Transfer of Credit to the University

Credits may be transferred to Calwest from any USA accredited university; or an international university registered with the appropriate government authorities in that country. For graduate studies, a maximum of 8 courses in the program can be given credit for prior studies. For doctoral studies, no more than 33 graduate semester credits or its equivalent awarded by another institution may be credited toward a doctoral degree. Calwest university policy is that these credits can be only in the coursework units (11 courses) of the doctoral degree program. When congruent and applicable to Calwest’s programs, credits can be obtained by demonstrating Recognized Prior Learning (RPL) credits earned at and transferred from other postsecondary institutions (including courses from accredited institutions where the assessment has been proctored). Students who have undertaken similar units elsewhere can pass the course within Calwest by successfully completing Calwest’s challenge examinations.

Calwest programs are not open to Ability-to-Benefit students; and the university will not grant any credit to a student for prior experiential learning.

The student must provide notarized/certified copies of all documents evidencing his/her prior learning upon which Calwest will base the award of any credit or credential. [Note that there will be a US$200 fee per course for credit recognition and a US$ 800 fee for administering challenge assessments]. All academic transcripts, and documents upon which credit is granted, shall be maintained, kept current, and retained permanently for each student in an electronic format.

Notice Concerning Transferability of Credits and Credentials Earned at Calwest

Calwest University has not entered into an articulation or transfer agreement with any other college or university in the USA.

The transferability of credits you earn at Calwest University is at the complete discretion of an institution to which you may seek to transfer. Acceptance of the degree you earn in any Calwest educational program is also at the complete discretion of the institution to which you may seek to transfer. If the credits or degree that you earn at Calwest are not accepted at the institution to which you seek to transfer, you may be required to repeat some or all of your coursework at that institution. For this reason, you should make certain that your attendance at this institution will meet your educational goals. This may include contacting an institution to which you may seek to transfer after attending Calwest University to determine if your credits or degree will transfer.

Calwest’s Policies and Procedures have at its foundation the belief that a great education should be available to anyone around the world, so that learning can be without limits. Calwest university strongly believes that education is a right, and not a privilege; and that university degrees should not be restricted to only those who can pay the high fees charged. Good education is a human right that should be available to all. As such, Calwest charges, as a community service, substantially lower fees for its Graduate and Doctoral programs that are undertaken or assessed completely in-house.

Calwest University’s campus is in the “cloud”. This means that physical facilities are limited to an administrative office run at Northridge, California, USA; and a web management office in Melbourne, Australia.

All officers are linked via the internet to the Amazon web-services (in the cloud), with scalable resources and multiple points of presence around the world. The physical locations of the servers are secure and their locations are not publicized even within Amazon.  Using Amazon web-services provides Calwest with in-built data disaster recovery as the data is hosted in multiple continents.

Calwest' Tubeclasses uses the Moodle platform and data base and the Moodle Learning Management System to provide a virtual learning environment for all students. The storage of data regarding courses, students, grades and web content is via a SQL database. Calwest also uses Apache web services to host its website; and a secure platform back-up for off-site storage of data. Student fees payment management, including the use of credit card facilities is managed via Bank of America’s secure payment gateway system.

Cloud computing, or something being in the cloud, is a colloquial expression used to describe a variety of different types of computing concepts that involve a large number of computers connected through a real-time communication network such as the Internet. A ‘cloud campus’ refers to network-based educational platforms and student services which appear to be provided by real server hardware, which in fact are served up by virtual hardware, simulated by software running on one or more real machines. Such virtual servers do not physically exist and can therefore be moved around and scaled up (or down) on the fly without affecting the end user student—arguably, rather like a cloud.

At the foundation of cloud computing is the broader concept of converged infrastructure and shared services. Calwest’s cloud campus also focuses on maximizing the effectiveness of shared resources. A cloud campus is open 24-hours, 7-days a week as resources are usually not only shared by multiple users but are also dynamically re-allocated per demand. This approach should maximize the use of computing powers thus reducing environmental damage as well since less power, air conditioning, lecture theatres, etc. is required for a variety of educational functions usually done in physical campuses.

