Continue reading »]]> I will be updating this post with other University of Phoenix Faculty Recruiting & Applicant Stories as I find them.

I thought I had my time and energy wasted. It seems there have been University of Phoenix faculty candidates that have their own share of unhappy stories.

This one from Epinions is very involved and detailed. It is very surprising and startling in some places.

Continue reading »]]> During my faculty recruiting and application experience, most of the information you need regarding University of Phoenix’s Faculty Telephone Interview Questions comes from the Faculty Written Interview Questions.

It seems a bit strange that there would be repetition but I am guessing faculty recruiters want to hear how you verbally communicate to see if you speak and articulate well. Perhaps, they want to see if what you say is congruent and consistent with what you wrote in the written interview.

My bimbo faculty recruiter was Courtney Hopper who sounded out of breath during the reading of her script to me. There appears to be a loose script faculty recruiters have to follow and it was apparent that mine had done it at least 100 times before and she was just trying to get through it as quickly as possible. She told me that my interview would be around 30 minutes.  It was certainly a packed and fast-paced 30 minutes.

She claimed there would be time for me to ask questions but from the overall speed and tone of the telephone interview, it felt awkward to get too involved or ask too many questions. I also get the feeling they don’t welcome phone calls at all. They much prefer email communications.

As I stated, my telephone interview questions came from the written interview questions. Specifically, the questions that seemed most important to Courtney Hopper was:

• How would you know if a student was overwhelmed and what would you do?
• Give an example of how you have resolved a difference with a student/coworker/employee? Describe the steps you used to resolve the issue.
• How would facilitating the attached course fit into your personal/professional goals?
• Why do you want to teach at University of Phoenix? (something to that effect)

At the end of the telephone interview, Courtney Hopper did let on that she would be getting back with me within 2 days to let me know if I was invited to go forward in the process. Somehow, the way she said it, I took it in a positive way to expect a callback and invitation to move forward.

It turned out my instincts were right and she did call the following day to invite me to continue and I would be sent two more emails with instructions to follow which primarily consisted of registering myself within the University of Phoenix eCampus system using my newly-assigned IRN (Individual Record Number).

Once I registered myself, I was asked to input my academic and professional credentials and experience. Essentially, they wanted the contents of your resume in a standardize format within their system. Additionally, I was required to fill out an online application form with agreements to submit to an employment history check, criminal background check, and credit check.

Continue reading »]]> University of Phoenix requires a written interview to be completed after you submit your cover letter and resume. It is fairly lengthy but forces you to demonstrate your abilities to communicate in writing. You are judged on your responses, grammar, punctuation, and writing style. It was a challenging step in that it required a lot of thought and frequent self-review and self-editing.

It took me over 3 hours to complete this. Much of that time was spent trying to recollect the many tasks and achievements I completed over the years.

I listed the more meaningful questions on the written interview I was asked to answer. The answers are of an essay nature. The answers I provided was sufficient to earn me a telephone interview. For those of you interested in going through the faculty recruiting process, you might find my answers to be helpful.

Questions 1-6 were Yes/No questions about your eligibility to work in the U.S., having a Social Security card, and any prior contact and involvement with University of Phoenix.

7. Describe the ideal classroom climate for the course attached to the e-mail. What actions do you think an instructor should take to create that climate? What would you do to energize your students?

 The syllabus provided is for course MKT/421: Marketing.

By nature, most business courses in college are highly theoretical and use vocabulary oriented towards very large organizations and businesses, not smaller organizations and businesses. As such, I believe instructors of working, adult students must quickly establish relevance of the course to the “real world,” “real business,” and their own personal situations. I would take a two-pronged approach by using actual case studies throughout the term.

First, I would require students to identify how marketing fits to each student’s existing work environment and organization. What are their employers doing (or could be doing)? Marketing is a “universal” and necessary business function. By directing student attention to their existing employers’ and organizations’ marketing activities, it creates opportunities for them to incorporate new-found understanding gained within the course into their jobs. By doing this, students will be compelled to develop a heightened awareness of the marketing function and its impact within the organization for which they work.

Second, every student is surrounded by the impact of marketing endeavors by organizations large and small, profit and non-profit, physical and virtual, famous and not-so-famous. This is most self-evident through the well-established presence of famous companies and brands. Students love to discuss famous organizations and brands because of their comfort and familiarity with them. In many ways, it is a “spectator sport”. However, my job as a facilitator is to guide students’ dialog from a “spectator” activity into one where they become actively engaged. The comfort and familiarity of discussing famous organizations and brands would enhance the dialog.

To create interest and energize my students, I would take an approach that is somewhat unique to my own personal teaching style. As a business owner, I live and die by my ongoing marketing efforts both large and small. By necessity and from an intense personal interest, I am an avid student of business, marketing, and branding. It has been said that “enthusiasm is infectious.” My love and enthusiasm for the subject matter would definitely be displayed.

Working with peers in a group setting is an integral part of the UoP educational philosophy. This can be an energizing and stimulating, especially when you have class members want to excel in the course. They will often set high standards for the team members to follow.

8. Tell me how you would set goals and expectations for students. How would you know if a student was overwhelmed and what would you do?

