Posts Tagged ‘student’

Time to Drop a Class

February 5th, 2011

I have felt during the first week of class that the instructor is not really engaging the students, certainly not me.  It’s during the first week of class that the immediate bond and relationship between a student and instructor are developed.  I’m not feeing good about this.

Last night after getting in from my working photo gigs I logged into class and saw a couple more posts from the instructor in my PH 699 course (Special Topics: MS: Concept & Critical Processes).  You can read some of it in the previous post.

I had my bad class at AAU and I will not accept another one.  Maybe the instructor is having a bad week, maybe the PH 699 course really starts to shine in a few days.  If I knew another student that had taken the same course/instructor pair then I would have more data points from which to make a decision, but I have to go with my gut and my previous class experiences.

All my other courses (with that one exception) have had very engaging and motivating teachers.  Each instructor has reached out to each student to make a connection.  All of these classes  have been A or A+ or A++ courses, and I have taken additional courses from some of these instructors because I placed higher importance on working with the person teaching the material  and less importance on the subject.

I have a friend that is a great conversationalist and chef. When ever I go visit her I know I will learn something and have a great meal.  I don’t define the meal I enjoy the experience.

Classes at a master’s level in art need to be an enjoyable experience.  For me they also have to push me and my limits, expand my thoughts and overall enhance me and my work.

I’m not feeling it in that class.

Tamara Hubbard deserves all the kudos I can send her. She is the Associate Director of the Online Graduate Photography Program at AAU.  She lead the Thesis Project Seminar class I took in the Fall of 2010.

Last night I wrote her, this morning she responded.  That’s remarkable and speaks to her dedication to the program and as a great student advocate.

She recommended two classes:

  • PH 611 Architecture as Landscape with Brian Parkin
  • PH 655 Digital Montage with Shannon Ayres

and she reminded me that today is the last day to make a change without a penalty or fee.

I’ve heard a couple good things about PH611 and I do want to take the course but I don’t want to walk into an unknown.  My friend Terri (who I teach workshops with in Midas, NV) has taken Shannon Ayres and has nothing but great things to say.

I called my advisor (WHAT! on a Saturday?!) and left a message, then I called back to the front desk and voilà! there are advisors working on a Saturday at AAU.  That’s great!

There are not enough words to say how wonderful the director and the advisors have been in guiding me and getting me into a new class.Online courses could seem daunting as I work in my own space and feel removed from the traditional classroom and university interactions.  Getting this type of support is very nice.

The take away here is I AM RESPONSIBLE for the classes I take.  If I’m not satisfied then it is MY RESPONSIBILITY to effect the change.

Onward to PH 655 Digital Montage with Shannon Ayres.






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To Loan or Not to Loan

September 1st, 2010
Pay the Price

Pay the Price

That is the question…here.

I can’t answer that for you.  I am thinking about it.

The student loan process is a lot simpler and easier than it was when I started my MBA some 18 years.  It seems to be a lot easier to get a lot of money for school and that is very DANGEROUS.  That you can get a lot of money for school doesn’t mean that you should take it.  I think the best method is to pay cash…that was until I reviewed my tax returns from 2009.

This info applies to me.

I am a struggling professional (full-time) photographer with a part-time job to help pay for grad school.  Think of the part-time job as putting food on the table, gas in the car, and rent while I pay for tuition and all my business costs from my business income.

Financially speaking: I am poor

I am not a CPA and I highly recommend you find and use a good one.

Now, looking at my 1040 I see that I have a tuition deduction of $4000 but I paid well over twice that amount and I don’t get credit for doing so.  Why not see if I can spread the cost of tuition over a longer period of time and receive the tax credit in the future.  Seems reasonable don’t you think?

This brings me to some research to determine how my future student loan payments affect my bottom line on my annual taxes.  This is from the IRS:

Publication 970 (2009), Tax Benefits for Education  (link here)

Paid with borrowed funds. You can claim a tuition and fees deduction for qualified education expenses paid with the proceeds of a loan. Use the expenses to figure the deduction for the year in which the expenses are paid, not the year in which the loan is repaid. Treat loan payments sent directly to the educational institution as paid on the date the institution credits the student’s account.

Ah ha!  So it seem I can reduce my adjusted gross income (AGI) with student loans but I cannot deffer the reduction to my AGI when I actually get around to paying the loan back.  Hmmm…so much for cash basis accounting.

Should I take the loans?  Should I increase the length of my stay at my institution?

While I have been offered over $32,000 in aid for the coming school year (2010-2011) I may only accept and use about $8,000.  I’m probably going to take the direct subsidized loans for at least one semester this year.  I have already spent over 4-grand on tuition so I’ll get that deduction for my 2010 taxes.  This is a side benefit of why I’m taking a loan.  I’m planning a major surgery in early 2011 and I won’t be able to work for about a month.  Given that I’m (barely) self-employed I don’t have things like vacation time I can dip into while I’m recovering.  Taking out this loan will allow me to pay for immediate tuition expenses, and conserve cash over the next few months for the time when I can’t work…seems to be reasonable financial planning.

As always (and as everyone seems to disclaim – rightfully so) consult a tax professional about your needs.

I strongly recommend that without any disclaimer!




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The Demotivating Bad Class

June 15th, 2010
The lowest grade in my lighting class went to this image. :-)

The lowest grade in my lighting class went to this image. : -)

It was bound to happen.

I took a class and the experience was abysmal, dreadful, and appallingly bad.  It would be easy enough to pan a course and an instructor but that won’t do a good job explaining my perceptions during the semester.

