Frequently Asked Questions
(History, process, accreditation, validity, time,
quality, advantages)
How long has the IGE program
been operating?
It has serviced the public
"offline" since 1959 and became available as online courses and degree
programs in 1994.
Why is the program relatively inexpensive?
There is a critical need for people trained in
the IGE form of Applied Ecopsychology and Integrated Ecology yet the
increasing costs of education make the training unavailable to many
excellent applicants. To meet this challenge by organizing
cooperatively, reducing operating costs and obtaining scholarship
funds, the program is accessible to most people who qualify for it.
What makes the IGE-IUSP
program unique?
Although many universities
and students teach our courses and use our books, to date, (1/2/02) no
other American university offers a degree program in it. IGE also
services non-scholarship programs overseas that offer degrees in NSTP.
Further information: Some ot the programs that incorporate NSTP are
listed at the opening page of the Orientation
Course.
How may I make practical use
of the expertise I gain in this field?
The Natural Systems Thinking Process will become a supportive component
and new dimension of your present field of interest, or you may use or
teach the NSTP as a discipline of its own.
How have students applied
this program?
They teach it as part of
their profession or as part of the IGE program. Below are some Natural
System Thinking Process (NSTP) applications by our students:
- -A hypnotherapist has added NSTP to her practice
increasing its effectiveness and clientele.
- -An Outward Bound school director has created
successful NSTP therapeutic programs.
- -A counselor has developed an NSTP recovery
program with high school students at risk.
- -An art therapist has written a training manual
for using NSTP to diminish eating disorders.
- -An alternative health worker centers his wellness
program around NSTP.
- -An elementary school teacher uses NSTP to improve
class relationships and learning.
- -A psychologist uses NSTP to gain support for land
trusts.
- -Instructors develop NSTP courses at many
universities.
- -A mother is home schooling her son and his
friends with NSTP.
- -A doctor gives prescriptions that require
patients to do NSTP for stress related disorders.
- -A geologist uses NSP to teach an Earth Science
program.
- -Several students operate healing programs that
utilize NSTP
- -An educator teaches NSTP as part of a University
Energy Medicine program
What is the difference
between Applied Ecopsychology, Integrated Ecology and Organic Psycology?
They are the same. Some
people think of themselves as ecologists, others psychologists so we
accommodate both areas of expertise. The difference, therefore, is the
way you spell them.
How can I tell if this
program is right for me?
Before being accepted to the
program, students are required to visit Project NatureConnect's
descriptive, interactive web site and
complete a short Orientation
Course (ECO 500) that has them
directly experience the learning process and its outcomes. The course
becomes part of your transcript and degree if you are accepted for
enrollment. You may identify outcomes of the program that appeal to you
by recognizing them in our participant
survey.
How long has the IGE program
been operating?
It has serviced the public
"offline" since 1959 and became available as online courses and degree
programs in 1994.
What make the IGE program
special?
Although many universities
and students teach our courses and use our books, to date, (1/2/10) IGE also
services non-scholarship programs overseas that offer degrees in NSTP.
Are
all the tuition and fees listed at appropriate universities applicable
to this program?
Yes, but we have a special scholarships and
tuition schedules for them and payments in this program are made
directly to IGE. A student financial aid program based on exceptional
trust is also available.
Why is the program
relatively inexpensive?
The state of the world demands it. There
is a critical need for people trained in the NSTP form of Applied
Ecopsychology, yet the increasing costs of education make the training
unavailable to many excellent applicants. To meet this challenge by
organizing cooperatively and reducing operating costs in addition to
obtaining scholarship funds has made program accessible to most people
who qualify for it.
Are the courses only
available to students at IGE?
Through the Institute
of Global Education. Project NatureConnect, students
from any program or setting are eligible to take parallel core courses
and transfer them to their IGE program to partially fulfill the
requirements of a similar courses at IGE
How and why does the
Institute of Global Education (IGE) service other degree program students?
As Director of Integrated
Ecology Department at IGE, Dr. Michael J. Cohen, also serves as
Director of the Applied Ecopsychology program at several universities.
In order to make available IGE financial assistance and other
customized academic services, at IGE he guides and teaches in
conjunction with a professional IGE graduate student cooperative. The IGE cooperative
brings each new student into its professional training program and
organizes and teaches all the Degree Program course work in
consultation with associated
degree programs. Students then
automatically complete their work with these programs.
What special qualities is
this program looking for in its students?
Please read "Disconnected
Education" We welcome people who
appreciate its essence, insights and direction. We support dedicated
individuals from any walk of life who applaud Karen's integrity and
recognize a vital part of themselves in her experiences. We are
dedicated to helping people who want to learn and teach the nature
reconnecting techniques available to us now that were not available to
Karen.
Do you have to be in a Degree Program to
learn and teach Reconnecting With Nature skills?
Not at all. They may be learned directly
from the training books and/or our core email courses many
of which are guided by the Graduate Students Cooperative members. You
can help the program by letting others know about it by sending them a
copy of our Homepage or Degree Program
address.
What is the time and fee
structure for the Degree Program?
The Applied Ecopsychology
program may be completed in 1-2 years MS, and 18 months to 3 years
Ph.D. Additional years may be added with special permission. Tuitions
parallel the University
schedule but the total is known before you start and have
made the program financially possible for you via available scholarship
or grants.
