Western Governors University Questions and Answers / Threads related to WGU

veritas_libertas

@Jagged: I don't see any extra value in the IT world for a second BS/BA. Though it may cost more time/money its more beneficial to keep moving upwards with degrees.

spiderjericho

Jagged wrote: »

It might depend on if he has the money or other means that would cover a Bachelor over a Masters. It would be the quickest and cheapest accredited 2nd BA/BS he could get. $3k and 6 months.

I can get my employer to pay for it. And since hopefully, the advisor will say I have one or two terms to complete a degree with WGU (but I know they want that $$$).

And my original BA is in journalism/communications, not IT. That's why I'm willing to go the fast-pace route through WGU and then go for my master's.

Jagged wrote:

New certs don't cancel out the older ones in CompTIAland.

So if I took the new Net+ and Sec+, they'd show as Network+ 2009 and Security+ 2008 with a three-year expiration along with the old two?

Jagged

spiderjericho wrote: »

So if I took the new Net+ and Sec+, they'd show as Network+ 2009 and Security+ 2008 with a three-year expiration along with the old two?

Pretty sure about that. I have Project+ 2003 & 2009. Both listed on my certification page as not expiring.

[FONT=Courier New]Name                              Started       Active        Expires
CompTIA Linux+                    2009-Aug-31   2009-Aug-31   Never
CompTIA Project+                  2004-Oct-29   2004-Oct-29   Never
CompTIA Project+                  2009-May-14   2009-May-14   Never
CompTIA Security+ (2008 edition)  2010-Sep-10   2010-Sep-10   Never
CompTIA Server+                   2009-May-08   2009-May-08   Never[/FONT]

As you can see they only tagged the Security+ with a version. I have to click into the two Project+ to see the test number and an edition for the newer one. The transcript you create shows just the same name and the active date; nothing about expiration.

At this time, a third party won't even know that a cert was going to expire unless they know the rules based on the dates. I guess the expired ones will disappear if viewed at the later date. The transcripts are dynamic since I just viewed the one I created for WGU before I had Security+ and it is on there now.

citinerd

Just got the name of my mentor today and scheduled our first meeting. His name is Todd Pita. Anyone have him?

Excellent1

citinerd wrote: »

Just got the name of my mentor today and scheduled our first meeting. His name is Todd Pita. Anyone have him?

Never heard of him, but good luck. With a last name like that, you might have to watch yourself.

eansdad

citinerd wrote: »

Just got the name of my mentor today and scheduled our first meeting. His name is Todd Pita. Anyone have him?

I have Todd as a mentor, he's pretty easy going.

veritas_libertas

spiderjericho wrote: »

And my original BA is in journalism/communications, not IT. That's why I'm willing to go the fast-pace route through WGU and then go for my master's.

Not trying to start an argument about this, but I can tell you with certainty that there are plenty of IT professionals on TE without degrees in IT. Once you have Masters degree than the BS/BA shouldn't be as much of an influence.

petedude

veritas_libertas wrote: »

@Jagged: I don't see any extra value in the IT world for a second BS/BA. Though it may cost more time/money its more beneficial to keep moving upwards with degrees.

I'll second this, as WGU's IT diplomas do not state the concentration, so it's almost not worth the effort. Additionally, if you change departments entirely-- e.g. move from IT to the business program-- it would appear to me that you might actually be forced to retake some of the general ed. Again, not worth it.

There are some relatively inexpensive regionally accredited master's degrees out there, and some even less expensive nationally accredited (lower tier) master's programs if they're a good career fit for you. You'd be better off tacking a master's on to your resume.

veritas_libertas

petedude wrote: »

There are some relatively inexpensive regionally accredited master's degrees out there, and some even less expensive nationally accredited (lower tier) master's programs if they're a good career fit for you. You'd be better off tacking a master's on to your resume.

Agreed, WGU and Davenport University are both good examples.

petedude

bc901 wrote: »

Question for you guys. I'm scheduled to start the Security program at WGU in February, but I'm having second thoughts about it. The Network Design degree seems very appealing and since I'm not really working in the IT field at the job I do now I think it'd be better for me to get the NDM instead of the Security specialty. Then just go after a M.S. in security later.

Has anyone else ran into this problem?

I had a similar set of considerations. The networking concentrations were tempting at one point, and the database/programming concentrations sounded enticing recently. In the long haul, though, I'm personally better served by the general IT concentration given where I see myself going (not to mention the general IT concentration is helping fill in a few skills gaps and satisfy my curiosity about some areas).