Different students have different styles and preferences in learning. I would engage in multiple communication styles that would be reinforced throughout the term. As most instructors know, the instructor syllabus is generally the central document to express goals, expectations, and standards of the course to the student. That syllabus remains with the student the entire term. However, the goals and expectations expressed in print must also be reinforced verbally using adequate time and emphasis to ensure that every student fully comprehends what is expected of them. Additionally, I would encourage them to reach out privately to communicate with me via phone and email as needed.

Despite all this, some students will be quieter, withdrawn, and less participative when they become overwhelmed. I would be continually watchful for these outward signs during each and every class session. I also believe in reaching out to each student to do quick “spot checks” by engaging in quick dialog before class, during breaks, and after class.

9. Give an example of how you have resolved a difference with a student/coworker/employee? Describe the steps you used to resolve the issue.

As a business owner and real estate investor, I am frequently in a position of authority to set goals, expectations, and standard of work. My preference is to keep lines of communication open and to encourage those under my authority/management to contact me when small differences or challenges arise, and not wait until a situation becomes large or more challenging to resolve. It is better to be proactive and resolve smaller differences than when they have become bigger issues.

During the communication process, I make a concerted effort to listen carefully to what is being said as well as what has NOT been said. Communication goes beyond the verbal and what is actually being said. In order to effectively read and interpret nonverbal communication, the person needs to know that I am taking them seriously and paying close attention to what they are saying. Further, I prefer not to take on a dictatorial or condescending style of conversation. I prefer a collaborative approach when possible. It is far more pleasant and effective when you are speaking WITH the person instead of TO the person.

When all else fails, as an instructor, I expect professionalism, respect, and appropriate behavior from my students. With a classroom of many students, my job as the instructor is to ensure that the greater good is served and that the class and course objectives are met. In extreme situations, I might be compelled to plainly assert my authority as the course instructor and expect the student to respect that decision and to fall in line. There can only be one leader of the course and it is the instructor.

10. Please review the attached course description(s) from the e-mail. Do you believe that you would be a good fit for this (these) course(s)? Please explain in detail how your background has prepared you to facilitate this (these) course(s) successfully.

I believe I am an excellent fit for MKT/421.

In browsing the UoP marketing courses, there are actually many courses I feel qualified to teach. However, being new to UoP, teaching an introductory marketing course such as MKT421 allows me to focus my energies in better understanding the culture and methodology of UoP. A nice benefit is that starting with a group of students at the introductory level and being able to set the foundation and nurture them into the higher-level marketing courses allows me to share the educational journey with them.

Regarding my personal and professional background and experience as it relates to teaching this course, there are several points I would like to highlight. First, my marketing experience as a business owner is both diverse and extensive.

Beginning in 1995 when I left the corporate world to launch my own I.T. consulting and training business, my ongoing marketing efforts led me from one fantastic opportunity to another in quick succession.

In 1995, my marketing efforts led me to simultaneously teach at two community colleges and a technical training center. Later in 1996, I began teaching certified Microsoft and Novell networking technology courses throughout the U.S. and Europe. Because of my continued success and high visibility, I was appointed to the Novell’s CNI Advisory Council in 1997 and Seminole State College’s Network Specialization Advisory Committee from 1996 to1998.

In 1997, I was quoted in Contract Professional Magazine discussing market positioning for technical trainers. From 1998 to 2000, I was a contributor to McGraw-Hill’s three editions of “Get Certified & Get Ahead” book series as an innovator in webpage marketing for independent trainers. These high-profile accomplishments led to a special extended assignment with Microsoft as technical course writer for Microsoft Proxy Server. It was later published into a book volume within the Microsoft Internet Information Server Training Kit by Microsoft Press.

The culmination of my ongoing I.T. marketing efforts led to my “final” I.T. training assignment as Lead Instructor and Adviser of the Microsoft Certification Training Program at Trident Technical College’s Continuing Education division from 1997-2000.

After I left the I.T. industry, I started my real estate investing business. In 2001, I launched and developed a customized marketing system to buy and rent out 60 rental homes using a combination of print marketing, word-of-mouth marketing, online marketing, radio marketing, and “street” marketing. Our marketing presence is so well-established today, that we no longer utilize or pay for print marketing services.

In 2003, I launched my publishing business that has since published over 20+ book and audio titles and generated sales of thousands of copies sold with tens of thousands of dollars of residual income over the years. This publishing business continues to be marketed passively using natural-search marketing, affiliate marketing, reseller marketing, and video marketing techniques.

In 2008, I launched a cause-based website that generates well over 10,000 unique visitors per month using natural-search marketing techniques. It has attracted 500 new clients for a New York lawyer in addition to creating hundreds of dollars of residual income each month. I used a combination of video marketing, natural-search marketing, and online forum marketing techniques.

Most recently, I am writing a “Web Domination Strategies” course manual that will be marketed nationwide. This course manual will describe in-detail the marketing technologies, strategies, and techniques I have used to market my own and other business owners’ businesses. It will be sold to private business owners such as lawyers, doctors, dentists, veterinarians, and optometrists. I expect that this project will be completed by Summer 2012.

Second, I have taught and presented courses and seminars in many environments and formats including technical training centers, community colleges, private roundtables, seminar workshops, teleseminars, video recordings, and even onboard a cruise ship! I have taught in many locations throughout the U.S., Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the Caribbean. The number of students I have presented and taught to have been as few as one-on-one and as many as 300.