Students who commit to the student cooperative
works/study learn and earn program, have the opportunity to help
facilitate courses and thereby earn back some of their tuition fees.
Several financial assistance programs are available to qualified
applicants.
Are there additional costs
to the IGE program?
This depends upon how a
student chooses to independently participate in and fulfill the course
requirements. All distant learning course fees are covered by tuition.
However, as is common at other universities, the fees of appropriate
workshops, transfer courses, conferences, training programs,
internships, special mentors, rental equipment, transportation etc. are
all additional when a student elects to use them to achieve his or her
academic and professional goals.
What makes the IGE
program special?
It is designed specifically with the professional
program goals and experiences of the student in mind. Each course
contains a nature reconnecting Natural Systems Thinking Process
component you may add to your present of future livelihood. This
differs from taking one or two courses in your area of interest and
many additional courses in required academic areas.
All courses in the program may be learned through
distant learning procedures, although they may also be optionally
offered on-site as well.
In the IGE program, appropriate
experiences or skills the student already has attained, for which they
have not received academic credit, will apply to their program and
course work required, once the experience is properly documented. The
documentation consists of the student writing up the past experience as
a course and showing the knowledge that was gained, its appropriateness
to their degree and how they would integrate NSTP in it.
What is the difference between receiving an
accredited or unaccredited university degree?
Although our core courses are accredited,
some universities that accept transfer credit from us are not. See Non-accredited Degrees for
further information.
Our program goal is to help each participant
become a documented master technician in areas of special interest to
them in Applied Ecopsychology or Integrated Ecology. They then
independently use, represent and offer the public their own personal
skills and competence, not just the name of an institution, accredited
or not. Our courses and program equate with those required in most
other graduate degree programs.
What is the online education process used by
some of the courses?
It is education that links students and faculty from around the world
into shared experiences and interactive learning groups through
internet communications. Students have a working knowledge of email and
the internet by the time they complete their applications.
How do the online programs operate?
As part of our admission orientation process, students learn-by-doing
how to participate in an online Orientation experience in order to
become adept to how our online courses work. On these courses, you use
computer communication on a short but frequent basis each week to
participate in the topics you're studying.
The online courses are, by consensus, self-organized and paced between
people in each interactive study team.
Do students have to sit down at their
computers at the same time every day?
No. You do all of your communication and
work while offline, and only go online to send and receive material to
and from your class group. In other words, you leave your written
comments or work for others to see, and check in at a later time to
pick up the responses to those messages, and in turn, respond to them.
Wouldn't it be better to have real-time
discussion just like in a more traditional face-to-face classroom?
Because students have an opportunity to take their time reviewing
comments, and also take as much time as they need to compose their
responses, the material and concepts are approached at an individual
rate. "Chat-mode" communication is also used optionally
Another advantage of an online class is that all students have an equal
opportunity to participate in the discussions, not just the extroverts.
Potentially discriminating factors such as race, handicap, gender and
appearance disappear. Experiences, thoughts, feelings and making sense
of NSTP become the major focus.
Can you describe how a typical online
instruction is conducted?
Typically, the interact study team reads the
assignment from the training manual, does the activities involved,
shares their thoughts and feelings from the activity via an email to
their interact team, reads other team postings and shares their
reactions to them. The mentor and other experienced participants are
part of the 4-6 person study team.They may elaborate on the material,
and provide discussion questions related to the topic. The online
courses are team efforts. Participants share their daily experiences
and learn from the knowledge shared by others in their study group.
Can I talk to the instructor or other
students in private?
Yes. Telephone calls or Skype best serve this function.
Does the lack of physical contact detract
from the educational process?
Not really, since students are often working person-to-person in their
local communities while on a course. They are encouraged to use the
telephone when they need to clarify issues immediately.
Does it matter what type of computer
equipment an individual uses?
Most IBM compatibles or MacIntosh computers equipped with a modem will
work.
How do I know I'll get a quality education
from an online course instead of a more traditional course?
You will be able to demonstrate your skills
in applying the program and using the support system it provides
continually. You will be trained to measure and evaluate your
effectiveness.
The 1987 University report notes that it
undertook a project to measure the learning outcomes of online
education. It is one of the most comprehensive assessment of adult
learning of any college or university in the United States. Every
student who entered program took a Comprehensive Cognitive Assessment
to measure their subject-matter knowledge, judgment, and
problem-solving skills, and then took it again at graduation so
learning was measured to determine whether they have reached the
learning outcomes specified in the curriculum.
Generalized results from the outcomes assessment program indicate that
online students have performed as well or better in subject-matter
achievement, when compared to their peers in classroom programs. Online
students' employers indicated they were very satisfied with the quality
of graduates.
How many hours per week do students devote to
their online degree program?
Students generally spend between 3-5 hours
per week on a course if working at minimum output. They can take as
many courses between 6-15 credits, as it convenient during any six
month semester. Course participants may choose to slow their pace to
accommodate personal schedules as well as take a leave of absence.
Course work includes reading and doing activities, writing, studying,
and computer time and telephone time required for correspondence.
What would my schedule be like?
That would be up to you in conjunction with your study team when you do
an online course. Other courses you do at your own pace.
Do I have to be an expert in computers to
take classes this way?
No. You should however, know how to use your computer; how to save and
retrieve files; how to use the simple functions of your word-processor;
e-mail and internet access.
Where can I get further information about the
program and its process?
Carefully look through the materials at the Institute of Global Education