I.          Applied Learning

At the University of North America, we believe in Applied Learning.  We know from the professional literature that integrated, applied learning, particularly at the graduate level, ensures better academic performance, higher instances of degree completion and greater post-graduate success.  The benefits to participation in an applied learning, cooperative education experience are manifold.  A study by Blair, “Student Academic Performance and Compensation: the Impact of Cooperative Education,” published in the College Student Journal (2004), contains an econometric analysis of the benefits of cooperative education.  Documented are specific benefits to the student’s Grade Point Average, degree completion time, and the starting salary of the graduate.  Further, In Learning Outcomes and the Educational Value of Cooperative Education (CEA Publications), Cate and Jones document that students develop greater clarity about academic goals because they have been able to see the connection between academic theory and workplace practice.  Finally, for a broad summary of the benefits of cooperative education, the reader is referred to Coll and Eames, eds., International Handbook for Cooperative Education: An International Perspective on the Theory, Research, and Practice of Workplace Integrated Learning.  Section III of that volume contains three detailed chapters, one each for the benefits to the students, the employer, and the institution.

For further discussion regarding the benefits derived from an applied learning experience, see Ryle, Schwartzman and Henry, “From Celebration to Critical Investigation: Charting the Course of Scholarship in Applied Learning,” and Ash and Clayton, “Generating, Deepening, and Documenting Learning: The Power of Critical Reflection in Applied Learning,” both in the Journal of Applied Learning in Higher Education, Fall 2009.  The University is therefore dedicated to applied knowledge and embraces its the best method to prepare a cohort of students with widely divergent backgrounds for professional careers.

The programs of the University are therefore designed to integrate theory into practical application.  The University employs faculty members that have both solid academic credentials, as well as active careers in business, government, and high technology industries, with the expectation that interaction between such faculty and highly motivated students will create a highly stimulating, vibrant learning environment.

By way of illustration, the University offers the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) and Doctor of Information Technology (DIT) degrees rather than the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees in business or technology.  The focus of the PhD is research, and graduates with such a degree are well equipped to do basic research into business and technology and to add to the theoretical knowledge base of the field.  By contrast, the focus of the DBA and DIT is application, and the dissertation prepared by students in these programs address real-world issues or problems in organizations today or in the future.

 II.        Rigorous Training

Any good education will help prepare the graduate to find a job.  The University of North America prepares graduates for their second position.  In order to move from a first job to a position of greater responsibility, the graduate must have a broad understanding of the real world in which the business, organization, or system functions.  The University accomplishes this goal through six means:

• All Master’s Degree students begin their program with two required courses, Management in Global Perspective (MGMT 510) and Technology in Global Perspective (TECH 510).  These courses provide a cross-cultural and chronological (historical, contemporary, and future) perspective for business and technology.  Unless graduates understand the context in which their organizations function, they will be inadequately prepared to serve as leaders.

• All students enrolled in on-ground, classroom-based programs are required have a minimum of two academic years of directly-related professional experience as one of the requirements for the Master’s or Doctoral degree.  Students lacking this practical professional background are required to participate in an equivalent Cooperative Education experience.  Cooperative Education provides the real-world linkage of theory and application.  In this, there is a three-way partnership of student – University – employer that works to assure that the position held and the work performed on the job are directly related to the student’s program of studies.

• All Cooperative Education students are required to participate in a course designed to assure readiness for success in the contemporary workplace.  This course, Foundations for Academic and Professional Integration (COOP 500 for Master’s Degree students and COOP 600 for Doctoral students), is designed to provide a foundation for success in the integration of the co-operative work experience within the academic program of the student and to provide guidance for success in both the workplace and in academic settings.  Included in this course are an awareness of work expectations in U.S. industries, the development of basic interpersonal communication skills expected in the workplace and exercises building cultural awareness and sensitivity.  Students develop a professional portfolio and establish the process for maintaining its currency.  Satisfactory completion of this course is required to participate in the Cooperative Education Program.  This course is completed before the student begins working.

• In addition to the preparatory course, all Cooperative Education students are enrolled in a course titled Professional Development (COOP 510 for Master’s Degree students and COOP 610 for Doctoral students) each semester in which they participate in the Cooperative Education Program.  This course assists students in the ongoing integration of professional work experiences gained through their co-op position with their academic work.  Students complete a report documenting the nature of the work experiences and how these work experiences relate to the courses undertaken as a part of their degree program.  The student’s work supervisor and the Director of the Cooperative Education Program provide an assessment of each student’s performance each term.

• Students unable to locate an appropriate co-operative education work assignment are enrolled in a support course titled Work Experience Search (COOP 520 for Master’s Degree students and COOP 620 for Doctoral students).  This course directs and monitors students with their program-related job search with the goal of the receipt of an offer of employment in a position that is integrally related to the course of studies undertaken.  Students meet bi-weekly in a class setting with the Director of Cooperative Education to review companies and positions applied for, to develop professional skills and job search techniques, and to plan for further search activities.  The course is repeated each semester that the student does not hold a program-related work experience.

• Each Master’s Degree student completes a six credit hour Capstone Course.  This course provides the student with the opportunity to integrate the broad spectrum of what has been learned in prior program courses into a final project of direct relevance to the student’s academic and career objectives.  Under the guidance of a Capstone Advisor, the student selects an applied project, conducts relevant research, and prepares a formal project report.  The report must place the problem/issue and its solution in its cultural and historical context.

• Each Doctoral student completes a dissertation that addresses two related issues – the dissertation is expected to advance the boundaries of knowledge and the dissertation must be designed to address a real-world problem or issue in an organization today.

III.       Advantages over Traditional Institutions

• Student Identity – Never Lost In the Crowd – small classes, high student/teacher interaction, advisors and administrators readily available.

• Curriculum – focused, tradition neutral, evolutionary and relevant.

• Mission Orientation – targeted blending of coursework, flexibility, distance-learning, and “real world experience”.

• Instruction – professors are teachers not researchers, students remain students rather than low cost teachers; “publish or perish” not an issue.

• Cost – affordable, dollars go into instruction, rather than bricks & mortar, sports programs, non-utilitarian facilities such as student unions, clubs, or other non-education related costs.  Students pay their way, many through earnings from cooperative education; no government lending with corresponding debt upon graduation.

The University of North America (UoNA) was founded by an experienced team of educators and administrators. The goal of the university is to provide students with an outstanding, integrated education that links the latest in academic theory with the latest in real-world applications. Being new, the university has built a curriculum based on contemporary issues faced by leaders in the international workplace. Courses, programs, and resources have been specifically designed for this process.

While the university is new, the administration and faculty are highly experienced. The members of administrative leadership team have served in high-level positions in academia, government, and industry. Likewise the faculty members have extensive experience with on-ground, on-line, and blended education both in the United States and abroad. Because class size is kept intentionally small, students benefit from one-on-one interaction with these internationally-recognized experts.