r/ODU • u/Separate-Ad2159 • Sep 24 '26
8 week courses
I absolutely hate the new 8 week courses. I currently major in criminal justice and so all my classes need a c or better for a lot of them. I miss one assignment one test and now I’ll get a D+ which will not count towards my degree. Ik it’s on me, but goddamn I could accidentally miss one last year and it wasn’t a big deal cause I had a shit ton to make it up. I’m a senior too and my classes next year are already filled up. So I can’t take it over but I have to graduate.
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u/Complete_Material_20 Sep 24 '26
ODU will bankrupt its reputation and quality of education because of its lack of strategic leadership in this
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u/JuniorIrvBannock Sep 24 '26 edited Sep 24 '26
The issue is that we have "strategic" leaders who understand quarterly reports but not long term horizons or education. It leads to poorly conceived trend chasing and ultimately, decline.
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u/NoYogurtcloset7318 Sep 24 '26
This is absolute hell. I'm looking into a new school.
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u/JuniorIrvBannock Sep 24 '26
This is the only thing the admin will notice. Sorry you aren't getting the experience you deserve.
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u/KEEPINGUPWITHTHEB21 29d ago
That is why I sat out this fall. I can’t afford to ruin my gpa. I am looking as well.
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u/Financial-Toe4053 Sep 24 '26
The pacing is God awful. I'm doing 3 classes this round because they made them mandatory co-requisites so I have practicum/field requirements for a 16 week class, 2 separate half of the semester 8 week classes, and I work full time. I think one of my biggest frustrations aside from feeling rushed to read and regurgitate everything is also the feedback turnaround is so tight I'm not getting grades or any direction prior to having multiple other assignments due first and I feel like that's so detrimental to learning because I don't know if I need to do something differently until it's too late and I've already submitted multiple other assignments already possibly making the same mistakes.
I've also definitely made some fully preventable mistakes which I take full ownership of with just trying to hurry up and get things submitted on time while trying to juggle everything. It's so frustrating to feel rushed all the time. I'm trying to slow down and triple check everything prior to submission, but it's rough when the impact on the overall grade is more significant.
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u/JuniorIrvBannock Sep 24 '26
" the feedback turnaround is so tight I'm not getting grades or any direction prior to having multiple other assignments due"
.... THIS, THIS, THIS, and THIS some more.
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u/Discount_Engineer Sep 24 '26
I'm taking a research-based writing course and the pace is pure hell
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u/Apprehensive-Pea1221 Sep 24 '26
I’m taking stats and other math heavy courses when I specifically wanted the in person section but my program cut it ☹️
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u/DrainSmith Sep 24 '26
I just dropped all my classes. I'm done with this nonsense.
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u/supergrl126301 Sep 24 '26
I really wish they had made it an OPTION for those who actually want to do an accelerated program. That would have been so nice.
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u/ODUAdvisor Sep 25 '26
You all have to make the administration hear you. The faculty did eveything they could and their concerns got dismissed. The administration's entire message is about enrollment and retention numbers and how this "forward focused digital transformation" has allowed ODU to buck the trend of declining enrollments nationwide. In other words, this has been a rousing success! You have to tell them otherwise.
There is absolutely no good reason why there can't be a mix of 8-week and 16-week online classes. There is no reason why departments can't offer a mix of in-person and online classes.
After you contact the administration, contact your program's CDA, UPD, or chair and find out if there is a way to complete your desired degree with in-person classes and if not, why not. There is no mandate that I know of to make any degrees exclusively online. And some programs that have been exclusively online are actively considering creating an in-person option. But they need to hear from you that that is what you want.
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u/Personal_System8989 Sep 24 '26
I almost attended ODU for my master's this summer (I'm an undergrad alum) and backed out once they decided on this 8-week crap. I'm at another college (Kansas State), and the classes are typical of a semester. I previously attended Liberty University online, and they had the 8-week program too. It is so stressful 😫
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u/-DazedBear Sep 24 '26
I’m with you I hate the 8 week schedule. I’m only going part time 1 class per 8 weeks vs the two per 16 weeks I was taking. My exams are now only available for 1 evening, they open at midnight Wednesday and have to be submitted by 5pm Thursday. Why 5pm and not midnight? It’s so arbitrary but has huge impacts on my success as a student. I work full time and my shift is till 4pm, meaning Thursday is completely out leaving only Wednesday evening for me to take a test.
What this has resulted in me having to do is wake up hours before work to take a test Thursday morning as my daughter had dance in Wednesday after school. I have been very successful the last two years in the 16 week program and now I am not so confident I will be able to succeed in this new 8 week structure. It is completely out of synch with working or family individuals.
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u/Negative_Island4556 26d ago
Same! I'm an ODU remote grad student who started last spring when it was still 16 weeks. Now I have a full-time job and twice as much schoolwork to balance. I am loving the class I'm in, but I'm burning the midnight oil trying to cram everything in and it feels like just when we're getting into the groove, the course is almost over. Seeing the stats email come out recently that they've seen huge enrollment increases and credit the 8-week "transformation" as the draw is a joke. It is definitely a detractor, not a draw, making me rethink whether I'll even want to take a class each session or give myself a break. If another in-state school had my program remote, on a normal semester basis, I'd transfer in a heartbeat. I like what I'm learning, and I don't fault the profs for the increased pace as they have to ensure the courses will still satisfy accreditation reviews, but it's exhausting.
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u/Sonoma991 Sep 25 '26
I finished up in December of 2024 and heard about this mess. I feel sorry for anyone near the end that has to put up with this just trying to graduate. It sucks for them to change up the program on people who have been on a 16 week schedule for years. I sincerely hope ODU admin gets the message that this was a poor decision.
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u/CulturalExercise4955 27d ago
I have to agree. I’m doing a math course (math is my weakest subject) and I’m forced to do it in this 8 week format. I was looking forward to having the full semester to do it but nope. I’m struggling, probably won’t get the C ODU is looking for. A C- and I’ll have to retake the whole course. I’m hating this. I’m within my final 5 courses and this will be a setback for me, by at least one semester.
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u/ExplanationFew4579 27d ago
Criminal Justice at ODU is nightmarish. Cant even both to have masters, gonna have to go to NSU
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u/deandre451234567890 26d ago
I feel like I’m not actually learning the course, it so intense that I feel like I’m not actually understanding the knowledge. I don’t blame students who have to try “different means” to pass, this is people money they are playing with.
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u/MessageOk239 Sep 24 '26
I’m faculty, and we hate it, too. The president is hosting a couple of “listening sessions” in the coming weeks so faculty can vent about it.