The unofficial online home for fans of the Old Dominion University Monarchs. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

(05-26-2020 12:15 PM)Monarchblue Wrote:  Here is the thing about those online "diploma mills" that those who despise them seem to not understand. Those options exist, and are popular, for a reason. In the modern business world, a diploma, meaning the piece of paper, is required to get you in the door, or to get a promotion that you have already earned, but cannot take advantage of without checking the box. The employer doesn't care where the diploma came from. GEICO, for example, routinely sends people to Strayer to get a requisite diploma so that they can promote them. The reality is the lack of academic rigor is an advantage to certain segments of the working public. It is really dumb that companies require a diploma, and pay for it, for employees that have already proven ready for a promotion, but as long as that farce continues to exist, crappy online diploma mills will continue to fill a roll that is necessary for many people.

My good friend works for Verizon and is pretty high up. 20+ year career. Makes great money, has tons of folks reporting to him etc. And did it all with no college degree. But he's hit his ceiling and needs the piece of paper to get the next promotion. But unlike many, he figures if he's going to do it, he may as well learn something and not waste his time. He's started and dropped out of many online schools including Phoenix, American Public, Regent etc. Never did try ODU. He dropped them all because he felt he was in class with a bunch of idiots, the professors were bad or the student support services were awful. He is now taking online classes through JMU and they've been the best so far. What sets it apart for him is threefold. He considers JMU a "name" university, the classes are actually good and challenging, and the customer service/student support has been very good. That should be the bare minimum for any good online program. From what I hear ODU is not good with customer service/student support. And in the online world, academic rigor and service is how you build that "name". But I haven't taken any online courses at ODU, so thats hearsay.