Don’t Tell People You Teach at University of Phoenix

This is part of my ongoing commentary about University of Phoenix (UOPX).  I have long known that University of Phoenix has been the subject of complaints but I never knew to the degree that University of Phoenix is hated.  Yes, I use the word “hate” because the hundreds of complaint comments are quite venomous.

To be sure, my comments will not win me any Good Samaritan awards but to see the number of unhappy students is quite sad. It is especially sad since they are on the hook for thousands of dollars in student loans and financial aid that cannot be swept away.

I get the feeling that Apollo Group Management (the folks who own UOPX) simply cannot get it under control.  They have been the subject of controversy after controversy for nearly 10 years. They keep claiming they are improving things but bad things keep happening.

As recently as August 2010, ABC News did an investigation on University of Phoenix and it wasn’t pretty. In May 2011, the Boston Globe reports that UOPX is a target of a Massachusetts probe.The number of lawsuits against UOPX are breath-taking and staggering.

Some of the employees seem semi-corrupt.  Some are simply bimbos, bureaucratic and dumb.

I have a couple of friends that work at University of Phoenix and I know them well. They try very hard to do their parts to do a good job. There are probably others who honestly want to do a good job and do right by the students and faculty. However, it will never be enough.  Too much damage has been done.

My advice to the good employees is to just continue doing a good job but just understand very few on the outside respect the University of Phoenix name. I originally thought it might be for my bio to be an instructor there but now I am convinced you are better just leaving it off your bio. And if it is on your resume, be prepared to have a good explanation to work there. I would tell people that the economy was bad the last 4-5 years, you needed a job but you did what you could to improve University of Phoenix.

One friend of mine enjoys teaching and making a positive impact on the students but I almost don’t want to tell him that in some circles, he really needs to hide his affiliation with University of Phoenix. To me, do a good job, earn the money, but don’t brag or even talk about being part of University of Phoenix.

I still haven’t written my complaint letter to Apollo Group Management because I think it is a waste of time and it wouldn’t do any good. I feel my time is actually better spent on this blog post to provide commentary to those people who might consider becoming a faculty member and teach University of Phoenix or those who are already in it but need to get the heck out while saving their professional reputations.

It really is sad. Students with degrees from UOPX will never get much respect academically. Faculty who work at UOPX will not get much respect professionally but at least they will get a paycheck.  That is ok but for gosh sake, don’t brag about it.  Just tell people you did it for the money and the recession motivated you to do it.

I think it is amusing how UOPX tries so desperately spams the search engines trying to bury complaints and all the negative stories that have been reported for nearly a decade. It only makes them more pathetic looking. Maybe they should think about Apollo Group Management should consider abandoning the University of Phoenix name altogether and start anew.