HESA programs that don't require 3 LORs?

[JBums1028]

I'm wondering if anyone can point out to me some HESA programs that either 1) require less than three letters of rec or 2) only require a recommendation form instead of a letter?

 

This is my second time going through the application process. I'm going to be honest in saying that I'm kind of starting to get burnt out over the grad school process, so I'm trying to minimize the work on my end as much as possible. I've also asked many of my references to write me LORs already for grad school and various jobs over the past year. So ideally I'd like to minimize the work on their end as well

 

In terms of location and other things I'm looking for, I'd prefer to stay near Michigan, so ideally a school in the Midwest or relatively close to the Midwest. The programs must still offer GA positions. Let me know if you have any suggestions! I'm currently already looking at Western Michigan and Kent State, in addition to the three schools I'm deferred at from last year (Eastern Michigan, GVSU, and MSU).

Edited July 26, 2014 by JBums1028

[My Other Self]

I did the math. I have a hard time believing secretaries are pulling in between $54,000 and $78,000 a year out here.. considering most of the positions in student affairs themselves don't come close to that.

[My Other Self]

No need to get defensive. I wasn't calling you a liar, I was just saying it was hard to believe secretaries could make that much more than a regular employee in student affairs with a Masters.

It's difficult to judge tone through text. I'm sorry if you read in to my comment as being snarky.

[bakalamba]

Here is a report from independent Transparency California at MiraCosta Community College after searching for the word "secretary."

Top 5 highest are:

 

$76,748.49

$77,172.42

$79,389.48

$81,393.48

$88,491.96

 

With benefits of these 5, the lowest  total pay+benefits is $103,963.60

The highest pay+benefits is $116,807.21

 

http://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/search/?a=miracosta-college&q=secretary&y=

 

I don't appreciate being called a liar, thank you.

 

Edited for "courtesy" 

 

Well, I certainly hope you have a different approach than this when conducting student affairs. Clearly there's a difference between "I have a hard time believing x" and "You're a liar".

 

While, in my experience, Community Colleges in California do have high salaries and good benefits, the attractiveness of these positions makes them very competitive, even "secretary" jobs. And there's also the factor that a few institutions (including one I worked for) have budget and accreditation issues that lead to cancelled classes, hiring and promotion freezes, and increasingly reduced department budgets that make helping students very difficult. So there's more than just a salary number to consider.

[bakalamba]

baklamba, You said accreditation issues, are you referring to CCSF?

 

Yeah, that one is a pretty clear example of accreditation issues. Also my college got hit with the warning (the lightest one albeit), mostly due to budget issues. There's a perverse inverse relationship between classes closing and part-time faculty laid off while administration positions keep opening up. Makes for a top heavy pyramid.

[bakalamba]

Haha,

 

A person I worked with just became a dean at the school. She has a Ed.D but no previous admin experience. Going from $40k to over $100,000k is pretty cool. I don't think you it will lose accreditation. Where are you at now?

 

Yup. That sounds like what happens in this district. Lots of moving up in the system without the requisite experience or knowledge, or advancing to positions in the few years before retirement to boost the retirement payout. And students wonder why they have to stay an extra year or two at a supposed two-year college because they're unable to find spots in overfilled classes.

 

I'm attending grad school in the fall. As much as I like the community college system, having studied there and now worked there, my interest in education is comparing across nations, particularly countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, and I'm super lucky and psyched to be attending a program that focuses on that.

[JBums1028]

So... while this was a very interesting discussion of higher ed in California, I'm going to attempt to bring the thread back to the original topic. Thanks!

Edited August 3, 2014 by JBums1028

[bakalamba]

So... while this was a very interesting discussion of higher ed in California, I'm going to attempt to bring the thread back to the original topic. Thanks!

 

 

 

I'm wondering if anyone can point out to me some HESA programs that either 1) require less than three letters of rec or 2) only require a recommendation form instead of a letter?

 

I'm not in HESA, but every program I applied to last year required three letters and all used forms. In the Midwest this includes MSU, U of Minnesota, and Wisconsin-Madison. Do you have a third LOR writer, or just want to minimize their/your work? I totally agree, it's a huge pain to put together applications and gather LOR - some of my writers found the forms more time consuming than letters, since at their University there is a LOR letter sending service that will copy one and send it to jobs and grad programs.

 

In terms of location and other things I'm looking for, I'd prefer to stay near Michigan, so ideally a school in the Midwest or relatively close to the Midwest. The programs must still offer GA positions. Let me know if you have any suggestions! I'm currently already looking at Western Michigan and Kent State, in addition to the three schools I'm deferred at from last year (Eastern Michigan, GVSU, and MSU).

 

Again, I'm not in HESA, but I was really impressed with MSU's program and faculty when I visited there, after being accepted into the Ed Policy program.

 

Good luck!

Edited August 4, 2014 by bakalamba

[JBums1028]

 

 

I'm not in HESA, but every program I applied to last year required three letters and all used forms. In the Midwest this includes MSU, U of Minnesota, and Wisconsin-Madison. Do you have a third LOR writer, or just want to minimize their/your work? I totally agree, it's a huge pain to put together applications and gather LOR - some of my writers found the forms more time consuming than letters, since at their University there is a LOR letter sending service that will copy one and send it to jobs and grad programs.

 

 

I actually have more than three who can write for me. It's mainly just wanting to minimize the work for both myself and the writers and also spread out the work as much as possible amongst everyone. To give you some background on why, I actually applied this past cycle. I'm deferred at a few places (MSU is included in that group). Prior to that I applied to a job that required LORs. So for a few of them, this will be the third time I've requested LORs. I think they'd still do it for me, I just feel bad that I've asked so many times. Hence why I'm trying to make it as easy as possible for them for this time around.

[bakalamba]

I actually have more than three who can write for me. It's mainly just wanting to minimize the work for both myself and the writers and also spread out the work as much as possible amongst everyone. To give you some background on why, I actually applied this past cycle. I'm deferred at a few places (MSU is included in that group). Prior to that I applied to a job that required LORs. So for a few of them, this will be the third time I've requested LORs. I think they'd still do it for me, I just feel bad that I've asked so many times. Hence why I'm trying to make it as easy as possible for them for this time around.

 

That's understandable. I hate asking for LORs because I don't like to impose. But think of it as karma, and that in a few years you'll be on the other end and get a chance to write more LORs than you ever had written for you.