Another Berne Doctorate Bites the Dust

Another Berne University Degree Student is Dismissed for a Faulty Degree

Details of ex-Lely principal's removal now coming to light
By RAY PARKER, [email protected]
April 6, 2005

He likes to be addressed as Dr. Bruce Myers.

But he received his doctorate from Berne University, an unaccredited school on a Caribbean Island, which requires only 28 days of campus study.

Removed last week from Lely High School as principal, he likely will not work next year in Collier County. And officials were unsure if he had even shown up for work on Tuesday.

"I don't anticipate renewing him," Superintendent Ray Baker said.

When he started in July, Myers discussed his dubious diploma with school officials, who told him it would not be accepted.

Berne University is located on St. Kitts, the larger of two islands in the eastern Caribbean, 200 miles southeast of Puerto Rico. St. Kitts' economy depends on coconuts, sugar cane and tourism.

And since 1993, there's been the Berne University International Graduate School, which awards a variety of advanced degrees.

All the work is self-directed and home-based, except for a 28-day "academic residency semester."

Myers, who has been employed with the district since July, received his Berne University doctorate in 2000. His résumé reads: "Doctor of philosophy in education — administration and supervision. Dissertation: Perceptions of Ocean County superintendents in utilizing shared services in implementing the continuing education requirement."

Myers couldn't be reached for comment on Friday and Tuesday.

"(Former Superintendent Ben) Marlin agreed to allow the (hiring) process," said Allun Hamblett, the district's human resources executive director.

The Berne University Web site states that the school is "fully accredited by the Ministry of Education in the government of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis to grant specialist certificates, master's degrees, and doctoral degrees in business, education, and social services."

In the United States, confirming academic accreditation can be tricky since it has been a voluntary, self-regulating process.

Alan Contreras, an administrator with the Oregon Office of Degree Authorization, wrote in the summer of 2004 newsletter of the Center for International Higher Education.

"Meaningful academic oversight on St. Kitts is doubtful at best," he wrote. "It also hosts Berne University, which recently lost its Title IV approval because of findings by the General Accounting Office (the investigatory office of the U.S. Congress) and the U.S. Department of Education that its programs are not equivalent to a U.S. university, its award of credit is inappropriate and excessive, and its finances are questionable."

The U.S. Department of Education's Accrediting Agency Evaluation Branch does not recognize Berne University's accreditation, which is why the Caribbean college could not receive federal student financial assistance.

District officials verify administrator degrees by requesting transcripts. They also review universities in the Manual on Certification and Preparation of Educational Personnel in the United States.

"Mr. Myers was instructed that he should not use the honorarium of doctor," said Hamblett of human resources.

But he did. He was called Dr. Myers around school and he was listed as Dr. Myers on the Lely High Web site.

When he started, the principal was told he wouldn't be getting the usual bonus for having a doctorate degree, Baker said.

Myers is paid an annual salary of $96,188.

Collier's other high school principals' salaries are: Gulf Coast High Principal Eric Williams, $93,358; Naples High Principal Rosanne Winter, $96,188; Barron Collier Principal Ron Miller, $97,150; Golden Gate Principal Robert Spano, $98,118; Immokalee High Principal Manny Touron, $101,093; and Palmetto Ridge Principal Roy Terry, $103,128.

Superintendent Baker removed Myers from Lely High on Friday and assigned Sebastian Torres, former Immokalee High principal, as Lely's interim principal.

Myers was transferred to the administrative center, where he'll be a principal on special assignment working on curriculum projects.

School officials couldn't provide the phone number of his new office, and Joe Landon, district spokesman, could not confirm Myers had shown up for work on Tuesday.

Myers' annual contract ends on June 30.

"The best thing to do at this particular point, given what was happening with the school culture, was to go ahead and act right away," Baker said about his decision to remove Myers.

In the next week, Baker said he'll decide whether to pick the next Lely principal from within the district or pursue a national search.

http://www.naplesnews.com/npdn/news/article/0,2071,NPDN_14940_3678602,00.html

 

There have been reports here that indicate that the resident time advertized is frequently waved if it causes the candidate to hesitate paying the money.

 

Dear Dr. Bruce Myers,

It is with great sadness and empathy that I write this letter. Having gone to Berne, and having written a dissertation (and although I have not reviewed it, I will assume it was written with a commitment to the highest academic standards, and with the utmost integrity), it truly is a travesty that you are now facing this unfortunate situation.

Let me only say, dear sir, that you are a victim of a regime that no longer values individual merit, excellence, hard work and integrity. It is the same machine that subjects young children, through NCLB, to constant testing, and removes instructional freedom, in the misguided desire to standardize all of us. Vanishing quickly is the spirit of innovation, creativity and individualism. Gone forever is that pioneer spirit we once valued.

