DSU vs NOVA

philz1982

Ok, so I have narrowed down my list of 4 to two. Granted I have to wait until next week to find out if I am accepted to DSU but if I am then I need to decide.

Do I do the NOVA CIS with a security focus- Pro's are the blended focus on Comp sci and IA plus the Early admit to the PHD

Or DSU with the MSIA Pros are the Course's (especially the ethical hacking specialization) and they have a Doctorate as well.

I plan to move into a roll with my company where I help develop security for BAS and ICS (scada) for our customers. I hope to eventually teach at the university level.

My degree is fully paid for.

THANKS!

-Phil

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Comments

jdancer

Does Nova still require residence visits or has this policy been changed? Because with DSU, I believe no residency visits are required.

philz1982

Nova does require residency from their website

called the cluster format, that includes
a blend of on-campus and online activities. Students taking courses attend four
cluster sessions per year, held quarterly over an extended weekend (Friday,
Saturday, and half-day Sunday) at the university

This is not a big deal, I have enough frequent flyer miles to and hotel rooms to attend due to all the travel I do.

-Phil

ajs1976

what is the url for the program at NOVA?

philz1982

ajs1976 wrote: »

what is the url for the program at NOVA?

Google....

No seriously,

Graduate School of Computer and Information Sciences

jdancer

Well, if you can tolerate airline travel, Nova will be ok. I really hate flying. Seems Nova not going to change their residency visits anytime soon.

philz1982

I live in an airplane....

instant000

If it was me, I'd do NOVA. (I'm looking for a low-residency Doctorate right now.) (I prefer the low-residence to zero-residence, since I would be using my GI Bill to fund the course.)

... that is, you get the full housing allowance with residency, and partial housing allowance without it.

jfitzg

Be VERY careful with Nova if you are looking at a doctoral program, I considered going there but heard horror stories, primarily revolving around a much higher than advertised dropout rate due to lack of support with the dissertation process. From what I have heard, once you finish the classes you are 100% on your own to write your dissertation with no support from the faculty, leading to a large number of ABDs. I was going to go there but chose Capitol College instead as they keep their cohorts small so they can help students get through the dissertation process (which is what most of the classes revolve around). Just a fair warning.

instant000

I thought it was normal for large numbers of people to not complete PhD programs.

Look at the data on this page, especially Table 1:
Quantitative Data by Field for the Ph.D. Completion Project - Council of Graduate Schools

jfitzg

instant000 wrote: »

I thought it was normal for large numbers of people to not complete PhD programs.

Look at the data on this page, especially Table 1:
Quantitative Data by Field for the Ph.D. Completion Project - Council of Graduate Schools

While it is true that there is an approximate 50% graduation rate, that is measured via traditional B & M full time PHD programs as evidenced by the sample taken in your link (the A cohort was from 92-93 & 94-95 whereas the B cohort was 95-96 and 97-98, there wernt any measurable online degree programs at these times). While these statistics are valid in general, I dont think that there are any statistics for online doctoral degree programs as they havent been around long enough (but I havent checked). I will leave you with some anecdotal evidence about NSU's PHD program.

Dakota State vs Nova Southeastern: ScD or PhD?

instant000

jfitzg:

With regards to the statistics, I would assume that attrition for an online program may be higher.

With regards to that thread, I frequent that forum (degreeinfo) and had seen that thread before.

My wife just reminded me that my mentor from WGU was also ABD at NOVA, so maybe the rumors are true?

jfitzg

instant000 wrote: »

jfitzg:

With regards to the statistics, I would assume that attrition for an online program may be higher.

Hard to say, especially with such variance between programs, the fact that even now there are so few of them, and the fact that online doctorates have only been around for a little over a decade. Would be a great dissertation topic for anyone looking to get their doctorate in education though.

instant000 wrote: »

With regards to that thread, I frequent that forum (degreeinfo) and had seen that thread before.

There are review boards as well (see link below) with people stating the same thing.

instant000 wrote: »

My wife just reminded me that my mentor from WGU was also ABD at NOVA, so maybe the rumors are true?

Without Nova releasing their ABD and attrition rates and having similar programs to compare it to, it is a hard topic to prove. I did find some more anecdotal evidence though.
Nova Southeastern University Reviews - Online Degree Reviews

The one thing I will say though is that the Capitol College program walks you through the entire process. They dont do the work for you in any means, but they work with every student to define a topic, do the literature review, and then write the dissertation. The dean of the program (Dr. Helen Barker) teaches the intro course and repeatedly states this. My guess is because it is a new program (started in 2010) and they are trying to build it up.

instant000

jfitzg:

Posts like yours are why I'm glad that philz1982 asked this question.

I really appreciate the countering viewpoint of NOVA.

For example, I wish that I had researched and questioned things a bit more before entering a DETC accredited school in order to complete my B.S., which severely limited my options when it was time for graduate school. I could have really used advice from someone like you back in 2005.

Please, continue to inject countering points into discussions like this.

jfitzg

Happy to help out, I did several months of research for an online doctorate program and settled with Capitol, so if you have any questions in general let me know, sucks you got tricked into a DETC (likely for profit) school but look at it as a good learning experience and a chance to help others avoid the same mistake. I looked at Nova, DSU, Walden, Colorado Technical U, and Capitol College so if you have any questions about their programs or just want my opinion let me know. For the record, im not trying to take a dig at Nova, it is a great college, just want to point out to other people what I have seen when I researched that school for their doctorate program.

philz1982

Since you have done the research what do you think about the dsu, nova, cc masters degrees as I am doing a masters first.

Darxtar

I have been in NSU's DISS program since 2010. It is a rigorous program, certainly not easy. They clearly state your dissertation idea needs to resonate with one of the professors to get it accepted and proceed. Your idea has to be a collaboration with a professor, if there is no interest in their part you will go nowhere. This is probably because their name and hence reputation will be associated with the published work. If you expect to engage their support there has to be some interest on their part. As they say, you can research on what you like after you get your Ph.D.

In the coursework and the dissertation you really need self-motivation to complete the program. They tell you during the indoctrination process that because of the student isolation (a traditional B & M school has many Ph.D. students supporting each other and are in constant contact with their professor) doing a Ph.D. in this format where you are only on campus twice a semester then are on your own alone requires a lot of self-motivation that many students find they don't have, hence a 50% failure to complete rate. The school is honest about that up front, but many students disregard that little tidbit until reality hits.

In my experience the professors are always there to help, but it’s more important that you're driving and pushing yourself. They won't hand hold you so you complete your degree. If you expect them to give you all the answers and passing grades with little effort on your part, move on to another school.

And an unwritten expectation is to publish at a conference or in a peer reviewed journal. Prepare to do more writing than most people can stomach, plus take a lot of criticism, which hardens you for when your “pride and joy conference paper” gets peer reviewed and rejected, which will happen as the acceptance rate is normally less than 20%. Personally I am okay with high dropout rates, if a Ph.D. was easy everyone would have one and they wouldn’t be so valuable.

All in all, I have had an excellent experience and I'm proud to say I have gone to NSU. Hopefully this helps.

Disclaimer...I am ABD.