Security is a "hotter" field, but an MS in some related field will do you better in the long haul, and the networking related concentrations will open doors for you to short-term interim hiring where there might be more openings. The networking will keep you going until you finish that master's, and actually is related to what you'll be doing.

demonfurbie

any one else having issues logging into wgu today?

Jack2

demonfurbie wrote: »

any one else having issues logging into wgu today?

Yes the WGU systems are down "temporarily". I had a call with my mentor today and he could not even get to my information on his end. Guess the migration last week or two did not go so well.... Any redundant system in place?

citinerd

Excellent1 wrote: »

Never heard of him, but good luck. With a last name like that, you might have to watch yourself.

That is the first thing I noticed. I told my wife I hope the last name doesn't mean what I think it means...

Excellent1

citinerd wrote: »

That is the first thing I noticed. I told my wife I hope the last name doesn't mean what I think it means...

It's all in good fun. The main thing is to remember that your mentor is a resource and try to get off on the right foot with him or her. Some of them are very good to work with, some can be very pushy. If you wind up with the latter, don't hesitate to respectfully put your foot down. Only you can decide what is best for your personal situation. That said, we all need that outside perspective sometimes to make the best decisions, so I would recommend utilizing your mentor's input accordingly.

Best of luck with the school.

erpadmin

My mentor is really a good guy. In the beginning, we had a "getting-to-know-you" phase where we were both evaluating the other. I imagine this is standard/normal with the rest of you. After awhile, when he sees how much you progress, he will work with you on most/all things within reason. He'll always get back to me on questions I have.

It is the complete opposite of my enrollment counseling experience. I know this is one of those YMMV but so far, so good with mine.

Hypntick

I have a question that someone may know the answer to, if not i'll just call the school when they're open. Does anyone know if WIA funding can apply to this school? I've had a few local places call me up wanting to start with them so they can get their chunk of that WIA but I would rather do something I see as a more sound investment if I can. Any ideas? Thanks.

Edit: Figured i'd go ahead and edit this as well. I am seriously looking at WGU, but have a few misgivings. Mostly in relation to the math portions of the programs. I do not enjoy math, I have never been good at math and have retained absolutely none of my high school math learning. What depth does the math portion of the degree program go into? I.E. How screwed would I be?

asurania

hey does anyone know what book is needed for MSISA program for the Organizational Management class JFT2 Organizational Management

erpadmin

Hypntick wrote: »

Edit: Figured i'd go ahead and edit this as well. I am seriously looking at WGU, but have a few misgivings. Mostly in relation to the math portions of the programs. I do not enjoy math, I have never been good at math and have retained absolutely none of my high school math learning. What depth does the math portion of the degree program go into? I.E. How screwed would I be?

Hypntick, I don't think you would be "screwed" by the math. I'm no math wiz myself and I haven't taken the math yet (I plan to in March). From the CoS that I have looked at, the MathLab seems to be pretty straightforward. In fact, in the QLC1 (Algebra/Trig/Geometry) Course of Study, students who have not touched a math problem in years (in my case, we're looking at almost two decades) are encouraged to do the homework the math lab gives you. I bought the textbook from ebay and it's on it's way and I have my niece's scientific calculator. Some stuff is starting to come back to me.

Also, the course mentors (I would imagine) will help you out if you're struggling. I have found this to be the case in my other courses and can't see the math being any different. When I take QLC1, I will be waking up much earlier than normal to work through some of the problems I might have before I go to work. Will do the same with QLT1 (Statistics).

Math won't be a dealbreaker...you will get help. I too had the fear, but figured it would be the same if I went the B&M route (plus Calculus.....yikes!)

veritas_libertas

Hypntick wrote: »

Edit: Figured i'd go ahead and edit this as well. I am seriously looking at WGU, but have a few misgivings. Mostly in relation to the math portions of the programs. I do not enjoy math, I have never been good at math and have retained absolutely none of my high school math learning. What depth does the math portion of the degree program go into? I.E. How screwed would I be?

I know your fear well. I'm fighting with math and not doing well. I should have looked for help right a way. At this point I'm not sure if I'm going to finish my math class by the end of the semester. I have considered taking a math class from the local tech college but I'm not sure how that would work in conjunction with WGU. My best piece of advice would be that if you struggle with math than take it a local tech or community college and then transfer it to WGU.

erpadmin

Hyp, this might help you out (I should have done this too...I only needed the math [and English but it was easy enough at WGU with exception of course to LAT1....lol])

Transfer College Credits To Western Governors University - StraighterLine

http://www.straighterline.com/college-courses/college-algebra.cfm

Edit: God Bless Yahoo mail and their love of my cookies.....lmao.

http://www.straighterline.com/promotions/freecourse/index.cfm?a_aid=advertise
(In case you want to tack on English too...)

