Wgu msnm

demonfurbie

Am i the only one in this degree.... im not seeing many others taking it

anyway im looking to partner up with someone, kinda like a study buddy to make things go faster, anyone??

Mike-Mike

I'm still in the Bachelors program, but I am considering this once i finish.. how do you like it?

petedude

Any master's is better than none, but. . . the WGU MS-ITNM struck me as being very limited in career utility. Sure, you could get a job as a network manager with it, but what about beyond that? There's no upper-level certs in it like CISA, CISM, ITIL or even CGEIT. With certs like those it'd be more useful, but I think most people would get better use out of a pure general MS-IT or MBA/tech-focus than the MS-ITNM.

Sometimes, I find myself speculating that the MS-ITNM was an experiment on WGU's part to see if they could a) develop an IT master's that was writing-intensive; b) see if they could deliver an IT program without certs; c) maybe see if they could start dipping their toes into research waters.

demonfurbie

i like the program so far and it is more of a operations management degree

as for high end certs after a PMP would go nicely with it as well as a CISSP, i see this as a policy making/enforcement type degree

rdb8879unch@wgu.edu

I am four classes into the degree. Are you still enrolled?

spiderjericho

Yeah, I wish they offered ITIL Intermediate, CISSP/CISM (as well as to their other tracks)PMP and classes around service management, managing an IT organization, security and other related topics.

I think the MSISA is their only compelling Masters degree (wish it had that NSA approval).

ahardinjr

I'm enrolled in the program and actually like it. It has filled in the gaps that I missed in my MBA program (IA management concentration). However, I do agree that it has limited utility and will only be beneficial to a certain subset of people. I do wish they made it a general MS in IT or MS rather than Network Management. I'm roughly 50% through the program and have found a majority of the classes to be general IT management topics rather than specifically focused on Network Management.

I do like how it does not have certification requirements within the curriculum, which better aligns it with a majority B&M MS IT / IS degrees. Furthermore, it will take me approximately 10 months to complete the program in its entirety, putting its cost at approximately $6k total versus my B&M AACSB-accredited MBA program, which required the GMAT, a crap load of pre-reqs (I have an undergraduate degree in Bio Sci), and 2 years of full-time classes - with a cost of over $30k easily.

I, however, would not recommend WGU's MSITNM program to a first-time graduate student. It doesn't embody the experience and networking capabilities that a traditional B&M graduate program does. My MBA program taught me how to think like an analytical graduate student, forced me to develop strong debating and presentation skills, and the ability to work in groups effectively - I think all of this is lost in WGU's pedagogy model with this new program.

Furthermore, as a relatively new program, you'll find that there are issues with the courses and mentor turnover. I've seen a fairly high turnover in course mentors, course mentors that do not know the course material and syllabus, and issues with the course assessments. Also, while I think that some of the courses are graduate-level in terms of the subject material and assessments - others are barely undergraduate level. But overall, the pros outweigh the negatives for me.

netsysllc

I am not sure there is any overlap in classes but I am happy to lend support

srabiee

I'm planning on enrolling in MSIT: NM after I finish my BS. Simply because I'm not interested in infosec or the MBA program, so NM wins by default.

I agree that it's too bad WGU doesn't offer more options for MS programs. I'd especially like to see a virtualization/cloud concentration with VMware certs.