re: LSUS Online MBA Reviews

Folks.

I’ve been so bored this week. I’m sitting here mindlessly right now. I kinda wish they had squeezed in another class.

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This is completely off topic of the LSUS MBA but it just blew my mind. I know most people don't take Liberal Arts very seriously but I find this ridiculous.

I was looking thru the LSUS catalog and stumbled onto their Masters in Liberal Arts program. Ten 3-credit classes sounds on par with other graduate programs, including ours, BUT five of those classes are 3-hr seminars/lectures. A sixth class is a workshop where you work on writing a thesis draft. Another class is simply submitting the written thesis. That class is only graded on a pass/fail basis but I guess fail is too harsh of a word so they call it pass/no credit. So three electives is the only real coursework to get your graduate degree. The first core class in the program is LA701; a 3-hr seminar defending Liberal Arts as being a worth-while education.

Still costs the same as any other Masters degree... just an accredited diploma mill?

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Here's the thing...it's a Liberal Arts degree. When I see "Liberal Arts" on a degree, I don't take it seriously. It's like you're saying "Hey, I'll do the least necessary for a degree." That's why most pro athletes get a degree in Lib Arts or Sports Management. Reason being, there is no real training or exposure to business theories. On the other hand, an MBA from an accredited program is a win. The ACBSP accreditation speaks volumes and if your goal or desire is to teach business courses some day at the collegiate level, many colleges and universities require that your degree be from an ACBSP-accredited institution.

Also, if your goal is simply to say that you have your masters degree, then that might be the program for you. However you may feel awkward when someone presses further and asks what your area of specialty is and your response is "Liberal Arts." Personally, my goal is to have an MBA and the fact that when I finish this program I will have an MBA from an ACBSP-accredited university.

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When I see "Liberal Arts" on a degree, I don't take it seriously.

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That is unfortunate. I don't know about liberal arts degrees at all institutions, but my undergraduate degree was at a liberal arts institution. It was a heck of a lot more rigorous than this near-fraudulent MBA I just earned at LSUS which is basically a junior college level academic challenge or worse. Almost anyone can get in at LSUS, and almost anyone can get a 4.0 with a little effort and good time management.

In my liberal arts undergraduate institution, I was challenged in every class. I was exposed to and learned a great deal that helps me understand the world and people such as history, psychology, biology, chemistry, literature, philosophy, advanced mathematics, law, politics, globalization, cultures, logic, and religion. I learned how to read well, write well, work through issues in discussions and debate, and negotiate well. I developed keen critical thinking skills that continue to serve me well today. It was and continues to be extremely valuable to me as a person, business executive, and leader of people. The MBA at LSUS is so far below it, it is comical. But, hey, you got your letters and everyone thinks you know what you are doing in business. But, you really just figured out how to navigate through a bunch of busy work, learned a little about accounting and economics because you had an actual teacher in those classes, figured out how to BS your way through some online discussion posts and maybe 2 papers, did well-enough on silly test questions, endured hoop-jump professors who have never had a real job in the business world, and did a strategy canvas if you were lucky- and even then you only did one or two sections yourself. Perhaps the most valuable things learned at LSUS are a few Excel functions, how to use Zoom, and the search function in Acrobat. Congratulations.

Looking for the ECON 705 syllabus and any other course materials
mrtracim73 at gmail.com

Just got back from commencement. Here are my thoughts:

1) While invited to both BGS and SIE, I opted to join BGS. The induction ceremonies were jointly held. There were only 13 BGS inductees vs 34 SIE (although a large majority of BGS folks also joined SIE). The BGS inductees were given a certificate and a pin while the SIE inductees were given a certificate and a shaw to wear during commencement. I am unsure as to why there was a imbalance of people who joined BGS vs SIE ($90 vs $60, entry requirements?)

2) The induction ceremony was 40min long and I give it 7 out of 10 stars

3) The online brunch was from 10 to 12, a small goodie bag was given to each graduate while some video testimonials were played. I give this 7 out of 10 stars

4) The commencement itself was a full 2 hours with undergrad and grad students together. Nice keynote but a really long and drawn out production. There were tons of enthusiastic families yelling and shouting, often drowning out names of the next to be called. Overall a 6 out of 10 stars

5) The diploma itself is a puny 8.5 x 11, no logo and very unassuming. 5 out of 10 stars

I drove 5 hours each way to walk. I mainly did this to show my kids what hard work looks like and would recommend it if you would like to do the same. If its only you or just you and your spouse and you're further than 1hr away, get your diploma mailed to you.