The machine you now face is committed to a total “commodification” of who we are. If it succeeds, we will be the clothes we wear, the car we drive, the furniture we have, and the university or college we are affiliated with. The things we once owned are not far from owning us.

Sir, the battle you have been waging for your individual dignity must be understood in the greater societal context. I place your struggle within the context of the great civil rights issues. I wish you well, and share your battle.

Lots of luck,

Morgan Khanstein, Esq.

 

Back to "Esquire"are we?

Actually, I should say that the good doctor is rather the victim of a system that DOES value "individual merit, excellence, hard work and integrity" and doesn't care for fraud on the public payroll.

 

Morgan, that was a most eloquent defense of academic fraud. I'm most pleased that the vast majority of people do not equate academic fraud with individualism but I still enjoyed your post.

 

Dear Sir,

Be advised that the title of 'Esquire' may be assumed by any person attaining sufficient length and breadth in any attribute.

Tonto Kowalski, Esq.

 

Commodification--bad. Buying degree--good. Oh, OK.

 

I KNEW IT!!!!!!!

Morgan,

No wonder you write with overdramatic flourishes and condescending witticisms. You have a vested interest in pompously promoting phony degrees: You have one! Now, whether your reason for buying an unaccredited degree was to pass it off privately (for status) or professionaly (for advancement) as an accredited degree to the people around you is something I'm dying to know.

So fess up.

 

To: fake "Dr." Morgan Khanstein
cc: fake "Dr." Bruce Myers

Herein a response to your latest Degreeinfo post concerning the matter of "Bruce Myers and his unaccredited Berne University 'doctorate' ":

"It is with great sadness and empathy that I write this letter."

No surprise here. Yes, birds of a feather do flock together, I suppose. Holders of unaccredited and fake doctorates emphathizing with each other. I can understand that.

"........ having written a dissertation (and although I have not reviewed it, I will assume it was written with a commitment to the highest academic standards, and with the utmost integrity), .......

Morgan, you have not read Mr. Myers' unaccredited doctoral dissertation but you ascribe to it the "highest academic standards?" Is there a single bone of objectivity in your body? On what basis do you believe that an unaccredited doctoral dissertation was done in accordance with the highest standards?

Which standards, may I ask? Published and available from where? Isn't this the whole point? - the absence of WRITTEN, PUBLISHED, INDEPENDENTLY AND EXTERNALLY VERIFIABLE ACADEMIC QUALITY STANDARDS in most unaccredited programs or entities?

"..... it truly is a travesty that you are now facing this unfortunate situation."

The situation is entirely of his own making. No use crying over spilt milk. You make your bed, you lie in it. One is responsible to oneself (and to society, sometimes), for the consequences of one's actions.

"Let me only say, dear sir, that you are a victim of a regime that no longer values individual merit, excellence, hard work and integrity."

Integrity? Do you, dear fake "Dr." Morgan Khanstein, know the meaning of the word? I mjst suppose that you do but you disingeniously suspend its meaning and import when you write about fake schools, their shills, and their almost useless "degrees."

There is no integrity in lying or in living a lie, either as an individual or as an institution or business.

Please, Morgan, show us the integrity in each of the following:

- Bruce Myers was specifically instructed that he should not use the honorarium of doctor but he did.

- When Mr. Myers started the job in July, he discussed his dubious diploma with school officials, who told him IT WOULD NOT BE ACCEPTED, yet he instructed all his staff to call him "Dr."

- Berne University lied on its web site. Note this blatant lie: "The Berne University Web site states that the school is "fully accredited by the Ministry of Education in the government of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis to grant specialist certificates, master's degrees, and doctoral degrees in business, education, and social services."

More ...... "The U.S. Department of Education's Accrediting Agency Evaluation Branch does not recognize Berne University's accreditation, which is why the Caribbean college could not receive federal student financial assistance."

I also fault Collier County officials for hiring Mr. Myers in the first place, even though they told him that his "doctorate" would not be accepted. They made a bad situation worse. They, too, should have protected the integrity of the process. It is, of course, totally acceptable if they hired him based on his skills, experience, and other legitimately earned degrees - and maybe that is what they did or thought they were doing.

"It is the same machine that subjects young children, through NCLB, to constant testing, and removes instructional freedom, in the misguided desire to standardize all of us."

This is a stretch, Morgan, er, "Dr." Khanstein. What has the federal "No Child Left Behind" law got to do with the granting and fraudulent uses of unaccredited doctorates? Nothing! I also have serious reservations about some of the stipulations of NCLB notwithstanding your disingenious attempts at a false linkage here.

"Vanishing quickly is the spirit of innovation, creativity and individualism. Gone forever is that pioneer spirit we once valued."

No, there is not now, and never has there been, a right to lie, to cheat, to misrepresent one's true educational achievements, to attempt to beat "the system" by professing possession of fake doctorates, when there exists many, many holders of legitimate degrees who have equal or greater employability indexes than Mr. Myers.

