University of Phoenix

The University of Phoenix is a privately owned, profit making organization which has been established for higher teaching and learning. It is the largest university of its kind in the whole of North America and the largest online teaching establishment in the world. The University was founded by Dr. John Sperling and his associates in 1976. From its establishment, the school has moved a long way – from just 8 students in 1976, today it has 397700 students enrolled on various programmes.

The University of Phoenix aims to provide access to advanced education and learning which would allow students to expand their skill set and which is needed to achieve their personal professional goals, improve the productivity of their business and provide leadership and service to their communities. The University of Phoenix aims to facilitate cognitive student learning and promote use of this knowledge in their work place. They also aim to groom their communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and information gathering and utilization capabilities. The different courses have been designed in a way so as to bridge the gap between theory and practice. The University of Phoenix has been successful in creating an effective mode of instruction, student learning and access to learning resources through using technology.

Thus, the main aim for the University of Phoenix is to provide education to non – traditional students at their convenience. For their convenience of such students, evening classes and now online learning have been promoted. Last year in May 2008, the University of Phoenix also established the National Research Centre which is designed to examine teaching methods which work best with non – traditional students with emphasis on adult students who need to balance a career with their education.

The university presents a number of different specialisations of study. These courses are administered through four colleges. They are: the Artemis School for art, health and education related subjects, the John Sperling School of Business and Technology, the School of Advanced Studies which manage the doctoral programmes and the Axia College which overlook the managing associates degrees. In addition to these programs, the school offers continuing education courses for teachers and practitioners, specialized courses for military personal and professional development courses for company professionals.

The UOP web is an informative mode to get to know more about the university, its courses, its affiliations, aims, regulations and other insight information. The UOP web is well updated with key happenings in and around the university as well as world happenings. Also through the UOP web one can access the online portal. The University of Phoenix has gotten popular due to its emphasis on online learning. Thus the UOP web is accessible by all enrolled students through a University of Phoenix username and password. Each student would get their own personal username and password to access information and modify personal information. A small fee at the time of registration has to be paid to get this access.

The University of Phoenix online portal gives access to materials like electronic text books, electronic library, databases and references which would be needed by students. The material on the online portal has been compiled by university professors who have consulted many industry and academic specialists. Also the web site is regularly updated with new information. Through the use of UOP web, students can make modifications to their details. For example, students can add or delete the modules they have enrolled for, join or unjoin any workshops or forums, access the electronic resources, verify coursework particulars, access databases, join classroom dialogues, get course outlines, lecture handouts and minutes, check intranet email, local news, university news among other features.