At a time when districts are laying off hundreds of teachers, KCRA 3 Investigates uncovered one district that is paying employees more money for degrees from unaccredited sources.
Dr. Evangelina Ramos is an assistant principal at Hamilton Elementary School in Stockton.
Stockton Unified pays teachers and administrators with masters and or doctorates extra money — a recognition and reward for her added knowledge and efforts.
What may be unusual is where Ramos’ degree came from.
Ramos got her degree not by going to class, but by going online.
She received her doctorate from a school called Lacrosse University, which at the time was located in Bay St. Louis, Miss.
The U.S. Department of Education, any regional accrediting agency or the Mississippi Commission on College Accreditation does not accredit Lacrosse, something its own Web site points out.
“I think it’s an affront to those who have earned degrees from accredited universities and colleges, who have taken anywhere from three to seven years to earn those degrees and to be paid on the same level,” Stockton school board Trustee Beverly McCarthy said.
McCarthy said the district should not be paying for degrees from non-accredited sources.
“You know, they are paying these teachers more money to get online degrees and there’s teachers taking the time to go to a real school. I don’t have anything against online degrees but if these kids don’t have enough money for their books. They should focus on that,” parent Margarita Raquepo said.
Administrators with doctorates earn an extra $4,250 a year.
Ramos earned her diploma in 2005.
In four years, KCRA 3 estimates that the district has paid her $17,000, and it’s still paying.
Lacrosse’s degree program costs $2,700.
Ramos isn’t the only one getting the stipend.
KCRA 3 has learned that the Stockton Unified School District is paying thousands of extra dollars to at least five administrators who got their masters or doctorates from non-California accredited schools.
Three of them have diplomas from Lacrosse.
KCRA 3 Investigates has also learned that the district may not have a choice.
“Our district was approving that school,” Ramos said.
source: http://www.kcra.com/news/20715589/detail.html

In recent times with the rise in living standards and the growth of restaurants, the demand for the culinary artists has boomed dramatically. Today, these professionals are paid heftily for their service and so many young students are looking forward to attain a degree in the culinary arts.

Wide Career Prospects

The career prospect in the field of culinary art is very wide and there are several areas of focus. Attaining a degree in culinary arts or culinary degree lets you choose from an amazing number of cook positions. These jobs range from fast food cooks to the high end restaurants or dining outlets. There are numerous other profiles like Test Kitchen Chef or Food Writer that you can carry once you complete your culinary art course. If you have leadership skills and enjoy carrying a little more responsibility in the workplace, then Head Chef can be the position that is meant just for you. As Head Chef, you can enjoy more control over menu selections, preparation styles and ingredients, and other aspects of the culinary arts.

These days many culinary businesses hire specialists to handle the job. So, as a Menu Planner you can do exactly what you might think, which is to plan out a menu. Apart from this, if you are good in baking and cake decorations, you can choose to work as a bakeshop attendant. There are many positions ranging from chef to manger in the field of culinary art. A culinary degree allows career goers plenty of flexibility, but at the end the success in the field of culinary arts largely depends on proper training and practice.

Learning Platforms

Culinary art is a skill that could be learned from various cooking schools. There are a number of smaller cooking schools located in small towns that work with one of the larger schools. Many community colleges offer programs in the food arts field, which in turn can help you learn basic skills before moving forward in this career. Apart from this, you can also receive a culinary degree through a distance learning or online program. It might sound hard to believe, but these online culinary or distance learning culinary programs are gaining huge response. Online schools offering this type of program works quite well and has gained more enrolling ratio of students in last few years. Many online cooking schools are providing the facility to watch online pictures of recipes and videos of cooking techniques. This new type of teaching food arts online is quickly becoming one of the famous ways of obtaining a culinary degree.

Online degrees in culinary provides you with the necessary skills and knowledge for the position while building up your experience along your career path. Once you complete your online culinary program, you get to learn about food preparation, cost management, food purchasing, selection and storage, and menu planning.

