Western Governors University Questions and Answers / Threads related to WGU

earweed

It usally doesn't take long for your transfer evaluation. The link to the transfer information is http://kb.wgu.edu/display/2/index.asp?c=12&cpc=3041r5ddxF0IetxgscnfYq4KF2b&cid=3&cat=&catURL=&r=0.3739893
Go to records and transcripts there are two sections you'll need to be concerned with transfer credit for courses and transfer credit for IT certifications
You can access the PDF for the IT program to the right side for more specifics.

Bl8ckr0uter

SephStorm wrote: »

As I have said previously, I have no desire to persue a career in the design or management of networks, my interest is in the administration of the network and its nodes, and in its security. Same reason someone goes for MCSA instread of MCSE, in my mind, or SSCP instead of CISSP.

To illustrate this, I googled Network admin vs. network engineer, I found this: How to motivate & retain my technical staff - Network Engineer vs. Netwok Administrator I like the first explination as far as job responsibilities. Also, here are some relevant (but at least 1 is unreferenced articles. Network administrator - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Network engineer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia System administrator - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

My interest is along the lines of Network/System/Security Admin.

I always thought that That Network Engineering was routers, switches, firewalls, concentrators, load balances, and other networking gear. Network Admin was servers and workstations.

Hyper-Me

knwminus wrote: »

I always thought that That Network Engineering was routers, switches, firewalls, concentrators, load balances, and other networking gear. Network Admin was servers and workstations.

Generally, that is correct. You will see the term tossed around a lot both in the industry job titles and degrees and such.

My job title is "Network Engineer", but 95% of the time I am working on MS servers and clients, and some security related stuff like Barracuda's, ASA's, etc. Only rarely, if ever, am I actually setting up switches/routing/etc.

Hyper-Me

SephStorm wrote: »

Same reason someone goes for MCSA instread of MCSE, in my mind, or SSCP instead of CISSP.
.

Mediocrity?

Not trying to insult you. I think the majority of MCSE's and MCITP:EAs still work in an administration role, as opposed to a true engineering or consulting role. The certification is simply showing a higher level of understanding when it comes to those products. If one understands how each part fits together and the best way to do that, then inclusively we can gather that they also know how to run those parts in tandum.

Regardless of whether you want to be a Sys Admin rather than a Sys Enigneer, I think the MCSE/MCITP EA will still help you out way more in that journey than an MCSA/MCITP SA.

veritas_libertas

SephStorm wrote: »

or SSCP instead of CISSP.

I think that probably has much more to do with what they are able to take rather than choice. I am considering going for the SSCP next year since I have been doing more security related tasks this year.

Hyper-Me

Anyway, I have been looking at my classes spreadsheet. I have 19 classes to finish the degree. If i complete 3.1 classes a month, i'll make it in 6 months. That might be a bit of stretch, I dunno, but I know I can knock out four within the first month with ease (EWB, Project+, IT 1, Sec+)

veritas_libertas

Hyper-Me wrote: »

Anyway, I have been looking at my classes spreadsheet. I have 19 classes to finish the degree. If i complete 3.1 classes a month, i'll make it in 6 months. That might be a bit of stretch, I dunno, but I know I can knock out four within the first month with ease (EWB, Project+, IT 1, Sec+)

If you are able to that would be great. At this point it looks I will be able to do three a month for a little while as well...

fly351

How many general ed classes did you guys end up having to take?

Hyper-Me

8 if you dont count Leadership Concepts and Apps, Reasoning and Problem Solving, Principles of management, Fundamentals of Org Behavior and Leadership. 12 if you do.

earweed

The reasoning and problem solving will be your worst of those classes. A lot of writing and then waiting for your assignments to be graded.

petedude

earweed wrote: »

The reasoning and problem solving will be your worst of those classes. A lot of writing and then waiting for your assignments to be graded.

Isn't there a 25-page "thesis" for the capstone? If that's correct, a lot of folks are underestimating that course.

earweed

petedude wrote: »

Isn't there a 25-page "thesis" for the capstone? If that's correct, a lot of folks are underestimating that course.

That's for a project. Most people complete it in less than 2 months.
The college level reasoning and problem solving takes a long time due to having so many different assignments graded through taskstream. That course took me 2 months because every assignment took a week (sometimes longer) to be graded and then resubmitted if it wasn't up to standards.