Third, I was a working student during the entire 10 years I collectively invested into higher education to earn a Bachelor of Science and MBA. In fact, I slowly and painfully paid my way through the entire 10 years without financial aid. Hence, I can directly relate to adult, working students because I was one for so long.

In summary, I enjoy learning about and teaching marketing. It is a big part of what I do and what I am currently known for in many circles. I feel absolutely qualified to teach MKT/421.

11. How would facilitating the attached course fit into your personal/professional goals?

I am an active businessman, serial entrepreneur, and real estate investor. I also publish, write, and broadcast professionally reaching an audience that numbers in the ten thousands on the Internet. What I rarely have the opportunity to do is to actually share and teach what I know on a personal level with a live audience. Teaching at a university will allow me the fulfillment of personally touching and positively impacting lives.

It has been said (and also my own experience) that the more an instructor teaches, the more an instructor himself learns. I believe the reason why this occurs is that the live and unpredictable interactions between student and instructor stimulates and challenges instructors in subconscious ways. In my publishing projects, I find that my best sources of inspiration and new ideas often come from listening to others and their perspective.

I believe teaching will “feed” my publishing and creative projects. I am interested in expanding the base and network of people I know in Columbus GA in an organic way. Teaching courses and interacting with new students is congruent with those goals.

Finally, I like that UoP has an amazing network presence in the U.S. If one day, I should choose to move away from Columbus GA, I would want to continue my affiliation and involvement with UoP. The potential benefits for an ongoing affiliation are tremendous and can only enhance my bio, credentials, and reputation.

Obviously, I was much more enthusiastic about the University of Phoenix at the time I answered the questions. I no longer feel that way and have been soured in the experience by the Faculty Recruiting Bimbo, Courtney Hopper and Bimbo Faculty Services Manager, Sarah Hightower.

Continue reading »]]> In my last post, I discussed my final communications with University of Phoenix Faculty Services Manager, Sarah Hightower. I refer to her colloquially as a Bimbo Manager because of her bimbo bureaucratic response to the multiple errors one of her subordinates, Courtney Hopper made during my faculty application process.

In any case, I stated that I had written a lengthy email to the Head of Business at the local campus to explain why I became dismayed, disenchanted, and ultimately withdrew from the application process. I felt writing a short email to him would be inappropriate as he was the one who helped get me into the faculty recruiting process. It seemed only right for me to explain to him why I had to withdraw my application after weeks of making steady progress.

Having said that, during the faculty application process, the local campus role is nearly non-existent and eerily quiet. I would have thought they might have intervened or perhaps spoke up on my behalf given how infrequent faculty assessments and certifications are at the local level and that the mistakes made were entirely the faculty recruiter’s fault.

Again, my email is self-explanatory….

======================

 I wanted to let you know It appears that despite my diligence, investment of many hours of time to prepare and provide clear answers of my background/experience/motives, doing everything that has been asked of me, and meeting every professional requirement, I will not be moving forward in the application process.

To be clear, this is what I was prepared to commit to the Columbus campus based on what I have been told is an “ideal” part-time instructor.

* Unpaid Instructor Assessment
* Unpaid 4-weekend certification process
* Be an apprentice instructor under a mentor
* Attend unpaid staff meetings and extracurricular activities such as graduations and special events
* Offering flexibility to teach both day, night, and weekend courses.
* Immerse myself in the UoP teaching and education philosophy.
* Network with the Columbus community as necessary.
* Give speeches and talks as required.

This list would have been a substantial commitment I was prepared and able to dedicate to Univ. of Phoenix – Columbus Campus because I have that flexibility of owning and managing my own businesses.

Additionally, there are certainly many talented and instructor candidates with MBA degrees. However, within the scope of the Columbus GA area, I believed I offered an eclectic experience unlike most local candidates. I offered to the local faculty my:

* Real estate investment portfolio experience of 12+ years
* Publishing experience of 8+ years where I have authored 20+ book and audio titles generating tens of thousands of dollars in profits.
* Cutting-edge experience of 6+ years in web presence, web marketing, and online reputation-building with tangible results.
* I.T. consulting and training experience of 10 years working with Microsoft, Novell, and IBM representing their products.
* Traveled for business domestically throughout the U.S. and internationally including Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.

As stated, my primary motivation was not financial. It was to contribute and be part of something larger.

Unfortunately, having conferred with two friends that work with UoP and carefully reflected upon this entire experience, I have come to the conclusion that the rigid, bureaucratic nature of UoP is not agreeable with me at this time.

Specifically, the lack of accountability, apology, and ability to see the “big picture” by the Faculty Recruiters has been disappointing and uninspiring. Their bureaucracy is best suited to those who work in insular environments and willing to subject to “cattle calls” which is incongruent from what I thought was part of UoP’s mission in desiring “real world” talent.

I am as “real world” as it gets having self-financed my entire formal education with my AA, Bachelor of Science, and MBA degrees. I started working from the bottom waiting on tables and getting grease burns on my arms, progressing forward rising through the ranks with job changes, saving money each and every semester for 7 years attending mostly night courses to get my Bachelor of Science degree. For my MBA, I worked full time, saved money each semester, attending night courses for 3 years to get my MBA degree.