The best advantage of going for an online culinary program is that it allows you to keep moving up in the business world while making yourself more qualified for future opportunities at the same time. Besides this, you do not have to complete your course in a water-tight study schedule. You can easily study at your own speed and appear for exams when you think you are ready.

source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Culinary-Online-Learning-Program&id=2810469

The biggest fear that many perspective online students have is that their online degree won’t be accepted as legitimate or equal by a future employer. How are prospective employers going to look at an online degree as compared to one from a traditional university?

Over the last decade and specifically the last few years, employers have changed their traditional standpoint on online degrees and now have a far more favorable view than they had before.

It was not very long ago when employers looked down at online degrees as being inferior. One of the reasons for this was because it was still largely new and unknown. Another was that mainstream universities had not yet begun adopting their own programs. However, as time has gone on, more major universities have begun providing online education programs and therefore more jobs and employers have begun accepting these degrees as worthwhile and equal.

Therefore, online degrees do not have the bad reputation they once may have had. Sure, there may still be a skeptical person here or there, as there is with anything else. That’s why you really have to take the time to explain the quality of your program and education on your resume. Be sure to list the full degree, the name of the school, and some of the courses and major assignments you completed during your pursuit of the diploma.

You may also want to further explain your situation while in an interview. You can talk about how challenging it was to complete the program in an online setting, how difficult the courses were, why you chose to pursue an online program and more.

It’s also of the utmost importance that you sign up with a fully accredited program that is going to enable you to get a worthwhile degree. With the many choices of mainstream universities offering programs today, this shouldn’t be a problem.

A great new trend is that many employers now view online degrees as actually being more worthwhile than a traditional diploma. The first reason for it is because it shows you have an intimate knowledge of new and emerging technologies. Video conferencing, webinars, online presentations and other tools are becoming more important to businesses, so being able to demonstrate your knowledge and experience of these is crucial. An online student will come out of their program with much more hands on experience in these areas.

Another benefit to the online program is that people are beginning to understand how much commitment, effort and sacrifice is needed. If you can survive an online program, you should be able to tackle any task thrown at you. It shows that you are independently driven and motivated and that you can juggle multiple challenges and responsibilities at once. These are qualities that help one candidate stand out over another candidate in competitive job interview settings, and the online student has the edge.

Today, online degrees are now longer looked at as lesser or inferior. In fact, employers are beginning to accept them as equal and sometimes superior programs. This movement increases everyday as more employers themselves have pursued an online degree to advance their own careers. Just be prepared to explain your online degree and the online education process so you can demonstrate the skills you gained and used on your journey.  Do this and you will find that pursuing an online degree program could be the best decision you ever made.  What are you waiting for?

source: http://ezinearticles.com/?What-Do-Employers-Think-About-Online-Degrees?&id=2477895

Earning your degree online has changed all that. Distance education has been with us for many years, but the development of the internet has created an explosion in online study. Many people who have not been able to attend college to study for their degree now have the chance to earn a degree at home.

Advantages of Online Study and Online Degrees

First, studying for an online degree is incredibly convenient. Your classroom is your home office or living room and you can work on your online degree any time of the day or night — on the weekend, before breakfast or in the middle of the night.

Second, when you study for an online degree you eliminate the tiresome and expensive commute that is part of traditional college study. Earning an online degree makes commuting a thing of the past.

Third, online degree students have access to a very wide range of resources. Not only can you use the entire internet as your library and research center, but most online degree programs make professors and teaching aids readily available. Correspondence takes place by email, and often students can participate in online forums with other students having similar interests or studying the same courses.

Fourth, there is tremendous variety. You are not restricted to courses offered by the local college. You can study for your online degree through a school down the street or a college on the other side of the world.

Fifth, you can usually work at your own pace. You are not locked into attending physical classes, so your pace of study will be much more flexible.

Sixth, your online degree course of study will usually be much less expensive than traditional classroom-based courses of study. Online degree programs do not involve classrooms, labs or physical buildings, so the costs are much lower.

Finally, there are many resources on the internet that can help you choose the best online degree course of study. Online degree directories list thousands of programs in every conceivable area of study, making your access to online degree information unlike anything we have known in the past.

source: http://onlinedegreein.com/505834-7-Reasons-to-Pursue-an-Online-Degree.html