Ask Wade Beatty why he decided to pursue a graduate degree in business at the University of Phoenix, and he’ll answer emphatically. “I’m self-employed. I don’t need an academic credential or letters after my name. I need the knowledge and skills to bump up my bottom line. The president of a staffing company I worked for at the time had an MBA from the University of Phoenix. He said I would find what I was looking for there. And he was right.”
Beatty, owner-manager of Western Pest Control, headquartered in Washington, and a graduate of Dixie State College, received his MBA from the University of Phoenix in 2005 and, in the process, became such a believer in the school and its programs that he is now a faculty practioner in the business department. He credits the university and its MBA program for giving him the tools to grow his business fifty percent a year for the past four or five years.
“The faculty at the University of Phoenix is made up, for the most part, of people who have successful careers outside the academic world,” Beatty points out. He cites the institution’s mission statement, which states as that a primary purpose of the university is “to provide instruction that bridges the gap between theory and practice through faculty members who bring to their classroom not only advanced academic preparation, but also the skills that come from the current practice of their professions.”
“My professors,” Beatty continued, “had the advanced degrees and academic credentials to teach graduate programs, but they were more likely to draw on their experience in the ‘real’ world than focus on theory and hypothetical cases, as is the practice at traditional graduate institutions. At the University of Phoenix, you learn the theoretical foundations, but you focus on how that theory applies to practical, real-life situations.”
Beatty cites his final project as an example of the “real world” emphasis that made the program meaningful for him. Instead of having to write a heavily annotated graduate thesis, students in the MBA program, almost all of whom have fulltime careers, are encouraged to design projects that are applicable to their jobs and career fields. In Beatty’s case, he focused on digitizing his office and wound up saving $25,000 while completing a requirement for his graduate degree.
Married and the father of four children, Beatty was also drawn to the University of Phoenix because of its non-traditional, innovative way of delivering education. Established in 1976 to serve working students, the University of Phoenix delivers instruction through a combination of online instruction and periodic class meetings. This approach allows working students and students with families to take courses and earn degrees without being bound to a strict timetable of class attendance. “I have a family to raise and a business to manage,” Beatty said. “I can’t give all that up to become a fulltime student. And I can’t take time out of my weekdays to attend classes. With the University of Phoenix, I could do my course work whenever I had time—late at night, early in the morning, on weekends, during breaks, and even, thanks to the computer, while on vacation.”
He immediately added that students in the program still have deadlines to meet and are expected to keep up with the class. “Don’t get the impression that the program at the University of Phoenix is easier or less challenging than more traditional graduate programs,” he warned, noting that group projects and teamwork are a primary method of instruction in the university’s MBA program. “You learn a lot about group dynamics and teamwork,” he said, “and you learn that you are responsible not just to yourself but to the team, as well.”
University of Phoenix students seem to adapt to this requirement better than younger students, Beatty pointed out. “We’re talking about a level of maturity you don’t always find in more traditional institutions,” he said. “Students at the University of Phoenix have jobs. They have families. They have goals and are serious about attaining them. You have to invest a lot of time and effort, and you and your family are going to have to make sacrifices. While you might not have to miss your daughter’s recital because you have a class to attend, you still have to find time to study and complete your assignments.”
For Beatty, actively involved with a local Boy Scout troop and a member of the St. George Chamber of Commerce and the National Pest Management Association, that sometimes meant doing with less sleep than he would have liked or missing something he would have liked to watch on TV.
Even now, with the degree posted on his wall, Beatty isn’t sleeping late or watching much TV. He plans to continue teaching for the University of Phoenix in the hope that he can provide his students with the same “real-world” knowledge that he gained from the program. And of course, there’s still a business to manage and a family to raise.
ABOUT UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX
University of Phoenix is constantly innovating to help students balance education and life in a rapidly changing world. Through flexible schedules, challenging courses and interactive learning, students achieve personal and career aspirations without putting their lives on hold. As of February 28, 2009, 397,700 students were enrolled at University of Phoenix, the largest private university in North America. University of Phoenix serves a diverse student population, offering associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree programs from campuses and learning centers across the U.S. as well as online throughout the world. www.phoenix.edu.
