on the court docket for July 15th.
Interesting that he describes it as his "first" lawsuit, which implies there are more to come.? Also, he says it's against the dementor, not the school.? What's up with that?
Is that the same Reverend Rick who posts at Goose's Dumbass Discussion? Maybe somebody with posting privileges there (obviously not me) can PM him and ask him to post some more info here, where people appreciate it.
Posts: 595
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Joined: Oct 2007
Reverendrick Wrote:We had a term for misspent money in the service. It was called 'Fraud, Waste and Abuse'. NCU's actions clearly fit into this category.
Another of life's little ironies.
SRU sold cheap crap degrees to anybody willing to pay and play along. People knew what they were (or weren't) getting, and nobody complained because they got what they paid for. That's a big federal crime and gazillions of tax dollars are spent attempting to capture and incarcerate the gray haired old ladies peddling this "dangerous" unaccredited paper.
NCU sells an expensive crap degree program (but apparently few actual degrees) to the innocent and gullible. People are expecting to get a righteous degree, but instead are getting a thorough runaround and then a boot out the door. Based on the posts here, NCU is ripping off people left and right. They have a history of shady conduct and seem to be living down to that sordid reputation.
Where are the feds? Where are the self-appointed "experts" and shit-stirrers? Or is this just another example of the vaunted RA "Gold Standard" in action?
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