I read a blog over at thinkphd.com the other day that inspired me to chart my own path at Northcentral University (NCU) in pursuit of my Doctorate. When I was first looking at schools, much like Cindy over at thinkphd.com, I kept coming back to NCU. I was in need of a GOOD school offering terminal degrees online. “Good” is obviously subjective… When looking at NCU, I had a hard time with understanding what it would take in regards to course load, classes and so on… So, that’s what I’m attempting to do; chronicle my experience at NCU and what it really takes to succeed.
I just started my Research and Dissertation Sequence, so I’m getting a late start here, but to get moving this is what the course load looks like for a DBA in Computer and Information Security at NCU:
SKS7000 – Doctoral Comprehensive Strategic Knowledge Studies
OM7015 – Personnel Management and Organizational Behavior
STAT7028 – Applied Statistics for Business Decision Making
CIS7000 – Fundamentals of Computer Security
CIS7002 – Organizations Corporate Computer and Network Security
CIS7005 – Critical Infrastructure Protection
CIS7006 – Fundamentals of Computer Network Auditing
CIS7010 – Disaster Recovery and Contingency Planning
CIS8101 – Computer Information and Security Capstone Project
RSH9101B – Research Topic, Problem, Purpose and Questions
RSH9102B – Research Methods and Designs
RSH9103MMB or RSH9103QLB or RSH9103QNB – Mixed, Qualitative or Quantitative Methods
RSH9104B – Concept PaperCMP9200B – Doctoral Comprehensive Examination
DIS9321B – Doctoral Dissertation Research I
DIS9322B – Doctoral Dissertation Research II
DIS9323B – Doctoral Dissertation Research III
Some of these classes were ones I selected, so you may have some variation. If you go by the normal NCU schedule, you can count on each class taking 3 months for a total of 4 years. In my experience, and if you’re REALLY motivated, you can do some of these classes in a month. Don’t get me wrong, they aren’t easy, but is IS possible if you’re interested in really moving. I started my first class in October 2009 and I’m starting RSH9102B on July 5th. What should have taken 30 months has taken me 21 months so far…not boasting, but simply stating that it IS possible to accelerate your schedule (even with a family and a full time job).
Hopefully this helps those out there who are considering an education at NCU and having a little trouble making a decision!