The term "moving to cloud" also refers to an organization moving away from a traditional CAPEX model (buy the dedicated hardware and depreciate it over a period of time) to the OPEX model (use a shared cloud infrastructure and pay as you use it). This allows Calwest University to avoid upfront infrastructure costs, and focus on a learning experience for students that differentiate their education programs instead of infrastructure.  These cost saving are passed on to students, enabling them to get a ‘World-Class’ education at a fraction of the costs that are charged by traditional universities with physical campuses.

The cloud has also enabled the university to get their educational programs and applications up and running faster, with improved manageability and less maintenance, and enables IT to more rapidly adjust resources to meet fluctuating and unpredictable student demand that is the reality of online courses.

Unit of Credit

In a face-to-face learning environment, where there is a significant amount of directed teaching, one lecture, seminar, or discussion credit hour represents 1 hour per week of scheduled class/seminar time per semester. Most lecture and seminar courses are awarded 3 credit hours per semester. Over an entire semester, this formula represents at least 45 hours of class/seminar time and 90 hours of student preparation. In on-line learning, as there is less directed teaching and more self-study learning required, a credit hour represents 1 hour per week of following both instructional material on the internet and student self-study time. This independent study requires more focused student learning.  As such, one independent study hour (including thesis or dissertation research) represents 3-4 hours per week of supervised and /or independent practice.  This in turn represents between 45 and 60 hours of work per semester. A typical American Bachelor’s degree program of study on a semester calendar requires at least 120 credit hours to be earned by the student. A  Master’s degree program requires at least 33 credit hours and represents over 4,000 actual hours of supervised and unsupervised (independent research) study, while a doctoral program can represent 8,000 or more actual hours of advanced study and research beyond the Master’s degree.

Credit for Graduate Learning at Calwest University

 All graduate master’s degrees at Calwest University normally requires at least two years of full-time equivalent college-level work beyond the bachelor’s degree. However, due to the flexibilities that the online delivery via a cloud campus can bring, it is possible to accelerate learning and complete two years of full-time equivalent college-level work in just over one and half years by undertaking  10 courses per year.

In total Calwest University master’s degrees require 36 credit hours to be earned by the student. This roughly translates into 12 courses and represents at least 4,500 — and probably more — actual hours of dedicated academic work.

Credit for Doctoral Learning and Research at Calwest University

All doctoral degrees at Calwest University normally requires at least three years of full-time equivalent college-level work beyond the bachelor’s and master’s degrees. However, due to the flexibilities that the online delivery via a cloud campus can bring, it is possible to accelerate learning and complete three years of full-time equivalent college-level work in two years.

In total Calwest University doctoral degrees require 60 credit hours to be earned by the student. This roughly translates into 20 courses and represents at least 10,000 — and probably more — actual hours of dedicated academic work.

The language of instruction and assessment of all courses is English. Students who undertake external courses in other languages will be assessed for credit in the English Language.

English Language Requirements

Applicants without appropriate previous academic experience in an English language environment must pass the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), the Test of English as an International Communication (TOEIC), the Berlitz Online Proficiency Test, the Pearson Test of English Academic or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS).

Calwest University has a standard academic calendar of three intakes for its MBA degree program.

No enrollments will be accepted once an Enrollment Period ends.

Students need special permission from student administration to enroll after Enroillment Period end.

Courses can be started at anytime after a student enrolls in a degree program.

The four compulsory 'Core Building Blocks" Tubeclasses courses that are compulsory in the MBA program at Calwest are:

1. Business Ethics
2. Global Issues
3. Critical Thinking
4. Philosophy

Students work at their own pace. The method of assessment is via an on-line examination or assignment when the students are confident that they are ready to be assessed. For on-line exams, these will be available automatically once all the Topic Quizzes have been completed.