Hypntick

erpadmin wrote: »

Hyp, this might help you out (I should have done this too...I only needed the math....lol)

Transfer College Credits To Western Governors University - StraighterLine

Online College Algebra Course - College Algebra Class - StraighterLine

Thank you so much, this may actually help considerably. Quick question, can you order your classes at WGU in whichever order you prefer? The reason I ask is my first question, about the WIA stuff. Since i'm currently unemployed that may well pay for up to a years worth of WGU, but I have to get on it pretty fast.

I would like to at least get set up at WGU and leave my math to the very last minute if at all possible. If I can just worry about it later then I can take my time reading a bit more up on it, however even then I don't think it'll help me much. Math just does not click with me at all, that's why i've always had a calculator.

erpadmin

Hypntick wrote: »

Thank you so much, this may actually help considerably. Quick question, can you order your classes at WGU in whichever order you prefer? The reason I ask is my first question, about the WIA stuff. Since i'm currently unemployed that may well pay for up to a years worth of WGU, but I have to get on it pretty fast.

I would like to at least get set up at WGU and leave my math to the very last minute if at all possible. If I can just worry about it later then I can take my time reading a bit more up on it, however even then I don't think it'll help me much. Math just does not click with me at all, that's why i've always had a calculator.

As long as your calculator doesn't have CAS, you can always use your calculator... .

You can take whatever classes you want to take. I made sure Security+ (which they recommend you take later) was part of my first set of classes. There were only two "classes" that were mandatory for me to take. One was a Foundations English course. The other was EWB, the equivalent of freshman orientation. EWB had to be done within 10 days (mine was done within 10 hours... lol).

All in all, my first 12 CUs were done in 26 days (YMMV).

erpadmin

BTW,

If you go the straighterline route, you have to do that first, before you start any WGU classes. Otherwise you will have to do the math at WGU. (Which may or may not be so bad depending on if you yell for help.)

petedude

Hypntick wrote: »

Thank you so much, this may actually help considerably. Quick question, can you order your classes at WGU in whichever order you prefer? The reason I ask is my first question, about the WIA stuff. . . . .

I believe that technically speaking, the mentors could direct your entire program if they wanted to, and understand that there are a few who actually try to do that. However, most mentors will let you pick and choose your course selections once you've demonstrated that you can knock stuff out. I think your best bet is to discuss your situation up front with your mentor, then knock out a few "less-difficult" courses quickly to build a bit of trust.

ehnde

How far do you have to go with math in the I.T. degree? I'm planning to start in July, graduating with A.S. in May. I finished college algebra with a B last year (huge relief) and thought I was done forever with math. Do you need statistics/trig/calculus for the B.S. at WGU? I asked an enrollment counselor, but his answer was a bit vague. He just said the math would be challenging and blah blah without telling me exactly what was covered. I'm afraid the math will really slow me down.

veritas_libertas

ehnde wrote: »

How far do you have to go with math in the I.T. degree? I'm planning to start in July, graduating with A.S. in May. I finished college algebra with a B last year (huge relief) and thought I was done forever with math. Do you need statistics/trig/calculus for the B.S. at WGU? I asked an enrollment counselor, but his answer was a bit vague. He just said the math would be challenging and blah blah without telling me exactly what was covered. I'm afraid the math will really slow me down.

Trig/Geometry/Algebra are mixed in to QLC1. Not sure about the other two yet.

ArabianKnight

When you want to transfer certs to WGU you have received in the last 5 years do you need to take an assessment or quiz on the certs you have or is that only for experience transfers?

veritas_libertas

ArabianKnight wrote: »

When you want to transfer certs to WGU you have received in the last 5 years do you need to take an assessment or quiz on the certs you have or is that only for experience transfers?

I don't know about the experience, but for the certs you only need to send them the certifications (can't remember if you have to scan them, or just send them your MS/CompTIA/Cisco member IDs.)

erpadmin

veritas_libertas wrote: »

I don't know about the experience, but for the certs you only need to send them the certifications (can't remember if you have to scan them, or just send them your MS/CompTIA/Cisco member IDs.)

For my CompTIA certs (at the time, A+ and Network+), I had to send my mentor the transcript from the CompTIA website. Once he got it, IT Fundamentals II & III and TNV1 (Network+) were considered transferred.

Had I waited until this month...I would have had to take them again...(if I did not take them again before 12/31/2010, of course...)

STIG

Good thread! Just found it, looking for resources/examples for HVT1 (I'm no art critic!) Been going to WGU for just about 3 years now, 4 classes left after my current term!

Any tips for HVT1? Also, if anyone has any IT/security questions, let me know!

STIG