I walk away from this program relived its over but with mixed emotions as to whether I made the right choice, not that I can change anything now.

The best of luck to you all in the rest of the program and in your future endeavors.

One last nana on my way out...

PS. met Dr. S, Dr. James, Dr. Darrat (both)

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Just got back from commencement. Here are my thoughts:

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Great to hear your thoughts on commencement!

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4) The commencement itself was a full 2 hours with undergrad and grad students together. Nice keynote but a really long and drawn out production. There were tons of enthusiastic families yelling and shouting, often drowning out names of the next to be called. Overall a 6 out of 10 stars

I drove 5 hours each way to walk. I mainly did this to show my kids what hard work looks like and would recommend it if you would like to do the same. If its only you or just you and your spouse and you're further than 1hr away, get your diploma mailed to you.

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While I did not attend in person, I watched the commencement live stream and opted to have my diploma mailed. I would have ended up feeling pretty disappointed if I had driven 10 hours or hopped on a flight to go alone. I would have gone if I lived within a close drive. The ceremony felt very drawn out. While I understand the enthusiasm for those earning their degrees (since I fall into that category), the screaming families seemed a bit over the top.

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5) The diploma itself is a puny 8.5 x 11, no logo and very unassuming. 5 out of 10 stars

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That's disappointing but not unexpected given the track record. My undergraduate diploma, which is not from a top-tier university by any means, is 11" x 14", embossed with a university logo, and quite nice. I did end up buying a really nice looking branded diploma frame since the LSUS diplomas I've seen in Google Image search looked fairly pedestrian.

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I walk away from this program relived its over but with mixed emotions as to whether I made the right choice, not that I can change anything now.

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You should still be proud of completing the program in the best way possible: an MBA with a 4.0 GPA, and BGS and SIE invites. Regardless of how many of us feel about the quality of the LSUS MBA program at the moment, the best way to add value to this degree is to excel in every way possible and demonstrate that this was a serious personal endeavor.

I can tell you that I exhaled a huge breath of relief yesterday when I finally saw "Degree Awarded: Master of Business Administration" on my transcript with a big 4.0 under it. Now I need to figure out what to do with all this time in my life back.

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Situations like the Fall '18 AP2 ISDS 710 disaster, the tone-deaf Data Analytics concentration, Lin's 10 years out of date ISDS 705 autopilot course, lack of logical prerequisites, content quality due to the free textbook rule, the inconsistency of quality from one course to the next, and vast inconsistency of instruction between sections of the same course are real problems.

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I have only completed 3 courses thus far (MADM 760, ACCT 701, MADM 752) and it does really surprise me about the outdated material. It was my expectation that any current MBA program would be offering material 2-3 years old. Some of the reference material is 10+ years old and is almost irrelevant at this point.

As far as textbooks go, I had a law prof at UF (Go Gators!) that wrote his own textbook and it was as scatter-brained as he was. There was no way to follow it. They may be good professors but maybe they should not be writing their own text book unless they have a background in it.

Hopefully LSUS listens to the course evaluations and are trying to make it better for future attendees.

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While I understand the enthusiasm for those earning their degrees (since I fall into that category), the screaming families seemed a bit over the top.

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I've been through these type ceremonies before where a simple instruction like "save all the applause to the end" or at least a logical breaking point would have helped immensely.

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As far as textbooks go, I had a law prof at UF (Go Gators!) that wrote his own textbook and it was as scatter-brained as he was. There was no way to follow it. They may be good professors but maybe they should not be writing their own text book unless they have a background in it.

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I had a few of those as well at UF (Go Gators!). I started out pre-law there, and professors with their own textbooks were common, especially in courses like Sociology and Psych.

At LSUS, James offers a self-written textbook, but it's incomplete and has to be supplemented. Vines types a wall of text into a Moodle page instead of using a textbook.

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Hopefully LSUS listens to the course evaluations and are trying to make it better for future attendees.

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My understanding from talking to administrators in the MBA program is that the professors receive those evaluations directly. It is unknown how much of that information gets passed along to leadership above them.