Student Experiences at Western Governors University (WGU)

petedude

I was originally set against going (time, expense, etc.), but a TE drinks round sounds too good to pass up.

Ya know, it's not very western of Western Governors to have a graduation ceremony in Atlanta.

(three courses left. . .)

Mike-Mike

My BRV1 has an "end date" of 8/30, which I will not have the cert by then. I emailed my mentor, and she said, "We cannot extend the date but know you have 9/15 to complete the course."

what does that mean? My term is done at the end of Sept., does that mean that "end date" doesn't mean anything? And that as long as I'm in by 9/15 I'm fine?

demonfurbie

welp just sent in my "idea paper" for tech writing i hope it gets approved so i can get this over with while i wait on my new term to test on 70-642 and 70-643(at least i think 643 is easier than 640)

sheckler

Mike-Mike wrote: »

My BRV1 has an "end date" of 8/30, which I will not have the cert by then. I emailed my mentor, and she said, "We cannot extend the date but know you have 9/15 to complete the course."

what does that mean? My term is done at the end of Sept., does that mean that "end date" doesn't mean anything? And that as long as I'm in by 9/15 I'm fine?

Yeah the end date just seems to be a soft deadline you set with your mentor. The end of the term is the real deadline.

Mike-Mike

sheckler wrote: »

Yeah the end date just seems to be a soft deadline you set with your mentor. The end of the term is the real deadline.

thanks for clearing that up

never2late

themagicone wrote: »

BTW On another subject... Pertaining to prorating your term if your graduate early. It only applies IF the term was less than 12 CU. And the refund will be based on the amount of CU's. For me, I have 2.5 months left of my term but I did 32 CU so I will not get a refund. If I only did 4 I would get 2/3rd back.

Confirmed this with my mentor yesterday. WGU says that the $3000 tuition is for 12 CU's. If you complete the 12 then you are free to pursue more but the tuition covers only the first 12. If your final term required less than 12 then you will be eligible.

I should finish my classes by Oct 1, leaving me 4 months till my term completes. In those four months I can not access any resource that does not pertain to my degree emphasis. I wanted access to some of the MS classes that way the 4 months won't seem a waste, but it is against WGU policy. As someone here mentioned earlier, I guess I could see if my mentor would accidentally make these resources available, but I rather it be above board.

This is my first real disappointment with the college and its policies.

themagicone

never2late wrote: »

Confirmed this with my mentor yesterday. WGU says that the $3000 tuition is for 12 CU's. If you complete the 12 then you are free to pursue more but the tuition covers only the first 12. If your final term required less than 12 then you will be eligible.

I should finish my classes by Oct 1, leaving me 4 months till my term completes. In those four months I can not access any resource that does not pertain to my degree emphasis. I wanted access to some of the MS classes that way the 4 months won't seem a waste, but it is against WGU policy. As someone here mentioned earlier, I guess I could see if my mentor would accidentally make these resources available, but I rather it be above board.

This is my first real disappointment with the college and its policies.

Ah they'll give you any resources you want after your graduate. I got all the labsims for the EA track. They said they would also send me resources for the masters program if I wanted.

petedude

After finishing GTT1, I had a window of opportunity to tweak the equipment at home. Upgraded my aging home HP NC series laptop to a Core Duo CPU, a 32GB OCZ SSD and Ubuntu 10. The thing hauls now, and will hopefully hold up until I finish my master's. Ubuntu 10 rocks-- as Mac-like as you can get without being a Mac. Used the Print to File feature of the OS for the first time today-- was able to print my GUT1 tasks to a PDF, almost as easy as doing it in OS X. Have to say Ubuntu is my favorite development platform for Java so far as well.

