Online postbacc at UGA

[Heisenberg9193]

Is there anyone on the forum who knows anything about this program? I know UGA has a good MA and so I'm assuming this program would be good too. However, it's fairly new from what I understand and I've never seen any other online postbaccs. It being online really is ideal for me, though,  as I don't wish to relocate. It seems like it could be a good fit but I'd really like some input from others if possible. 

[Talmid]

Hi Heisenberg.

I've started a Facebook group for the program--it's still under construction, so it isn't very good at this point. But please like it to join and be patient until it is really up and running: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1652717068338675/. I created it to build an online community for the students, prospective students, alumni, faculty, and friends of UGA's online post-bac program. 

As far as your questions go above, I'm a current student and just finished my first class this semester, the Proseminar. Over all, I'm very satisfied with the quality of my experience. Dr. Corrigan is the head prof for the program, and she's been amazing for taking care of the student body (some 4 students this semester). The quality of her products for the class--syllabus, assignment instructions, etc.--is a lot better than most other products I've seen online at other schools where professors take a minimalist approach to drafting a syllabus. Cr. Corrigan really puts good detail into her work, and she challenges us quite well. A typical assignment I had from her required me to build a bibliography of no more than 25 resources on a selected topic using the library's main search engines and databases like l'Annee Philologique, Dyabola, Oxford Bibliographies Online, etc. (I had to do this in the areas of numismatics, archaeology, philology, epigraphy, papyrology, and linguistics.) The screencasts taught us how to use the search tools, and I learned how to use Zotero for my citations. Thank God for Zotero! (Because of Zotero, kids these days now have it a lot easier than when I was last in school relying on Turabian's 6th edition for citations!!) 

What was equally important for my learning this semester was my self-motivation and initiative to learn beyond the objectives Dr. Corrigan determined for the course. I went beyond to read heavily in the areas of the history of classical scholarship, bibliography, and methodology--thus I purchased additional books and started studying long before the class even began. 

As you might expect with a new start-up program, there were some growing pains to overcome, and even now we're still learning how to overcome obstacles. One of them last week was dealing with the registration holds placed on our accounts due to the Registrar and Health Services not knowing how to handle online Post-Bac students in the classics department. I had a couple of frustrating phone calls with the Registrar and clinic until a fellow classmate emailed our cohort with a solution she found with someone to talk to in the advising center. That solved the problem I was having with registration. There was also an issue before the semester started in which there seemed to be an administrative difficulty appointing a professor for my class, and it continued after the course started. For me it was a good lesson in building character and patience, and eventually Dr. Corrigan took the responsibility upon herself to help us, thus solving the issue. 

Anyhow, I highly recommend this program as I've been pleased with the return on my tuition. 

 

 

Edited November 29, 2015 by Talmid