Even though there is a brick and mortar campus of the University of Phoenix in Jersey City, most people still believe it’s primarily an on-line institution of higher learning. And for the most part, it is. Yet for many graduates – some of whom had an unusual route to a degree – having both options is a huge advantage.
One of the more prominent graduates of the University of Phoenix is Assemblywoman Angela McKnight, whose story may well be typical of many who use the on-line university to complete what they started in a more conventional setting.
McKnight is best known as founder of AngelaCARES, a local not-for-profit that works with young people and senior citizens. She grew up in the Greenville section of Jersey City. One of eight children, she often had to care for her siblings and eventually took care of her ailing mother, one of a number of responsibilities that sidetracked her from getting a college degree after graduating from Ferris High School.
Working a number of jobs such as for Sears, Block Drug, and another Secaucus-based healthcare information company, she started on the more traditional route towards a business administration degree at St. Peter’s University, and New Jersey City University.
“I did a year at St. Peter’s – it was a college then – and then a year at Jersey City State College,” McKnight said. “I stopped when I had children. I wanted to spend more time with them, and I couldn’t go to school, work, and take care of them.”
But she said she always intended to go back.
“I only needed a year or two,” she said. “Then I heard that I could study online. So I did some research, and started in 2005. I graduated in 2007.”
She attended a graduation ceremony in Tampa, Fla., which she combined with a family trip to Disney World in Orlando.
“We had to learn how to get things done, and do it in virtual reality.” – Angela McKnight
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“Jersey City didn’t have a campus then, but the school allowed you to go to any one of its campuses for a traditional graduating ceremony,” she said. “I got to graduate like everybody else even though I got my degree on-line.”
How to work remotely
She earned a bachelor of science degree in business management. But the lessons, for her, went beyond the subject she was studying.
“The school taught me about the virtues of working on-line,” she said.
Some of the lessons required her to work with other students elsewhere in the country to complete projects.
“We had an advisor,” she said. “But I sometimes had to connect with fellow students via the internet.”
This posed different challenges than a project that required meeting with students face to face.
“We had to learn how to get things done, and do it in virtual reality,” she said. “This taught me how it might feel to run a company remotely.”
Some students didn’t pull their weight. So she and the others had to find a way to complete the project.
“Our grade was dependent on the whole group,” she said.
The class schedule fit in with her life
The on-line study schedule allowed McKnight to manage her life and still keep up with studies.
“I worked in the morning,” she said. “I stayed up late because the university is three hours behind us.”
The experience helped when she started her not-for-profit in 2010, and even more so later, when she entered the corporate world in 2011 and had to deal with remote clients in places like India.
“Studying the way I did taught me how to work cohesively on-line,” she said.
But she likes the idea that Jersey City now has a campus.
“It didn’t come to Jersey City until after I graduated,” she said. “But it would have been helpful.”
She said she had strong support from advisors, academically, and those who helped her get financial aid.
“I’m not sure I would have been able to get my degree if I had to go and sit in a classroom,” she said.
Many students are like McKnight
Ruth Veloria, executive dean of the School of Business, said McKnight’s story fits a profile typical of students who seek out the university’s on-line services.
Most of the university’s students are women, many of whom are raising kids, who can use the on-line modality allowing them to connect with teachers, advisors and other students.
Veloria said many of the faculty work in an adjunct capacity, so they might be on-line nights and weekends the way most of the students are.
“We focus on working in teams,” Veloria said.
While students do a lot of work individually, at some point in the process they come together to work on a joint project.
Like Jersey City, The University of Phoenix does have campuses around the country. Most of the students work on-line, using email, Google Hangout, and other tools to work in real time.
But because students can be working across time zones, real time interaction isn’t always possible.
Joint projects, however, are a common practice, allowing students to work as a team, and so the lessons they get are about more than just the subject matter.
“They learn how to plan and how to set deadlines,” Veloria said. “Use of technology and other skills are very transferable to the business world.”
To obtain a full bachelor’s degree in business, a student must take components that are typical, such as general writing, math, and social science before moving onto core business subjects such as accounting, negotiating, and communications.
“These are the building blocks,” Veloria said.
Students have choices of electives that include marketing and other appropriate business topics.
Joint projects might involve developing a strategy for a non-profit in the community, how to do a case study, or develop a marketing plan.
“Studies often tie theoretical knowledge with practical knowledge,” she said.
The university provides different degree levels, starting with a certificate level which requires 18 credits, an associate’s degree with 60, and a bachelor of science with 120.
The university also offers masters degrees, and even doctorates.
The school offers a variety of training programs from project management, basic leadership, human resources, communication, and professional development.
Life-long learners
Like McKnight, some students seek out cap-and-gown graduation. Students can attend events in the region or any city of their choice where these graduations are taking place. But these ceremonies differ in many ways from the classic college graduation where parents, siblings and grandparents come to support their graduate.
“Most of our graduates are working adults,” she said. Many times, these graduates bring their kids.
“It is a moment of truth. Our graduates are sending a message to their kids about the importance of education, and how it is a life-long experience,” she said. “We have some amazing stories of these learners. Life happens along the way. A team member gets ill and another team member flies into the city to help. Students get close during their time together. There is a lot moral support. This comes from peers as well as advisors.”
She noted, “Many students are studying 20 hours or more a week. This is on top of a job and raising a family. Many are might be tempted to throw in the towel. But support from peers and counselors helped them see how important it is to finish.”
Veloria said the university has three types of counselors: an enrollment counselor to help a student align their studies with their career goal, a financial advisor to help them find grants and other financing, and an academic advisor to help schedule classes in the right sequence and to offer moral support.
“This could be anything from having a problem with professor to how to get coaching from faculty,” she said. “This person reminds the students why they’re on this journey, and how to switch if they decide to change direction.”
The average class size is 14 students, the average age of the student is 35. Females make up nearly 60 percent of the student population.
Started as a brick and mortar school
Founded in 1976, the University of Phoenix has campuses in 26 cities nationwide. While known for its on-line programs, it actually started as a more physical campus setting. It was build around providing opportunities for police, firefighters, and nurses who didn’t fit into the typical class schedule. Later the school expanded to provide the online service for which is it now famous.
The Jersey City campus is located in the Newport section of the city. But students come to it from all over Hudson County, the state of New Jersey, even the region.
It has a student resource center and career support which helps alumni research jobs and upgrade skills.
A number of students even do their on-line lessons at the campus. But there are classrooms as well where their classes take place.
Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com.