Hyper-Me

If I come close to making it in 6 months and spill over to another term where I have less than a months work left, and its due to my mentor (or whoever) dragging a$$ on grading or whatnot...there will be words had with some manager at WGU.

b1tbuck3t

Hyper-Me wrote: »

If I come close to making it in 6 months and spill over to another term where I have less than a months work left, and its due to my mentor (or whoever) dragging a$$ on grading or whatnot...there will be words had with some manager at WGU.

An enrollment advisor that went through the program told me he started his Capstone project unofficially prior to having it on his AAP. He risked doing work that wouldn't be accepted but it worked out for him and it was.

I am going to try to follow the same path and make sure I start on the Capstone project early and also will enroll in Reasoning and Problem solving right away as well per Earweed's advise.

Btw. One question Earweed. Were the four assignments all listed as the final performance assessment or were they also for intermediate course work?

I have heard you can go directly to the Performance assessment.

SephStorm

veritas_libertas wrote: »

I think that probably has much more to do with what they are able to take rather than choice. I am considering going for the SSCP next year since I have been doing more security related tasks this year.

Ah! I would have to disagree here, As has been stated on there forums, the SSCP is more technically oriented.

cablegod

19 classes in 6 months? All I'm going to say is good luck. Blasting your mentor will get you nowhere real quick. Look at the class scheduling rules/guidelines closely. Grading is not done by mentors.

Hyper-Me

cablegod wrote: »

19 classes in 6 months? All I'm going to say is good luck. Blasting your mentor will get you nowhere real quick. Look at the class scheduling rules/guidelines closely. Grading is not done by mentors.

If my mentor purposely slows me down and keeps me from going at a rate that im comfortable with AND completing assignments in a satisfactory manner then i'll have a legitimate complaint, and will request a new mentor.

Colleges are nothing more than a company we are paying for a service. In the case of WGU, everything is time sensitive. If they keep me from maximizing my time and therefore cost me another 3000$ as a result, I have a legitimate complaint.

If i don't finish based on my own faults...well thats my fault.

earweed

Mentors aren't the ones who grade the assignments for the CLRPS class, it's done through taskstream. It's why you always want your performance asessment classes early in the term. They're sometimes slow grading assesments.
For my english class (with the research paper) assignments were usually graded in a few days but for that coll level raesoning and Problem solving they were a lot slower.

cablegod

earweed wrote: »

Mentors aren't the ones who grade the assignments for the CLRPS class, it's done through taskstream. It's why you always want your performance asessment classes early in the term. They're sometimes slow grading assesments.
For my english class (with the research paper) assignments were usually graded in a few days but for that coll level raesoning and Problem solving they were a lot slower.

Exactly. I've seen taskstream work take a week to a week and a half to get graded. Again, mentors do not do any sort of grading.

Hyper-Me, I think you are seriously underestimating the program. Your mentor will not "hold you back". Mine sure hasn't, neither has anyone else I know at WGU. Do you work? Do you have a family? Yes to both for me. I get my 12cu's in each term, and then some, but I seriously think you are delusional if you think you are going to do 19 classes in one term, work and family or not. It just ain't going to happen. What classes are in your lineup?

b1tbuck3t

SephStorm wrote: »

Ah! I would have to disagree here, As has been stated on there forums, the SSCP is more technically oriented.

From the desciption on the ISC2 Website I would not agree that the SSCP is very technically oriented based on its intended audience.

Also the CISSP is definately not a detailed technical certification. It has been described as "A mile wide and an inch deep". In the case of the CISSP unless it has changed you need to have a credential audit to make sure you match the 5 year experience requirement.

In my case I had another CISSP that I knew vouch for me. They had to review my resume and certify based on their knowledge of me that I met the experience requirements.




From the ISC2 website:

SSCP® - Systems Security Certified Practitioner

The Go-To-Guy: That’s an Information Security Must-Have
The go-to guy could be you. With as little as one year’s work experience in the information security field, you can become certified as a Systems Security Certified Practitioner (SSCP®).
The SSCP is ideal for those working towards positions such as Network Security Engineers, Security Systems Analysts, or Security Administrators. This is also the perfect course for personnel in many other non-security disciplines that require an understanding of security but do not have information security as a primary part of their job description. This large and growing group includes information systems auditors; application programmers; system, network and database administrators; business unit representatives, and systems analysts.
CISSP® - Certified Information Systems Security Professional

The Certification That Inspires Utmost Confidence
If you plan to build a career in information security – one of today’s most visible professions – and if you have at least five full years of experience in information security, then the CISSP® credential should be your next career goal. It’s the credential for professionals who develop policies and procedures in information security.