Used the Books 24x7 mobile site for the first time today on my Sylvania Android tablet. Nice setup, especially the PDF chapter download. Too bad you can't download whole books in PDF, but I can understand why.

demonfurbie

petedude wrote: »

After finishing GTT1, I had a window of opportunity to tweak the equipment at home. Upgraded my aging home HP NC series laptop to a Core Duo CPU, a 32GB OCZ SSD and Ubuntu 10. The thing hauls now, and will hopefully hold up until I finish my master's. Ubuntu 10 rocks-- as Mac-like as you can get without being a Mac. Used the Print to File feature of the OS for the first time today-- was able to print my GUT1 tasks to a PDF, almost as easy as doing it in OS X. Have to say Ubuntu is my favorite development platform for Java so far as well.

Used the Books 24x7 mobile site for the first time today on my Sylvania Android tablet. Nice setup, especially the PDF chapter download. Too bad you can't download whole books in PDF, but I can understand why.

email me ill show ya how to do the whole book in pdf ... i beta tested the mobile site why i didnt tell yall about it when i started 2 years ago

never2late

themagicone wrote: »

Ah they'll give you any resources you want after your graduate. I got all the labsims for the EA track. They said they would also send me resources for the masters program if I wanted.

I asked my mentor and he answered emphatically no, it was not allowed. So I'm confused. Was this something your mentor did for you or does WGU allow this?

hiddenknight821

never2late wrote: »

I asked my mentor and he answered emphatically no, it was not allowed. So I'm confused. Was this something your mentor did for you or does WGU allow this?

I can get an answer for you tonight when I call my mentor for our weekly call. Would you like me to find out for you?

demonfurbie

could they be any more vague on whats required for the TWA1 paper

even the sample is really no help it seams to all be talking in circles and could be summed up in 1 page

petedude

demonfurbie wrote: »

could they be any more vague on whats required for the TWA1 paper

The tasks for most competencies are written in such a way as to force you to think through them. On the ones where writing's required, I think they're also trying to wring some creativity out of you as well.

It's been a few days since I wrote my TWA1 paper, so I'm going to miss some details without looking it up. But basically, you want to:
1. Explain your project and its rationale (why it makes sense to do it)
2. Explain how you're going to do it
3. Provide project management details for it (e.g. schedules such as GANTT chart)
4. Provide references for any papers or anything you quote in doing the above
5. Explain which competencies you've gained that you'll demonstrate by doing this

Yeah, you could "sum it up" in one page. You could conceivably sum up most of the required papers in a page (sometimes in a paragraph or two!). But the idea is to get you to spill your guts as to what you're doing, and ensure you can defend it. The competencies list at the end is for WGU's reference, so they can say you've "mastered" the competencies.

themagicone

never2late wrote: »

I asked my mentor and he answered emphatically no, it was not allowed. So I'm confused. Was this something your mentor did for you or does WGU allow this?

Not sure... Guess my mentor is really nice. They won't give me vouchers but the LR are nice.

hiddenknight821

never2late wrote: »

I should finish my classes by Oct 1, leaving me 4 months till my term completes. In those four months I can not access any resource that does not pertain to my degree emphasis. I wanted access to some of the MS classes that way the 4 months won't seem a waste, but it is against WGU policy. As someone here mentioned earlier, I guess I could see if my mentor would accidentally make these resources available, but I rather it be above board.

Just got off the phone with my mentor. She told me that I can still access the learning resources as long as I'm still enroll in my term after I finish everything else. You can access the Skillsoft materials, but I don't believe you can access the Labsim. For sure, you should be able to access the course of study for other courses. Looks like you might want to talk to Student Services, but not sure what we can do to help you. I think you should wait and see if your mentor is wrong. If not, then you should complain about a portion of your $3000 is going to waste to the SS.

petedude

A woodgrain pen box with two nice WGU logo pens.

I guess if I start referring people again, I might manage to get the whole welcome kit.

Mike-Mike

petedude wrote: »

A woodgrain pen box with two nice WGU logo pens.

I guess if I start referring people again, I might manage to get the whole welcome kit.

i got that same thing

demonfurbie

ive refered alot of ppl and have yet to get anything

hiddenknight821

demonfurbie wrote: »

ive refered alot of ppl and have yet to get anything

Dunno where my mentor got this from, but this is what she told me when I inquired about it.