I taught at 2 community colleges in Orlando and 1 technical college in Charleston. In every instance, I earned high instructor ratings, was repeatedly asked back. Ultimately, I left to pursue other professional opportunities.

Given what I was prepared to offer and commit to vs. the apparent lack of accountability, apology, care, urgency or flexibility of any kind, I see no reason to proceed forward. To do so, would be going through the motions. I no longer feel inspired to continue. The faculty recruiters have shown by their response (and lack thereof) that I am simply one in an ocean of candidates that have and will continue to come through. My presence and participation is secondary to “following the rules”. There will always be a “next assessment” and “another instructor”. I will do my part to substantiate that for them.

I regret having to email you this because I was genuinely interested and very enthusiastic about joining the local campus. But I wanted to at least do you the courtesy of a final update and response as I have done these last 4 weeks.

I did try to call you to have a final conversation but I was unable to reach you. Hence, I leave you with this email. I apologize for the inconvenience. My next communication will be to the folks in Phoenix.

Respectfully,

Matthew Chan

=================

In conclusion, I think it is very important that every University of Phoenix read my posts and commentary to get a better awareness before pursuing the faculty application process. It is a time-intensive, bureaucratic process staffed by relatively young and inexperienced clerical employees trying to evaluate professional with twice their professional experience and credentials.

Even with my preparations and diligence, their system still managed to trip me up. And anything that goes wrong will be the faculty candidates fault. I have seen no indication of any accountability whatsoever from the faculty recruiters except that they keep running large numbers of people through their system like herding cattle through a ranch. You run enough people through the system, you might occasionally catch a good one. Some of us simply decide to leave them to their own fates.

Continue reading »]]> This post is a continuation of my prior post University of Phoenix Bimbo Response by Faculty Recruiter Courtney Hopper.

In the previous post, I shared a series of emails by myself and faculty recruiter, Courtney Hopper, regarding the “mystery” of my official transcripts. It turns out after some discovery and backtracking, the error was caused by Courtney herself when she provided me 5 form emails which contained the wrong ZIP code. When I brought this to her attention, she became strangely quiet and offered no apology and barely an acknowledgment.

===================

Hello Matthew,

I have forwarded this email to my manager. She or I will be in contact shortly. Thank you.

Warm regards,

Courtney Hopper, MSP
Faculty Recruiter, Faculty Services

====================

Before this email, I had written University of Phoenix Faculty Services Manager, Sarah Hightower.

====================

Dear Ms. Hightower,

I am contacting you regarding an unexpected hiccup in the Application Process at the suggestion of Courtney Hopper. The official transcript I ordered on January 10, 2012 has not been delivered to Courtney although I promptly received mine within a few days. I can only surmise that either they did not send it or something else happened to it. Instead of trying to locate it, I have simply ordered another one and marking the request URGENT to once again have it sent to Courtney.

My concern is that the official transcript will NOT arrive PRIOR to Saturday, January 28, 2012. There is a fair chance it will arrive but I am simply not sure. I tend to be conservative in my estimates to be on the safe side. At my own initiative, I have scanned in my copy of the official transcript from my MBA program and attached it. I understand this is not close to your requirements, nor is it meant to be. However, it can be a “placeholder” until the transcript arrives no later than Monday.

In the January 28, 2012 assessment, I am expected to and happy to prepare a 10-minute presentation to be evaluated upon. I know I am NOT being hired. I don’t believe I am being evaluated on my credentials at this time. I understand I am being evaluated on my presentation/instructional/facilitation/verbal communication skills. What harm and hardship can my being permitted to attend and participate in the January 28, 2012 assessment session cause?

If I am approved during the assessment process, the MBA transcript should arrive by Monday. If I am NOT approved, the transcript issue is a non-issue.

What I feel is at stake is the large amount of time invested in the process by several associates and supporters thus far. From what I have been told, the Columbus Campus is expanding and need more instructors. I was told by Dr. Hurtarte at the local campus that he needs Marketing instructors. I stand ready to confidently meet the challenge. My understanding is that instructor assessments happen infrequently and so there is potential for a large time loss. Even if things go as planned, there is an extended period to ramp an instructor up to independent status.

While I have been informed I could come back another time, a price will have been paid by the Columbus GA Campus who is reliant on the home office operation. I am certainly interested in moving forward but by the time another assessment is scheduled, my priorities could significantly change. It is entirely possibly that from UofP’s perspective, if you have more than enough faculty to work with, a delay is negligible.

In Columbus GA, there are a fair share of people with Masters Degrees. That is a given. But in my 11+ years I have been here in Columbus GA, very few have also cutting-edge “in the street” and online experience in the publishing business, real estate investments, property management business, and a web presence/marketing business. I have published and authored over 20+ titles on Amazon.com and produced 100+ marketing related videos. Most of your instructors will likely come from employees working full-time jobs. Nothing wrong with that except that wouldn’t it be nice to have an instructor to be part of UoP that had nearly complete control over their schedules being able to teach both day and night courses as well as attend extracurricular activities? I understand that it is a challenge for adjunct faculty to attend extracurricular activities. And yet, I am prepared to integrate that into my schedule.

