Facade is okay but surrounded by trash and hobos.

Biggest problem with WCU is they have so many adjunct professors. Its unfair cause they aren’t widely available & they’re not very invested in the program. They also have little to NO teaching experience. It’s unfortunate because we’re basically their guinea pigs while learn to teach. Just because someone is an OT doesn’t mean they should teach OT. Just because someone wants to teach doesn’t mean they can or should teach. None of this is more evident than Dr. Sandoval. He teaches Anatomy & Movement (kinesiology). He has more knowledge than Dr. Friberg but lacks teaching skills. He doesn’t actually teach but reads off the powerpoint slides word for word. There are no explanations or examples. There’s no point going to class because we can just read the textbook or slides ourselves. The other major issue is he makes so many mistakes. Every other day we receive an email that says “there’s a mistake on this slide & that slide” & it becomes a confusing mess. If you’re a kines major you won’t have problems in his class (you could probably teach it better than him). If you don’t have a kinesiology background he makes the class much harder than it has to be. In Movement, we don’t have a lab (which is crazy when you think about it). Instead we look at pictures & try to do these fill in the blank exercises instead. Dr. Sandoval is approachable & makes himself available but he’s probably the weakest teacher in the program.Dr. Mele is another adjunct. She taught the Evaluation class. She would teach random content that wasn’t part of the curriculum & had nothing to do with OT. Once again it’s like we’re guinea pigs for teachers in training.There are more adjuncts than full time professors (8 vs 6). How is this a legitimate program? Maybe this is the norm for grad school but keep in mind that these aren’t lab assistants they’re the main professor for the course. As I mentioned before, the adjuncts have little to no teaching experience. The exception is Dr. Edwards who teaches the Leadership class. He’s a very well-known OT & WCU is lucky to have him. The class is sort of a filler course but at least we have access to a resourceful instructor with connections to the large OT associations. Dr. Golembeski, Dr. Windham, Professor Garcia, & Professor Sik are new. Most of them seem nice & friendly but their weaknesses are obvious. Dr. Golembeski is unsure of herself. She’s soft spoken & extremely nervous & she gets flustered when students ask her questions. She’s also a relatively new OT so it’s probably not time for her to run a classroom by herself. She uses a TA named Selene but she’s also a new grad who doesn’t have a lot of experience (teaching or clinical). Selene’s doesn’t seem like she wants to be there. Professor Garcia has a lot of energy. She’s one of the few adjuncts who has a lot of clinical experience. She has so much energy that half of the time she’s out of breath. She’s also very nervous when she teaches & can be all over the place & confusing. She teaches the Eval class which she took over from Dr. Gantman. The class isn’t as thorough or hands on as it used to be. Prof. Garcia likes to have fun in the classroom but can also be a stickler for “professionalism.” We don’t know much about Dr. Windham. OT is her second career & she used to work with athletes & celebrities. Professor Sik doesn’t have much teaching (or clinical) experience. There were some issues with her proctoring. Students would lose points for not doing certain things but students would actually do those things (she wasn’t observing carefully). This is something the program always does: inconsistent information, communication & grading.Don’t see how WCU can be higher than 2 stars when only 3 professors are legitimately good. Look for a program with better resources, space, experienced professors. If you’re an administrator or professor reading this, please take this seriously. We give the same feedback in course evaluations every trimester but there haven’t been changes. Stop letting good professors leave & get rid of ones that are terrible.

WCUs OT Program. The program is crowded. There’s not enough classroom space, resources or parking. None of their technology work! There’s only one professor for 34 students. Its a challenge when we’re learning hands on stuff. The curriculum is a mess with a lot of unnecessary/repetitive info.A program is only as good as its staff & unfortunately theyre not good. First the positives. Dr. Willis is the Dean. She is a delight & has a great sense of humor. She’s also very approachable. Unfortunately she doesnt teach other than the occasional guest presentation. If she taught more regularly the program would be stronger. Dr. Billock is amazing. Shes incredibly intelligent & compassionate. She’s very knowledgeable & full of experience. Her classes are well organized & she’s comes across as someone who’s very therapeutic. Dr. Billock is really the heart of the program. Unfortunately shes leaving WCU to be a director at some other school. This is such a big loss for WCU. We think she realizes this program is a sinking ship. According to previous cohorts so many professors have come & gone. This program cant keep any of their good educators! If Dr. Billock is the heart of the program then Dr. Ang is the soul. He is by far the best teacher they have & is the best teacher Ive ever had. His classes are very practical & everything he teaches has purpose. His practical exams can be challenging but he gives thorough feedback & everything is a positive learning experience. We learn so much from him than any other professor. His presentation slides are gorgeous & his teaching style is unlike anything you’ve ever seen. He is the soul of the program because he exemplifies what an occupational therapist should be. He treats us with respect & I dont know any student in this program who doesnt love him. These three professors are the best. But remember that Dr. Willis doesnt teach, Dr. Billock is leaving & Dr. Ang stands alone. Update: Just heard Dr. Ang is planning paternity leave. He postponed his paternity for two semesters to give the university time to find a replacement for his classes. Rumor is they haven’t found a suitable replacement after all this time! Just be prepared that Dr. Ang may not be your instructor when you enter the program.I wish there weren’t so many negatives, but I want you have an honest account. Lets start with Dr. Thomas. She brings a therapy dog to school & it’s hard to dislike someone like that. But when it comes down to it she’s overrated & many of us don’t like her. She’s a narcissist & a know it all who likes to flaunt her accomplishments while feigning humility. She doesnt teach us much & relies on guest speakers to cover her classes. The speakers are supposedly “experts” but they’re incredibly boring (especially the person who teaches hands). She only teaches 1/3 of her class, another 1/3 is taught by guest speakers, & the last 1/3 are practical exams that don’t make a lot of sense. The exams dont make sense because she tests concepts that she didnt teach. Unfortunately we’re the ones who get penalized when we dont do things her way (even though we do it the way we’re taught by her guests). If she taught her own classes this wouldnt be such an issue. It’s an ongoing issue with every cohort & she’s not competent in the topics presented by her speakers. What kind of professor teaches 1/3 or her own classes? I hope she only receives 1/3 of her salary because relying on others is just plain lazy. Her excuse is that she brings in “experts” to teach certain material. The way we see it, if you need an “expert” to teach the majority of your course maybe you shouldn’t be teaching this course! Several students have failed her classes. We have issues with her because she spends more time focusing on “how to be proper” (think charm school instructor) instead of spending time on actual OT. Whats hypocritical is that several of us have overheard her say unprofessional things about students & other professors behind their backs! She’s not the worst teacher but she’s the worst person.

