Need some Info about SCAD Online Degree programs

<p>Hi, I have a BS degree in Graphic design from a foreign university. I'm planning to join the Online MA in graphic design program in SCAD. I have some questions. Please help me .....</p>

<ol>
<li><p>If this online MA degree is equivalent to MA/MFA degree(on campus) from any other art
university of USA?</p></li>
<li><p>I'm not familiar with US degree programs . Could you please let me know, what does it
mean by 30 hour program. How long will it take to finish this program in SCAD?
(1 year or 2 years)</p></li>
<li><p>How many classes will be there in the full MA Degree program?</p></li>
<li><p>What will be the total cost for the Online MA degree in Graphic Design (full time)?</p></li>
<li><p>How is the job market for the Scad students? Do the big companies accept Scad degree?</p></li>
<li><p>Is there any scholarship program for the foreign online students?</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Thanks in advance for
Moonmita</p>

<p>Hi, I have a BS degree in Graphic design from a foreign university. I’m planning to join the Online MA in graphic design program in SCAD. I have some questions. Please help me …</p>

<ol>
<li><p>If this online MA degree is equivalent to MA/MFA degree(on campus) from any other art
university of USA?</p></li>
<li><p>I’m not familiar with US degree programs . Could you please let me know, what does it
mean by 30 hour program. How long will it take to finish this program in SCAD?
(1 year or 2 years)</p></li>
<li><p>How many classes will be there in the full MA Degree program?</p></li>
<li><p>What will be the total cost for the Online MA degree in Graphic Design (full time)?</p></li>
<li><p>How is the job market for the Scad students? Do the big companies accept Scad degree?</p></li>
<li><p>Is there any scholarship program for the foreign online students?</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Thanks in advance for
Moonmita</p>

<p>Hello, just thought I would help you with a little information.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Their online degrees are identical to an on-campus degree. You take the same classes and get the same degree at the end.</p></li>
<li><p>30 hours with each class being 5 credit hours means 6 classes total. The state of Georgia uses a quarter system, and each year is broken down into 4 quarters, each 10 weeks long. If you take 1 class a quarter you will be done in 1 1/2 years. If you take 2 classes a quarter you can be done in 9 months.</p></li>
<li><p>In general SCAD has very good industry contacts, all of the professors are or have been working professionals, and they have recruiters visit the school pretty often. Your degree will carry the same weight as other stduents but you may need to work a little harder on networking since you’re online only.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>The other questions could be answered at their website or one of their online chat sessions. I’m currently getting a second undergraduate degree, and I’m happy with the course content, but I find my professors have not been as involved as I would have liked. Not sure about the graduate programs though.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<p>I’m going to take some time here to express my thoughts about SCAD Online. I have taken 4 online classes here so far and the professors have been marginal at best, unhelpful and unavailable at worst. </p>

<p>I expected that taking online classes would allow me to have some interaction with other students and feedback from the professor, but I have found that for the great majority of the professors the class is considered to be “on autopilot” and they don’t participate except for grading. </p>

<p>Out of my fellow students, only a few others are online only, the rest are campus students taking online courses. The campus students have little interest in communicating with their online counterparts and generally ignore you. Worse, they often miss deadlines, do not log in to discussion forums, and do not post artwork for review. And since SCAD has no admissions process (if you can pay you get in), some students are bordering on incompetent, often barely able to spell or draw. Out of the classes I have taken only about 2% of the students are there to work hard, the rest like to waste their money, apparently.</p>

<p>It would take very little to improve the quality of these online courses. First, professors should be required to communicate with their students once a week, whether by email or recorded lecture. Second, professors should be active in the discussion forums at least once a week. Third, professors should answer their email often to answer questions about assignments. Fourth, grading should be done promptly, preferably within one week. These are very minimal steps and would greatly improve my online experience.</p>

<p>A larger step which would make these classes really outstanding would be for them to integrate them with the classroom students by combining the discussion forums and critiques. The classes generally are taught by the same professors and progress at the same pace, there’s no reason not to do this. It would be much better than taking a class with only myself and one other student.</p>

<p>If you intend to pursue an online degree, I would encourage you to find a school that uses integrated learning or has more involved teachers than at SCAD. If I don’t have a better experience next quarter I am writing a letter to the dean of SCAD E-Learning and possibly considering withdrawal. It would be much cheaper to teach myself from a book under these circumstances.</p>

<p>////…I’m going to take some time here to express my thoughts about SCAD Online. I have taken 4 online classes here so far and the professors have been marginal at best, unhelpful and unavailable at worst. </p>

<p>It would take very little to improve the quality of these online courses. First, professors should be required to communicate with their students once a week, whether by email or recorded lecture. Second, professors should be active in the discussion forums at least once a week. Third, professors should answer their email often to answer questions about assignments. Fourth, grading should be done promptly, preferably within one week. These are very minimal steps and would greatly improve my online experience.</p>

<p>If I don’t have a better experience next quarter I am writing a letter to the dean of SCAD E-Learning and possibly considering withdrawal…///</p>

<hr>

<p>I wish I had read this thread earlier. I would have loved to have chirped in as it disappoints me greatly regarding the participation of faculty – which is unacceptable. You are correct, these are minimal steps to improve a course, but in my opinion they are still not even acceptable levels of participation and response. Faculty must maintain similar visibility online as they do on ground, and it is up to the professor to integrate the community of online and on ground students if necessary.</p>

<p>I hope you wrote and received the appropriate response in words and in actions. However, you should have started first with the professor directly while the course was in progress at least by the 3rd of 4th week, and if you received no response or action, then moved on to the Department Chair…and then on to the Dean if necessary.</p>

<p>If you ever feel a course or a professor is sub-standard and can provide reasonable testimony or evidence – such as no faculty discussion area participation – the college will consider your case and may allow you to retake the course at no charge. </p>

<p>You did not mention, but how was the course content itself? Was it well-written with challenging assignments? What was your major? </p>

<p>Oh well, this is all too late.</p>

<p>2ndthoughts posted 2 years ago about the online classes at SCAD and I can say, 2 years later, that I could write exactly the same post. What does this say, that nothing has changed in 2 years. That’s a loooooooooong time in world of the internet. I am considering changing to another university. When I contacted the various advisers I got the run around. No one addressed my issue directly. Everyone was ‘really nice’ and thanked me for my questions and all kind of other fluff-off nonsense. Needless to say, I’m NOT impressed. And will be taking my money elsewhere. I’m in grad school. I would never pay those prices for undergrad.</p>

<p>That’s terrible. Which degree program?</p>