I only bring up my experience to convey that I have a lot on my plate but I offer a lot in return. I am currently willing, enthusiastic, and able to commit to UoP. But 4-6 months down the road, my priorities could change significantly.

I know UofP is a large organization with many policies and procedures in place to better govern operations. But in this instance, is granting the latitude of a 2 more days of transcript delivery time asking for too much especially when I have already provided UoP a copy of what you will ultimately see and receive?

If the rules are that inflexible, you will let me know. Ultimately, I will abide by your decision. If the policies and procedures does not allow this small degree of flexibility, then so be it. I accept the message being told to me and clearly this matter becomes closed.

Certainly, it is my hope that everything can go as planned but I am being proactive in reach out to you and solicit your feedback and reaction.

Thank you for your consideration in this matter.

Respectfully,

Matthew Chan

====================

Sarah Hightower did not respond to this email. Although to be fair, it was fairly late when I sent this email. By the following day, I had sent Sarah another email with my discovery of the ZIP code errors within Courtney Hopper’s email forms.

====================

 Ms. Hightower,

I did not receive a reply yet from you. However, given the new facts I found out about zip code inconsistency in the form letters I received, I hope you might take this into consideration for the delay in my transcript.

Below is the email I sent to Courtney reporting what I discovered. I know it was unintentional but it feels like the Columbus GA campus and I might be unfairly penalized for this. I still believe it would cause no harm for me to attend the January 28, 2012 session if the transcript does not arrive by Friday, January 27, 2012.

Thank you for your consideration.

Matthew Chan

====================

 Hello Mr. Chan,

Thank you for your communication. I have read both of the emails you sent and I am responding to your last email, but will be addressing your inquiry in its entirety.

Let me start off by saying that I apologize for the confusion regarding our correct zip code. As Courtney mentioned, we recently moved building locations and it appears that we missed updating all of our necessary documents. Since this was a mistake on our behalf, I would be happy to look into refunding the cost of ordering the transcript to be sent to us.

In regards to attending an assessment for our Columbus, GA campus; Our policy requires that all faculty candidates are approved by a Program Chair to attend an assessment, and this can only be done with official transcripts. Unfortunately, this is a strict policy and we are unable to provide an exception to this policy. If your transcripts arrive in time to be scanned into the system and we are able to gain approval from a Program Chair, we will proceed. Otherwise there will be no other option but to schedule you for a future assessment.

Once again, we apologize for any inconvenience this has caused. Please let me know if you have any further questions.

Thank you,

Sarah Hightower
Faculty Services Manager

====================

Basically, even though she had a scanned copy of the recently printed transcript, it was insufficient. The official transcript would have arrived by Monday.

After reading her email, I called two of my UOPX friends to discuss it. I stewed on this for 24-hours because I wanted time to think about this and not make a hasty decision or take an action I might later regret.

After I had an entire 24-hour period, I wrote a lengthy email to the Head of Business at the local campus to explain why I became dismayed, disenchanted, and ultimately withdrew from the application process.

After that email, I wrote my final email to Sarah Hightower and also copied Courtney Hopper on it.

=======================

 Ms. Hightower,

I have taken 24-hours to reflect on the events of the last few days as well as your and Courtney’s responses.

Originally, I wrote a much longer email before I realized, it would be a wasted effort as has been my prior emails to both of you. I saved the text of what I originally wrote to you for another letter that I will direct to Apollo Group Management.

First, you will be happy to know I have withdrawn from the application process. The problem of the official transcript has now been resolved and the Jan. 28 assessment can continue on with one less candidate. Please discard my official transcripts when they arrive.

Second, I will be sending a formal complaint letter to the appropriate members of the Apollo Group Management. That complaint letter will be made public and inform others of how the UoP faculty recruitment process works and provide insights into how your Faculty Recruitment team operates. You may want to get a copy of this complaint letter. You might learn something from it going forward.

Respectfully,

Matthew Chan

=====================

As I write this, both bimbos Sarah Hightower and Courtney Hopper, do not yet know I have made their embarrassing actions public. But they eventually will because I am working my way to the Apollo Group Management complaint. It is not something I want to do but the fact of the matter is that I used so much of my time and energy during the application process only to have the Bimbo Sisters tell me “too bad so sad”, you can try next time. There is no next time as far as I am concerned.

They are used to treating faculty candidates like a bunch of cattle where people come and go with little or no consequence to them. However, my time is valuable and I don’t like having my time invested go up in smoke because of bimbo decisions and bimbo management.

Continue reading »]]> On January 25, 2012, 3 days before my Instructor Assessment Session, I abruptly terminated my application with University of Phoenix out of disgust for the lack of apology and more importantly lack of accountability for multiple errors made during my application process. Normally, I am patient and understanding when unintentional, innocent mistakes are made. However, when I have to pay the price for those mistakes and the person who committed them offers no apology and more importantly, has no accountability even when the manager has been contacted, I cannot simply sit back, put on a happy face, and take it on the chin. No way in hell.

Without getting into a long story since the following emails are self-explanatory, it involved the “mystery” of my missing official transcripts that I ordered back on January 10, 2012 but never showed up for Courtney Hopper, the faculty recruiter I was dealing with. Initially, I thought it was the U.S. Postal Service’s fault then I thought it was my alma mater’s fault before I finally discovered and traced the error back to Courtney Hopper herself!