Hyper-Me

Like I said, I may be stretching myself too thin. Once I get going and get a better feel of how things are, I will know more. Its not a problem to go into a second term, but I want it to be of my own volition.

I work full time, no family.

In my first month I plan on doing Project+, Sec+, IT I, and EWB. Thats 17 CUs, in a month.

cablegod

Hyper-Me wrote: »

Like I said, I may be stretching myself too thin. Once I get going and get a better feel of how things are, I will know more. Its not a problem to go into a second term, but I want it to be of my own volition.

I work full time, no family.

In my first month I plan on doing Project+, Sec+, IT I, and EWB. Thats 17 CUs, in a month.

I think that's easily doable. I just don't want you to get ahead of your self thinking you're going to kill it all in one term. Just realize what you're getting into. Those GenEd classes are not at all easy by any stretch. I think you'd do good to kill it in 3 terms.

Hyper-Me

If it takes 3, people need to quit referring to a Bachelors as a "4 year degree".

If a degree can not be realistically completed in a certain amount of time, then a time frame should not be parts of its name or slang name. I had an AAS which knocked out some classes and the MCITP which knocked out 6 more. Still needing nearly 4 terms after all that would be egg on the face, IMO.

fly351

Hyper-Me wrote: »

If it takes 3, people need to quit referring to a Bachelors as a "4 year degree".

If a degree can not be realistically completed in a certain amount of time, then a time frame should not be parts of its name or slang name. I had an AAS which knocked out some classes and the MCITP which knocked out 6 more. Still needing nearly 4 terms after all that would be egg on the face, IMO.

Uhh well if you did the bare minimum then yes it would take 4 years.. but your not doing that are you...? Besides 4 terms is only 2 years at this school..

Remember that WGU is based on competency... I took 4 Cisco classes and 3 Windows Server classes a couple years ago for my A.A.S., and they won't transfer because I don't have the certs to back them up... hopefully have my CCNA though before transferring in though.

earweed

b1tbuck3t wrote: »

Btw. One question Earweed. Were the four assignments all listed as the final performance assessment or were they also for intermediate course work?

I have heard you can go directly to the Performance assessment.

They are the performance assessment. You turn each of these in and it gets graded. You can work on the next assignment but can't get it graded til the previous one's graded as passed. That's why the class took so long, waiting for the graders.
Performance assessments are not usually one graded paper/assignment. It's usually several.

earweed

Hyper-Me wrote: »

If it takes 3, people need to quit referring to a Bachelors as a "4 year degree".

If a degree can not be realistically completed in a certain amount of time, then a time frame should not be parts of its name or slang name. I had an AAS which knocked out some classes and the MCITP which knocked out 6 more. Still needing nearly 4 terms after all that would be egg on the face, IMO.

That's one of the reasons they made changes March 1. The way the program was set up it would take someone doing 12 CU"s/term 6 years if starting from scratch.

b1tbuck3t

earweed wrote: »

They are the performance assessment. You turn each of these in and it gets graded. You can work on the next assignment but can't get it graded til the previous one's graded as passed. That's why the class took so long, waiting for the graders.
Performance assessments are not usually one graded paper/assignment. It's usually several.

Fun!

From the current program guide it shows:
Reasoning and Problem Solving (CLC1) -Proctored, computer-based objective exam

Hopefully it has changed since you took it.

I have been trying to minimize any classes with Performance assessments.

I believe I will only need to do the following classes that have Performance assessments:

Education Without Boundaries
Language and Communication: Presentation
Integrated Natural Sciences Applications
Leadership Concepts and Applications
Technical Writing
IT Capstone Project

I had CLEP Exams or Certifications for all other classes that had performance assessments.

earweed

Then it has been changed. You guys are lucky.

Hyper-Me

So what is a Proctored, computer-based exam for the geneds like? Where do we take them?

fly351

Hyper-Me wrote: »

So what is a Proctored, computer-based exam for the geneds like? Where do we take them?

Student Handbook:
http://kb.wgu.edu/

Search: Assessment Scheduling Procedures

Proctor Locator:
Western Governors University - Proctor Yellow Pages