News Bob

UTSA management accounting professor James Groff said many of his mba online students are professionals who may live in isolated parts of the nation. Some are professionals who work nonstandard hours.

“I’ve had students who were in submarines and some from Alaska,” Groff said. The submarine officer, Groff said, was stationed in Connecticut, then transferred to the Texas shore and then moved to Dallas. Groff has taught a petroleum engineer who was assigned to a post in Calgary, Alberta, and a U.S. citizen in Mexico who wanted a degree from an accredited U.S. university.

Meshako started off working toward her MBA on campus at UIW, but then her husband — an environmental specialist with the Defense Department — transferred to the Pentagon. She was able to continue her program online.

The aacsb mba online programs at UIW and UT TeleCampus are accredited through their universities by the Southern Association of College and Schools. Tuition for the UIW program is slightly more than its brick-and-mortar counterpart. The base tuition in the UT System is the same as the campus tuition, but some charge an additional fee.

Robinson said the universities participating in the UT program use on-site professors who also teach physically at the university.

Porter said professors working with UIW’s Universe Online programs and MBA distance programs are Ph.D.-level adjunct professors from throughout the world.

“We are hurt by most of the MBA distance programs - degree and diploma mills that are out there,” Robinson said. “They impair the reputation of those of us who are out there doing high quality stuff. And that’s always difficult.” Robinson and Porter said one tool they use to assuage concerns is the accreditation of their universities.

To prevent students from committing identity fraud, directors at both schools require their professors to heavily include online discussions about subject matters and to watch for changes in the “voice” of their students.

“We build in interaction into the curriculum, so there are plenty of opportunities for students and the faculty to interact,” Robinson said. “The faculty gets a sense of who these people are. We don’t have a back row, and so students don’t have the opportunity to hide. Yes, it’s a written format, but they are participating.” Groff said frequently his online students reveal more about who they are, their personal goals and personal problems than his campus students.

“For reasons I don’t fully understand, they seem to be more revealing than live students,” he said. “Maybe because in MBA distance programs they can’t see me and can’t see my face, I find out a lot about families and interesting stuff about them personally that in regular classes I don’t find out about my students.” To watch for fraud, professors look for changes in language usage, in writing styles and personality changes.