Read for yourself….

===============

Hello Matthew,

 The University of Phoenix will process the background check after you have attended the assessment event and have been selected to move forward to certification. If for some reason you are not selected, we inform HR to terminate the background check.

 You should be preparing you 10 minute lesson based off of the course description that I originally sent to you. This presentation should include a PowerPoint and any other material you see fit. You can pick any topic or concept that you would like from the course description to present upon.

 The only item missing for your file is your transcripts. They have not yet been received. These will have to be on file in order for you to be eligible to attend so I will tell you that you are tentatively scheduled for the event this Saturday until they arrive. They must be here on or before Thursday. Can you please contact your Universities to see when they were sent and to verify they sent them to the correct address (see my signature block below). Please be sure they included the mail-stop code.

 If they do not arrive by Thursday then you will have to wait to attend a later assessment date.

Warm regards,

 Courtney Hopper, MSP
Faculty Recruiter, Faculty Services

===================

Courtney,

You should know that I have just ordered another transcript to be sent directly to you. I even wrote in that it was my 2nd request and it is urgent. Until you actually receive the “official” transcript, I have provided you a scanned version to give you something to work with and to show it to anyone you need to. I promise there has been no alterations whatsoever.

Respectfully, I asked you last week if you had received my transcript as it had been ordered two weeks ago (January 10, 2012). I informed you that I received my copy last Monday and that you should have received yours.  You did tell me on Wednesday that it might have been held up but that is all I heard from you since last Wednesday regarding this.  Even with the 2 emails you sent me last Thursday, you gave no indication that the transcript had NOT arrived.

I have tried to be proactive, diligent, and accommodating throughout the application process. I ordered two transcripts:  one for me, one for you on January 10, 2012. I received mine. You did not. Clearly, this is not what anyone wants but I am concerned that the transcript may not be there by Thursday.  Given that I ordered the transcript at the end of Monday, it will not be processed until Tuesday.  If we are very lucky, it may be sent out Tuesday and you receive it Thursday. However, that assumes everything runs at its best. It is more likely that the transcript will arrive Friday or Saturday. You likely don’t work on the weekend.  So the transcript should be ready for you early next Monday.

I know you have procedures you have to follow but I am asking for a little flexibility and latitude here.  As you and I have (along with my UoP supporters) invested so much time already helping me through the application process,  it would be unfortunate if everything got detained over this incident. The official transcript will be there for your records albeit a couple of days than preferred. I ask for a little bit of latitude to allow for Webster University to fulfill my 2nd transcript request.

If I were to attend Saturday and be recommended, I surmise you would not get the results until Monday.  The transcript would be there by Monday for you. If I were NOT recommended, the point is moot.

In this email, I have attached a scanned copy of the transcript I received with the supporting attachments. I hope this will at least satisfy some of the requirements of information you need until the official transcript arrives.

I ask that you consider what I propose. I think it is workable and reasonable.  Believe me, I am not trying to be difficult, I am simply trying to find a workable solution so that we can move forward without delay.

Thank you for your consideration.

Matthew Chan

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Hello Matthew,

 Thank you for your email. I apologize for not getting back to in regards to your transcripts until today (Monday only 2 business days since we last spoke) however I had another campus assessment last weekend which occupied much of my time. In addition, we recently moved buildings so I was also attempting to give the benefit of the doubt that the transcripts were in progress. But as of today, I fear that something must of happened and perhaps they were not sent to me or the University did not include my mail stop code, therefore I was contacting you in regards to this matter. (University as in singular not plural as my previous email stated by mistake).

 In regards to your request to have an exception made, this is not something I can do nor do we do in these cases. Unfortunately there is no wiggle room in the requirement that the official copies must be on file prior to 1/28. Without them, I cannot get your file approved and therefore you would not be eligible to attend the assessment event.

 If you have any questions regarding this matter, please feel free to contact my manager Sarah Hightower at sarah.hightower@phoenix.edu.

 Warm regards,

Courtney Hopper, MSP
Faculty Recruiter, Faculty Services

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Courtney,

I want to let you know that I went back to retrace what went wrong on the Webster University transcript.

After calling Webster University to follow-up on the missing transcript situation, I discovered a major inconsistency in the zip code in the mailing address you are using. In some of the emails, you are using 85034. In others, it is 85040. It appears the most of the “form emails” you are sending contain the 85034 zip code. The emails which you send me “custom emails” contain 85040.

Out of the total 8 emails (to date) that bear your name, 5 emails still have the 85034 zip code. And because I responded promptly for the transcript request on January 10, 2012, the 2 emails I had up to that date had only the 85034 zip code. There was no 85040 to be seen. It only began showing up when you responded to me: the 1st time rescheduling our phone interview. By that time, the transcript order had been submitted.

I called Webster University and they used the 85034 address. I made them re-read the entire address I submitted to them in case they could not read my handwriting. They got everything correct (including the mail stop) EXCEPT the ZIP Code.

I can only assume that 85034 was the zip code to the old office address that you mentioned. One of 2 things will happen, my transcript will eventually show up at your new office once the post office figures out your “new” zip code. Or it will be returned to Webster University. I verbally told the registrar I need another sent out ASAP, this time to the 85040 zip code.