An MBA degree will be awarded by Calwest University upon the successful completion of 12 Courses (36 Credit points). This is expected to take 2 years (full time) and 4 years (part time) after start date.

A DBA degree will be awarded by Calwest University upon the successful completion of 60 Credit points. This is expected to take 3 years (full time) and 6 years (part time) after start date.

Credits Earned in a Compressed Time Period

Due to the 24 hours per day, 7-days a week nature of a campus in the cloud, it is possible that students may learn at different paces; and some may be able to compress the time period in which they earn a degree. However, Calwest will not permit a program compression that enables students to complete in less than one year for a MBA degree. Special permission on a case by case basis will need to be obtained by students who wish to compress their courses in time periods less than this, and would usually pertain to those coming with significant credit for prior learning in an equivalent program.

Calwest University was established to provide affordable high-quality American degrees to students living in all parts of the world who deserve a quality education, but were until recently unable to obtain such due to both costs and the tyranny of distance.

The innovative approach adopted by Calwest is that whilst the course content is solely designed and delivered by Calwest faculty (and the syllabus outlines of the courses are benchmarked with the courses of other World-class universities that have both face-to-face and online offerings); it uses a sophisticated learning platform enabling students to have prompt feedback to all their assessment tasks and final examinations.  Therefore students can learn at their own pace without being hampered by more structured approaches to the student-teacher interface.

All the Course Assessments will be done by Calwest professors. These assessments include online exams, assignments, challenge exams and credit for prior learning. The learning of students undertaking all modes of assessment is based on the syllabuses of courses offered at Calwest, and listed in its catalog.

Due to the international reach of online learning, Calwest hopes to cater to student in areas of the world in which opportunities of quality educational delivery at affordable prices is not available. As such, students can work towards obtaining a recognized degree at a substantially lower cost than that usually associated with American degree programs.

We hope you will enjoy the experience of moving from ‘Teaching to Learning’ at Calwest.

To all prospective students, I extend a warm welcome!

Dr Raymond Greasley, PhD MBA

President

Directors and Officers of the University

Dr. Ray, Greasley, PhD, President, CEO and Chief Academic Officer

Mr. Paul Cohen, MBA, Provost

Dr. Rehana Di Rico, MD, Chief Compliance Officer

Dr. Ruth Koku, MD, Chief Admissions Officer

Dr. Leon Duval, PhD, Dean of Business

Administrators

Mr. Paul Cohen, MBA, Provost

Dr. Rehana Di Rico, MD, Chief Compliance Officer

Dr. Ruth Koku, MD, Chief Admissions Officer

Mr. Anton Tambi, MBA, Secretary and Chief Financial Officer

Tubeclasses is the Calwest University’s powerful online video and electronic media learning platform that is very easy to use. Tubeclasses is essentially, Calwest’s ‘Cloud Campus’. After students login in Tubeclasses, they enter their personal learning environment at Calwest.

In the university's Catalog, students can find the overview of all programs and courses Calwest offers. Once a student registers for a particular program and a course in that program; Tubeclasses then navigates them through their personalized education at the Calwest.

Students can self-study each course by using the Syllabus, PowerPoint presentations and any selected Videos found in their course. Students must purchase (or have access to) the compulsory Text Book for the course. In all coursework courses, the assessments are also conducted online. Numerous interactive quizzes and/or case studies give a permanent opportunity to check on the individual learning progress until you feel fit to undertake the final online examination.

For the research courses, the assessments are different and often involve a research supervisor.

Alternatively, students can register (for an extra fee) for face-to-face tutorial seminars; which will soon be conducted in key centers around the world, with experts in the field. The seminars are designed to enhance understanding of the learning content found in the online material.

Calwest University's Tubeclasses are the most versatile, cost effective, and yet easy and intuitive learning platform that is unparalleled in the market.  Acrobat Reader is all it needs.