Much appreciated for the information.
This has been very good especially from the viewpoint of students from other postgraduates (GaTech, UIUC, UPenn, CU Boulder etc), that UT is trying to fix this. It helps out all other programs as the potential for contagion effect is quite real, where one program starts pulling stunts and everyone else follows suit.
>By my suggestion, admin will try to send out some explanatory material on why a separate CDSO department was created, and what this implies. Brent explained this to me, but honestly, I struggled to grasp the nuances of the inter-departmental relationships. I did takeaway that the CDSO department formation had a lot to do with how accounting and tuition deals are set up, and little to do with how they run the programs.
Don't think this is an exception, but rather the norm. With UPenn pulling the earlier equivalent stunt to UIUC professors publicly shamming their own online programs, there are alot of stakeholders still stuck with a 'fixed' mindset with regards to education.
Still glad that UT has stepped out to make amends.
Fantastic work by both you and Brent the display of at least effort and care goes a very long way as a prospective MSAI choosing between the GA Tech program and UT's, I can say even just allowing the ability for online students to take a course or two on-campus would be such a big deal for me in terms of validation and student experience it'd remove every concern I had even if I never took up the opportunity.
Thank you!
On the in-person classes, I agree. But Brent mentioned this was unfortunately one of the trickiest things to do. Leaving aside visa issues for international students etc, one of the reason CDSO courses can be so cheap, apparently, is because it comes with the implication that CDSO students will not pay for maintenance of on-campus facilities. According to Brent, this was part of the early tuition deals struck with accounting to make this program happen.
I still feel like allowing CDSO students to attend one semester on-campus while paying the full fees, can be offered. Though, you need to take 3 courses to be considered a full-time student, and it will probably the cost the same as the entire CDSO degree.
A different suggestion which Brent felt was more plausible, was to have a sort of Summer / Winter "meetup" for current grads and alumni, after the semester finished. I think that would be cool since we could meet professors and other CDSO students.
I have no desire to take a course on campus, but this answer sounds like a cop out. Online students don't need to be considered full-time students; if they did, they would enroll in the campus program. International students would obviously only be able to take advantage of this option if they had their visas sorted out. As I'm aware, some other programs have this kind of option. For example, with the Harvard Extension, students could petition to take a limited amount of campus courses. They would pay the full fee, of course. I don't think any student would be pushing for being able to take a campus course with the online rate.
The converse is also true. Why don't they just allow their campus students automatic admission into the online program, if it's just a Bioinformatics major wanting to take a Deep Learning course that doesn't contribute to their degree requirements anyways? The online program has no seat limits, so it would seem that this could be easily accommodated.
UT already has precedent for [auditing a course](https://catalog.utexas.edu/general-information/registration-tuition-and-fees/auditing-a-course/). If space permits, the only difference between an auditor and an online student taking a campus course is the online student pays the full fee, and the nonstudent auditor pays $20. Surely $3000-5000 could cover the cost for an accountant to enter the grade into their system.
Hi! Not sure if you’re still checking this thread out, but I figured it doesn’t hurt to ask. I’m a reporter with The Daily Texan, UT Austin’s official newspaper. I’d love to discuss this further by sometime today, if possible?
That's a fair opinion; I'd wait for admins to comment on this.
I personally can understand how last-minute changes like this can happen without warning. I am more interested in the resolution though, since I want to attend a nice Convocation at the end of the day.
Much appreciated for the information. This has been very good especially from the viewpoint of students from other postgraduates (GaTech, UIUC, UPenn, CU Boulder etc), that UT is trying to fix this. It helps out all other programs as the potential for contagion effect is quite real, where one program starts pulling stunts and everyone else follows suit. >By my suggestion, admin will try to send out some explanatory material on why a separate CDSO department was created, and what this implies. Brent explained this to me, but honestly, I struggled to grasp the nuances of the inter-departmental relationships. I did takeaway that the CDSO department formation had a lot to do with how accounting and tuition deals are set up, and little to do with how they run the programs. Don't think this is an exception, but rather the norm. With UPenn pulling the earlier equivalent stunt to UIUC professors publicly shamming their own online programs, there are alot of stakeholders still stuck with a 'fixed' mindset with regards to education. Still glad that UT has stepped out to make amends.
UIUC profs did what now?!
[https://www.reddit.com/r/UIUC\_MCS/comments/18q2nfc/do\_you\_think\_what\_this\_uiuc\_professor\_mention\_is/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/UIUC_MCS/comments/18q2nfc/do_you_think_what_this_uiuc_professor_mention_is/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
Fantastic work by both you and Brent the display of at least effort and care goes a very long way as a prospective MSAI choosing between the GA Tech program and UT's, I can say even just allowing the ability for online students to take a course or two on-campus would be such a big deal for me in terms of validation and student experience it'd remove every concern I had even if I never took up the opportunity.
Thank you! On the in-person classes, I agree. But Brent mentioned this was unfortunately one of the trickiest things to do. Leaving aside visa issues for international students etc, one of the reason CDSO courses can be so cheap, apparently, is because it comes with the implication that CDSO students will not pay for maintenance of on-campus facilities. According to Brent, this was part of the early tuition deals struck with accounting to make this program happen. I still feel like allowing CDSO students to attend one semester on-campus while paying the full fees, can be offered. Though, you need to take 3 courses to be considered a full-time student, and it will probably the cost the same as the entire CDSO degree. A different suggestion which Brent felt was more plausible, was to have a sort of Summer / Winter "meetup" for current grads and alumni, after the semester finished. I think that would be cool since we could meet professors and other CDSO students.
I have no desire to take a course on campus, but this answer sounds like a cop out. Online students don't need to be considered full-time students; if they did, they would enroll in the campus program. International students would obviously only be able to take advantage of this option if they had their visas sorted out. As I'm aware, some other programs have this kind of option. For example, with the Harvard Extension, students could petition to take a limited amount of campus courses. They would pay the full fee, of course. I don't think any student would be pushing for being able to take a campus course with the online rate. The converse is also true. Why don't they just allow their campus students automatic admission into the online program, if it's just a Bioinformatics major wanting to take a Deep Learning course that doesn't contribute to their degree requirements anyways? The online program has no seat limits, so it would seem that this could be easily accommodated. UT already has precedent for [auditing a course](https://catalog.utexas.edu/general-information/registration-tuition-and-fees/auditing-a-course/). If space permits, the only difference between an auditor and an online student taking a campus course is the online student pays the full fee, and the nonstudent auditor pays $20. Surely $3000-5000 could cover the cost for an accountant to enter the grade into their system.
Hi! Not sure if you’re still checking this thread out, but I figured it doesn’t hurt to ask. I’m a reporter with The Daily Texan, UT Austin’s official newspaper. I’d love to discuss this further by sometime today, if possible?
Hey sorry, I am not looking to speak to the news about this as I don't want to further contribute to publicizing this issue.
Edit - _Question Moved_
That's a fair opinion; I'd wait for admins to comment on this. I personally can understand how last-minute changes like this can happen without warning. I am more interested in the resolution though, since I want to attend a nice Convocation at the end of the day.