The 2nd request I faxed in also had the 85034 zip code and therefore incorrect. I faxed in a 3rd written request with the 85040 zip code just in case. However, the registrar office said that based on my January 10, 2012 request, it would be printed today and given to the U.S. Postal Service today. I am hopeful that it will arrive by Friday.

However, given that the missing transcript came from my being provided the incorrect zip code, I feel the Columbus GA campus and I would be unduly penalized if I wasn’t given some latitude here to allow to Monday for the transcript to arrive. Also, I feel I should be permitted to attend the instructor assessment session. Despite my best efforts to be proactive, I could not have anticipated dealing with incorrect zip codes as we are dealing now. I hope you see this, agree with it, and help me with the powers that be.

I know this was unintentional and I bear no animosity over this. It is just “one of those things”. However, I can honestly say that I would become displeased if I was penalized by not being allowed into the January 28, 2012 assessment session.

Last thing, you should have copies of all emails you have sent to me.

You can verify everything I am stating. If not, I will forward you all the emails that contain the incorrect 85034 zip code. I think it goes without saying that the zip code on all the form letters need to be corrected ASAP so no other candidate has to experience what I have.

Please advise.

Respectfully,

Matthew Chan

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FOLLOWING THE LAST EMAIL, I EMAILED THE EACH OF THE 5 FORM EMAILS THAT HAD ZIP CODE ERRORS.

At this point was Courtney’s final email response on this matter. No apology, nothing. Barely an acknowledgment of her big error causing the possible rescheduling of the Instructor Assessment Session which only happens once or twice a year (from what I have been told.)

==========================

Hello Matthew,

I have forwarded this email to my manager. She or I will be in contact shortly. Thank you.

Warm regards,

Courtney Hopper, MSP
Faculty Recruiter, Faculty Services

==============

Although I became a bit dismayed, I hoped her manager Sarah Hightower (Faculty Services Manager) would have a bit more insight, creativity, and authority.  She did not. Sarah Hightower also gave me a bimbo response and showed herself to me as a bureaucratic, unempowered bimbo manager.

Read the next post regarding my communication with Sarah Hightower, Bimbo Faculty Services Manager.

Continue reading »]]> One of the questions I want answered is when going for a job, project, or assignment that requires my personal work, services, or talents, is:  What are you looking for in an ideal candidate? In this case with University of Phoenix, I asked, “What is the ideal faculty member?”. The answer I received came from a variety of sources that included the University of Phoenix FAQ, employees, interviews, and what I was able to figure out on my own.

You might be surprised with the list I come up with.

1. UOPX prefers part-time faculty. In fact, the majority of the faculty is part-time which is one of the big criticisms from traditional academia. But that argument carries little weight with me because I have seen and met many full-time faculty over the years and those people couldn’t survive the outside world for more than a year. They like the protective, insulation of academia. In any case, I digress. There is no big commitment or promise needed to keep part-time faculty around. No benefits needed to pay.  Easy to hire, easy to fire.

2. They prefer faculty that work in areas in which they teach. They want faculty to have at least 5 years in relevant areas. I don’t have anything bad to say.  It makes sense and I can get onboard with that.

3. They prefer faculty members that have PhD degrees. People with PhD are relatively scarce as far as the general population goes. In the world of academia, the higher the degree, the better.  It looks good on paper and good for its reputation as a university.  Goodness knows UOPX need all the help they can in the reputation department.  For UOPX, this means PhD faculty gets paid more and have a better chance of being promoted into administrative and leadership positions.  They get preference for teaching the courses they want.

4. They want faculty to go through a “Faculty Indoctrination Program”. By going through their indoctrination program, UPOX will more likely have new faculty do things the UOPX way. Interestingly, I have noticed a large number of UOPX employees that were indoctrinated simply because they were UOPX graduates then became UOPX employees themselves.

5. They want faculty members to happily and enthusiastically attend extracurricular department meetings, graduations, and other important social functions to represent the local UOPX campus. It makes for good PR in the local community and local campus cohesiveness. However, it is my understanding that many part-time faculty struggle with this and really do not like this. These extracurricular events tend to be “inconveniently” scheduled since most part-time faculty have full-time jobs and family obligations. It is already all they can do simply to meet and teach their courses much less attend additional functions with little or no pay. If you become UOPX faculty, be prepared to put on a happy face at all these extra activities and meetings especially if you want any hope of being promoted to an administrative or leadership position.

6. UOPX says they want “real-world” professionals as part of their faculty. I would say that they want the corporate employee types, not business owners or entrepreneurs as faculty. In theory, they may say they want them but the faculty recruiting process has little or no clue how to attract or deal with business owners or entrepreneurs.  Time is their greatest asset and they have little patience for unnecessary bureaucracy especially from faculty recruiters who have far less experience than the people they are recruiting. Freedom and independence are also very important qualities for business owners and entrepreneurs. Too much structure discourages them. UOPX’s “faculty indoctrination process” is simply too much for most business owners and entrepreneurs to take. In any case, most students really want to be employees for a large organization. Having an entrepreneur or business owner teach them may not be appreciated nor helpful.