This is simply a private money hungry school with a 100 advisors that sit around and decide between your future or their wallets. Then just when you feel things are improving, wait til the enormous never ending loans kick in with life long interest. They all smile through their teeth to hook you, then its a never ending battle and harassment from the student loans to which is no relief not even bankruptcy. Schools a freakin joke--RUN!

Below average OT program. What do you expect from something that’s new? Alot of disorganization and confusion. The founding dean left. I think he realized what a mess the program was and didn’t want to stick around to clean it up. They only figured out there supposed to make up fieldwork hours and holidays. How do you not know this by now? Students should be giving a discount for the class time that was missed. The program should be reported to whoever accredits them. Staff could be better. A lot of them are USC grads.VDH – Former dean. Wasn’t around much and barely showed his face. He was on the way out so I don’t think he cared anymore.Willis – The new dean. Don’t know how she got promoted. I think she has less teaching experience than the other’s. She’s nice though. But a noob.Anveryzadeh – Intense. She either likes you or hates you. If she likes you, you get a good fieldwork site. If you’re on her bad side you’re screwed.Phillips – Secretary. Cranky and angry all the time. Blames students for everything. Watch out for the hate emails she sends to everyone.Thomas – Barely taught us. I think she started when the program started. Heard she failed as the dean for ACC program, and came back to West Coast. She acts like she has something to prove.Bilock – Super sweet lady! One of the best in the program. She doesn’t teach that many classes though.Murray and Ang – They’re chill. They know their stuff and they teach more classes than others so that’sgood. Learned the most from them. But I think they both left.Gantman – This is the one to watch out for. She got into a big shouting match with a student and made her cry. She failed two students over the smallest thing and now they’re kicked out the program. Basically ruined there lives.Mcdonald – Confusing. She’s basically an autistic kid trapped in an old lady’s body. I think she left too.Krikor and Lauren – Assistants. They barely have any more clinical experience than the students. For some reason they’re professors! Shows the very low standards for staff they have. Krikor is chill. Lauren is a difficult grader. When you ask her to explain stuff she doesn’t give an answer cause she doesn’t know herself!I don’t recommend coming here. Maybe wait until they get better staff. The good ones tend to leave.

Understand something before you put yourself into thousands of dollars in debt…this is a FOR PROFIT SCHOOL. They only care about one thing, and that is MONEY. I was part of the OT program, and they keep trying to grow it even though it’s brand new. It started with around 20 students, grew to 35, and they’re trying to expand it to 50+. This school is supposed to have small classes, but it’s getting bigger and bigger.Understand something else. The teachers don’t have that much experience. The teaching assistances are new grads that barely have any clinical experience. The teachers that did have experience either quit or retired. A lot of them left all in one semester! They change teachers constantly. There’s always a new one teaching a new course. And the lectures are basic generic templates, where teachers read off the slide. I could do that on my own time. The only teacher who actually puts in any effort and cares about his students is Professor Ang. He spends the most time with his student instead of using a teaching assistant, and you can tell he personalizes his lecture. Even still, there’s not enough equipment to go around, and the equipment is old, outdated, and doesn’t work. The other teachers only care about testing, testing, and testing. They run out of things to teach so they constantly test us. I guess this is what happens when you have teachers with little experience, and they have to end up filling the class time with useless “filler”.Don’t kid yourself. USC is the top school but it’s too expensive. Why pay all that money to USC if you’re getting the same degree and license. WCU is cheaper, but you get what you pay for. If you want a sub-par education and debt, then this is the place for you. Dominguez Hills is the place to, but it’s highly competitive. I was lucky enough to get accepted to Dominguez, but made the stupid decision to go to WCU because I thought the small class sizes and “advanced technology” would be better. NOPE! They have large classes and cheap equipment that doesn’t work. Don’t drink the cool-aid. Inform yourself.

This school only cares on how to make more money. They are not student centered...they undermine students. If you have another option for school take that one instead.

Private institution offering graduate programs for PT, OT, and Pharmacy.

Very nice, state of the art DPT and OT campus.

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