Legend of the Life Experience Degree

Discussion in 'Accreditation Discussions (RA, DETC, state approva' started by [email protected], Sep 17, 2003.

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  1. MarkIsrael@aol.com

    [email protected] New Member

  2. Dennis Ruhl

    Dennis Ruhl member

    Of course, this is a pile of horse crap.
     
  3. Ohnalee

    Ohnalee New Member

    The life experience degree urban legend

    Now see, when I read the title of this thread, I expected to see this story! It used to be posted on diploma mill websites all the time -- in fact, one used to be able to Google some key phrases out of "Frank's Story" to locate new 'uns.


    FRANK'S STORY

    Frank was the manager of a retail auto parts store in a small Midwestern town. It was the early 1980’s and things looked very promising for Frank and his family. He had married a girl from the same community and they now had three children—two girls (Kathy and Elizabeth) and a boy (Frank Jr.).

    Frank and his wife Betty had attended the same high school. Later they both attended the local community college. Betty completed a year there and Frank completed almost two.

    Frank had started working for the auto parts store 15 years ago—about three years before he and Betty were married. He had worked his way up from stock boy to sales person to shift leader to assistant manager and then, 4 years ago, to store manager.
    Frank was very happy with his job and he always worked many extra uncompensated hours—often in the evenings and on weekends. He ran a very good store and his profit record was the best in the region.

    Recently the regional supervisor had announced that she was going to retire at the end of the year—in just a few months. The regional supervisor was responsible for 6 stores in a 4 county area. Everyone, including the current supervisor, thought Frank was a shoe-in for the job. Frank was just waiting for the official announcement from the national headquarters.

    One day Frank received a call from his company’s vice-president. The two had met on several occasions and Frank considered their relationship to be quite friendly. When Frank picked up the phone he was sure it the call he had been waiting for.

    Frank was devastated when he learned that the purpose of the call was to introduce the new regional supervisor—a newly hired employee named George. Frank could hardly believe what he was hearing. "They passed me over in favor of a brand new employee", Frank thought to himself, "How can that be?" The vice-president told Frank that although his name had been mentioned for the position it was decided that a person with a college degree would be better qualified. Frank learned that the new supervisor would be in town the following week.

    When the next week came Frank had made up his mind to be very professional and help the new regional supervisor all that he could. When it came time to actually meet George, Frank was nervous but determined not to let his disappointment (and bitterness) show. Above all, Frank was loyal to his company and wanted (as he always had) to do a good job.

    However, Frank was shocked when George arrived. George appeared to be about 23 years old. Frank learned that he had just graduated from college with a degree in Business Administration and although he had no experience he did graduate in the top 20% of his class.

    As the weeks and months passed George called on Frank a lot to help him with management decisions and problems. Frank learned that George, although he was a sincere and honest person, did not have even the first idea about how to run an auto
    parts store. However, with Frank’s help, George did learn.

    After three years had passed George was promoted to assistant vice-president and moved to the company’s headquarters. A new regional supervisor was hired and again Frank did not get the job. By this time Frank’s spirits were waning. He had pretty well accepted the fact that without a degree he was at the end of the line—he would be a local store manager for the rest of his life.

    Although Frank’s spirit was waning he never outwardly let it show. But often, when he was alone, he would think, "if only I had been able to finish college and get my degree—things would be a lot different".

    This could have just as easily been a story about Jane or Sally or Bill or millions of others but out of FRANK’S STORY the first seeds of the [Insert Name of Life Experience Degree Website Here] were sown.
     
  4. Ike

    Ike New Member

    Mark:

    You only quoted the nonsense espoused by Wes. No. It originated from Dr. Berne of Berne University. The thread also featured comments from fellows that include Jay2, A-N, Paul, and Rich and these comments could be described as clued-up. As a matter of fact the thread could be viewed as balanced and informed.

    Ike Okonkwo, PhD
     
  5. MarkIsrael@aol.com

    [email protected] New Member

    "The concept of ‘Degrees on the basis of life experience’ originated in 1987 and was evolved from the philosophy of getting some course credits on the basis of experience as offered by the top schools of United States of America. "
    -- http://www.ashwooduniversity.net/ashwood/faqs.htm#1b

    Is 1987 a completely made-up year, or did something relevant happen in 1987? Any connection with the following?

    "In 1987, then Secretary of Education William Bennett (later to become 'Drug Czar,' and then a best selling author-philosopher) voiced similar complaints about the failure of accrediting agencies to deal with matters such as student competency and satisfaction. 'Historically,' he said, 'accrediting agencies have examined institutions in terms of the resources they have, such as the number of faculty with earned Doctorates and the number of books in the library. Now [we] are considering the ways agencies take account of student achievement and development.' [....] When Bill Clinton took office in 1993, the accreditation situation was no less murky, and his choice for Secretary of Education, Richard Riley of South Carolina, seemed more interested in primary and secondary education than in post secondary. Into this already murky area came two bombshells, life experience degrees and college transcripts."
    -- http://www.1stdegree.info/pages/accreditation.html
     

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