7. While compensation is certainly part of being a faculty member, UOPX does not want faculty to be primarily driven by compensation. They want faculty to be driven by the desire or love to teach. I think that is fine except that I thought the compensation plan is ridiculously low for the “faculty indoctrination process” they make every faculty candidate go through. It is certainly their right to do so.  And it is certainly a good way to find out who the most committed people are. You have to want to teach at UOPX desperately to go through the lengthy faculty indoctrination process and work for so little pay.

There are a probably a few more items I have forgotten. If I remember them, I will come back and update this post. But for now, that is how I see University of Phoenix operates.

Continue reading »]]> According to a University of Phoenix FAQ I received, the University of Phoenix Faculty Pay & Compensation Plan is as follows for the Columbus GA local campus. (I would be surprised if compensation does not vary from state to state or even city to city. I speculate compensation is higher in larger cities and high cost-of-living areas but the overall structure is likely to be the same.)

Payment is disbursed into two payments of 66% and 34% respectively. The first payment is issued after they have met the 1st week of attendance in class. The final payment is issued after the faculty has posted final grade upon completion of the course.

If you have a PhD, you will be on a different and higher compensation plan than if you “only” have a Masters degree.

For faculty with Masters degrees, the compensation schedule is listed below.

For undergraduate courses that have 5-week terms and 3 credits:

• Starting pay is: $1,015.
• After 1 year & 5 courses: You get a whopping $36 increase to $1,051.
• After 3 years & 7 courses: You get a whopping $74 increase to $1,125.

Each of those sessions meet for 4-hours each. That means a total of 20 classroom hours.

Assuming you put in an average of 4 hours of course prep, follow-up, and grading work per week, you will be putting in a total of 40 work-related hours during the term. Taking the math further out, it comes out to a little more than $25/hour starting out and a little more than $28/hour at the top of the scale. All of this is considered W-2 taxable income. If your travel time or outside class hours turns out to be unusually high, your calculated hourly rate goes down dramatically.

I asked Courtney Hopper, the faculty recruiter I dealt with, if faculty pay could be issued to my corporation (so I could deduct related business expenses, if any, and I had better control over my taxes). They said no. You cannot be an independent contractor, you have to be  classified as a part-time employee. That was a strike for me. I would rather be an independent contractor anytime. As a part-time employee, you can be let go for any reason anyway and you receive no meaningful benefits but you get penalized more heavily from an income tax point of view. Hence, my preference to be an independent contractor in these assignment-based, project-based situations.

For graduate courses that have 6-week terms and 3 credits:

• Starting pay is: $1,300
• After 1 year & 5 courses: You get a whopping $46 increase to $1,346.
• After 3 years & 7 courses: You get a whopping $95 increase to $1,441.

Each of those sessions meet for 4-hours each. That means a total of 24 classroom hours.

Assuming you put in an average of 4 hours of course prep, follow-up, and grading work per week, you will be putting in a total of 48 work-related hours during the term. Taking the math further out, it comes out to a little more than $27/hour starting out and a little more than $30/hour at the top of the scale. All of this is considered W-2 taxable income. If your travel time or outside class hours turns out to be unusually high, your calculated hourly rate goes down dramatically.

==========

For faculty with PhD or JD degrees, the compensation schedule is listed below.

For undergraduate courses that have 5-week terms and 3 credits:

• Starting pay is: $1,165.
• After 1 year & 5 courses: You get a whopping $36 increase to $1,201.
• After 3 years & 7 courses: You get a whopping $74 increase to $1,275.

Each of those sessions meet for 4-hours each. That means a total of 20 classroom hours.

Assuming you put in an average of 4 hours of course prep, follow-up, and grading work per week, you will be putting in a total of 40 work-related hours during the term. Taking the math further out, it comes out to a little more than $29/hour starting out and a little less than $32/hour at the top of the scale. All of this is considered W-2 taxable income. If your travel time or outside class hours turns out to be unusually high, your calculated hourly rate goes down dramatically.

For graduate courses that have 6-week terms and 3 credits:

• Starting pay is: $1,600
• After 1 year & 5 courses: You get a whopping $46 increase to $1,646.
• After 3 years & 7 courses: You get a whopping $95 increase to $1,741.

Each of those sessions meet for 4-hours each. That means a total of 24 classroom hours.

Assuming you put in an average of 4 hours of course prep, follow-up, and grading work per week, you will be putting in a total of 48 work-related hours during the term. Taking the math further out, it comes out to a little more than $33/hour starting out and a little more than $36/hour at the top of the scale. All of this is considered W-2 taxable income. If your travel time or outside class hours turns out to be unusually high, your calculated hourly rate goes down dramatically.

============

One of the reasons I lost interest quickly is that the compensation plan was very low to begin with compared to all the work and the lengthy indoctrination process to become UOPX faculty. The responsibilities involved was simply not commensurate with what I have been accustomed to in creating and receiving business income vs. actively working as a part-time employee under the heavily-taxed W-2 income structure.

While money was not my highest reason to pursue a part-time faculty position with University of Phoenix, the moment I lost enthusiasm for the idea of teaching for UOPX, it quickly became a no-brainer to simply leave it behind. I decided I could have more fun and make more money working on my own projects.