Once the friend enrolls and completes EWB2, the referrer (current student) becomes eligible for their $50 gift card. · The gift card will be e-mailed to the referrer at their WGU student e-mail address on the 15th of the month following their friend's enrollment.
For example, if the friend starts EWB2 on August 1st, the gift card will be e-mailed on September 15th.

demonfurbie

hiddenknight821 wrote: »

Dunno where my mentor got this from, but this is what she told me when I inquired about it.

hummm im getting shafted , ohh wells

never2late

Passed the Capstone tonight with a 3.92. Only have CCNA-Secuirty left to graduate. According to themagicone the class is not that difficult so still on course to graduate by Oct 1.

As far as the "extra" LR's available after graduation and before term end, I'll talk to my mentor.

themagicone

never2late wrote: »

Passed the Capstone tonight with a 3.92. Only have CCNA-Secuirty left to graduate. According to themagicone the class is not that difficult so still on course to graduate by Oct 1.

As far as the "extra" LR's available after graduation and before term end, I'll talk to my mentor.

Congrats!!!! Check your PM...

never2late

BTW, since Irene is bearing down on us, being in Va Beach, I may be out of touch for a few days. Hope others in her path stay safe.

Good Luck

hiddenknight821

never2late wrote: »

Passed the Capstone tonight with a 3.92. Only have CCNA-Secuirty left to graduate.

Congrats! You're almost there!

Pishof

demonfurbie wrote: »

ive refered alot of ppl and have yet to get anything

I just received a wooden pen box in the mail a couple days ago with a pen and pencil inside saying thanks for referring someone..

No sign of Amazon gift card yet.

petedude

Pishof wrote: »

I just received a wooden pen box in the mail a couple days ago with a pen and pencil inside saying thanks for referring someone..

No sign of Amazon gift card yet.

I have to wonder if they're switching away from Amazon gift cards because of potential issues with regional accreditors' policies. Supposedly WASC only allows them to give one cash award for referrals per year, and there have been reports of students receiving multiple Amazon cards.

I'd also like to think WGU is nice enough to not ignore multiple referrals, even though some folks are simply piling on the referrals until someone signs up.

hiddenknight821

petedude wrote: »

I have to wonder if they're switching away from Amazon gift cards because of potential issues with regional accreditors' policies. Supposedly WASC only allows them to give one cash award for referrals per year, and there have been reports of students receiving multiple Amazon cards.

I'd also like to think WGU is nice enough to not ignore multiple referrals, even though some folks are simply piling on the referrals until someone signs up.

I don't even want the gift cards to begin with. Needs and wants are not the same. I just want one of the free apparels from their giftshopm (preferably a hoodie). It would also be nice to get a certificate frame with WGU logo from them, so I can frame my degree when I graduate, but unfortunately they don't have one and I'm a bit surprised.

demonfurbie

tech writing is a pain in the ass, im guess im gonna have to pick at it

i just cant seam to get it over 6 pages total and thats alot of repeating

petedude

demonfurbie wrote: »

tech writing is a pain in the ass, im guess im gonna have to pick at it

i just cant seam to get it over 6 pages total and thats alot of repeating

Got any diagrams, charts, flowcharts, stuff like that? They can be included.

If your project is something that benefits an organization and has been done by others, try looking up white papers regarding it on the 'net. For example, if you're changing out a simple network printer for a combined printer/scanner, find some vendor white papers on that and quote 'em (make sure you can get all the info you need for APA before you use them). You might also find quotable articles at the major tech news sites for this stuff (e.g. ComputerWorld).

themagicone

Without knowing your topic it is hard to say what you need to do. May be your idea is to narrow/non-specific enough for it. You should easily be able to fill 2-3 pages with just an introduction. Then go into review of other work. Find 3-4 things you can reference. Discuss why/how this affects your project, how it can help, etc. My project was on security policies, for review of other work I picked 3 books and I discussed for each how each book will help the project. I went further and went into the 3 areas of security (logical, physical and intellectual). With each book I described how it dealt with each area and the like.