Lighting is an elective course. It was my first elective course at AAU and I can’t recommend it.  My experience here gives it a solid D-minus.  Tamara Hubbard , Associate Director of Online photography MFA, and I had a dialog concerning issues surrounding both the course and the person assigned to teach it. Three points stood out from this discussion:

  1. I may have been over-qualified to take this course.
  2. The course is being revised.
  3. The instructor issues have been noted and I should additionally contact another Director to follow-up.

For the first point: I don’t agree. I am an experienced photographer but I only do a little studio work and I really wanted to take something that I knew I was good at but would greatly improved my skills and knowledge of the subject by taking this elective.  Other classes I’ve taken had students with a huge range of abilities from poor to excellent yet it seemed that most students that applied themselves did really good work and improved personally over the duration of the term.  The director did encourage me to contact her directly about future course suggestions which I find to be very commendable.

Second: So the course is being revised.  This means that I do not recommend the PH608: Lighting class I took in Spring 2010.  It also means I cannot make any judgments on any revised course until I see the new course material.

Third:  The MFA-Photography AAU folks do occasional online town hall meetings.  I haven’t attended one but one of my fellow students did and her takeaway was that if you have particular issues with a class then contact a director.  I didn’t want to be a whiny student so I contact a couple other students in my class, and I discovered that the issues I had were also held by some other students as well.  One of the students actually met face-to-face with one of the directors and did voice concerns about the course and instructor.  This made my follow up easier as all I had to do was validate how I and the other student felt and I could be contacted for additional information.

Being able to document and criticize (both positively and negatively) is very important when praising a course/instructor.  Being able to easily communicate that to the directors of the program speaks highly to the department’s desire to build and maintain a strong program.

This is my second Master’s.  I draw on my experience as an MBA student where I went into a class and didn’t like the instructor or the material and I would change my courses to reflect that.  As an online student I have to remind myself that I am the master of my schedule and education, therefore I need to be informed about my classes and take action when I feel there are serious problems with a class.

The worst thing about the lighting class wasn’t the waste of money, nor the waste of time – the worst aspect of that class was the incredible de-motivation felt by this student which drove me to do mediocre work in a class I was initially very excited about taking.

The best thing that came out of this class was learning that the department appears to really care about the program, the course, and the quality of the instructors.


[UPDATE 6/17/10 : I've learned that the person that taught my section is also teaching at least one Summer section - email me if you want to know the instructor (or go find another post). I have (for better or worse) suggested to a former classmate to drop that class or find another instructor  that is teaching it. It is that bad a class in my personal opinion]

[UPDATE 8/29/10 : I believe this instructor is still teaching the lighting class at AAU. My recommendation is that you do not take this class.  If you want to take it I would suggest contacting the Director and ask for a complete course listing for this class which will allow you to decide if if you REALLY want to take it.

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It’s All About Me!

October 16th, 2009
It's all about me!

It's all about me! (That's not me, but I did take it yesterday)

I’ve been pretty quiet updating all my blogs.  That’s likely due to working and studying is all I do.   That’s not quite true.  I’m attempting some weak effort to date and I may have set up a tentative date for about 2-3 weeks from now as that is when it will fit my schedule.

I’m in week 6/7 of the 15 week semester and my best take away from the program at this point is “It is all about me!”

What I mean is that doing an online MFA is a very demanding activity if I make it a very demanding activity.  I wouldn’t mind being a valedictorian, but I better work my tail off to get anywhere near there.

AAU admits near 100% of the applicants and thus your classmate mix will be…well…mixed.

I suppose this is no different from any other in-person or online class but the basic requirements are fairly simple to meet and some folks just can’t get them right.  Having completed my MBA in ’94 I remember well what student life wwas like and as an instructor/lecturer around the turn of the century I recall that some students just don’t get it too.  I’m not trying to get by,  I’m trying to do my absolute best so I can get the most out of this experience.  I’m paying a lot for these classes.  I pay for them in cash that I make from a part-time job  that eats into almost all my free time.  I damn well better make good use of my time and effort!

Some basics:
Submit stuff on time.  It’s better to so early during the assignment windows but poeple will be people and many turn them in on the last day.

Respond to your classmates work and do so in a meaningful way.  This means  thinking about the assignment, the work or the other student, and then constructing criticism aobut the work in a way that speaks to the course material.    Certainly, a comment that “I love that image” can be appropiate but when that is the bulk of hte comment it does not address the requirement of thoughtful discussion.  Online is potentially SO MUCH BETTER at doing this as you can look at the work of another student and then ponder it and answer it later.   You don’t have to respond to everything you see.  The more I respond to work in a thoughtful way the more I learn so I do that.  I try to make a point of responding to everyone that posts work,  I can’t always get to everything but I try.

There are no surprises so don’t be surprised.  There is a quiz at the end of every weeks’ work.  So do the quiz after you have turned in all the work for that week.

The basics are basically, show up (nice flexibility in an online course), do assignments (turning them in early gets you the opportunity to redo sometimes), do quizes, and get it all in by deadline.

Self-motivation is a huge part of taking online classes.  I thought this would be the case and it is!  I turn assignments in as soon as possible and as early in the week as I can.  I respond to lots of other work.  I mean how tough is it to do 10-12 reviews of a paragraph or two, sometimes it is tough actually, but it helps build discipline and that is something every artist can use.

I also blog here less and on my regular blog because I’m busy with classes…like I should be!

After all I’m doing this for me!

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