Yes, contrary to your vaunted and unproven assertions, the spirit of innovation - honest, sincere, legitimate, ground-breaking innovation - still lives on, and will forever live in and define, these United States!

"The machine you now face is committed to a total “commodification” of who we are. If it succeeds, we will be the clothes we wear, the car we drive, the furniture we have, and the university or college we are affiliated with. The things we once owned are not far from owning us."

Morgan, "the machine" (at least, the one you seem to be railing against) is a figment of your imagination.

Oh, I forget: you have said in these forums that you are a "philosophy major," right? Listen up: "We ARE NOT the clothes we wear, the car we drive, the furniture we have," at least not if we choose not to.

However, like other institutional, organizational, or business-related activities, the legitimate university or college degree that one earns tends to stay with one for a long time, maybe even forever.

It is also true that the diploma mill or unaccredited degree that one claims to hold may forever taint one as an academic fraud. Why? Because it is a credential and credentials go with the earner; rightly or wrongly (rightly, for the most part), they do become "you."

That is why it is so important to run, yes, run away from diploma mills, unwonderful schools and the vast majority of unaccredited educational entities.

"Sir, the battle you have been waging for your individual dignity must be understood in the greater societal context. I place your struggle within the context of the great civil rights issues."

Don't you feel even a tiny bit of shame when you falsely equate the valiant personal and communal struggles of the sheroines and heroines of the civil rights movement with dishonest and disingenious attempts to force everyone to accept the unproven legitimacy of unaccredited degrees?

"I wish you well, and share your battle."

I wish you well also but I do not share your battle (to claim legitimacy for unaccredited degrees and "educational" entities). It is a loser. It will, and must lose.

If you learn nothing at all from this debacle, please note this one lesson: The Mr. Myers/Berne University story gives credence to the "unaccredited degree and ticking time bomb" analogy most often alluded to here and elsewhere. You may have a right to "earn" a degree, even an unaccredited one, if you so choose, but do not be surprised when it goes off - and it will go off - someday, somewhere.

"Lots of luck."

Yeah, Morgan. You will need it, I bet.

Thanks.

 

Hmmm.....sounds a lot like Neil Hays defending the content of his dissertation rather than the questionable school that granted his doctorate.

 

"Be advised that the title of 'Esquire' may be assumed by any person attaining sufficient length and breadth in any attribute."

Tonto Kowalski, Esq.

Of course it is! That's exactly what makes it seem so silly and pretentious!

 

esse quam videri

 

Re: I KNEW IT!!!!!!!

Dear RobbCD,

No, I have neither earned nor purchased a doctoral degree. (At the present moment I am rather happy with being an Esquire). However, if I had gone to Berne, or any other UA school, I would wear their sweatshirt, and drink my coffee from their mug, with pride. I would even wear their ring - even if I lived in Oregon.

I will let you in on a secret, though - but only if you promise not to tell anyone else, especially the dreaded "Truth Squad": I am seriously contemplating the UA route. Why? For no other reason than that I might continue battling on behalf of freedom - here at degreeinfo - with authenticity.

Sincerely,

Morgan Khanstein, Esq.

 

Morgan,

Hold up your right hand and repeat after me ....."I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help me Degreeinfo."

Ok. (Now, "The Truth Squad" can get to work);

From where did you obtain your law degree? Or are we more correct in assuming that you have earned no such insignia but use suffix "Esquire" because you can (or to impress - whom, I do not know!)

IIRC, did you not state in these forums sometime ago that you were getting ready to open, or had already opened, a "business" somewhere in Cambridge, MA to counsel "students" to seek unaccredited degrees from unaccredited entities?

Are all of your "degrees" listed on your "business" cards, stationary and other business documents?

Which degrees have you earned - unaccredited or accredited or both - or none?

Lastly and specifically, do you not already possess an unaccredited "PhD"? Or are you currently enrolled in one? Or did you enroll in one at some point? Or are you ...... or better yet, are you not ..........

Remember, you took the oath to ..........

LOL.

Thanks.

 

I seem to remember having this discussion with Ms. Esquire some time ago. If I recall correctly, she doesn't claim a law license. (Note, please...if it refers to anything at all, 'Esquire' refers to a LAWYER, not merely the holder of a law degree.)

She is certainly entitled (bad pun, that) to call herself "Esquire" if she chooses, except in Arizona, where the Arizona Supreme Court says that using "Esquire" to imply lawyerhood is itself practicing law.

But then, the Grand Canyon State was always a little weird...

 

Since when did "pioneer spirit" include claiming degrees from an illegal school?

 

Now wait a minnit, Dr. Douglas!

Didn't you ever read "Arrowsmith"?

Before the reforms founded on the Flexner Report, there were LOTS of pioneering physicians with bogus medical degrees!

 

Sale!

Morgan,

I'll save you some money and sell you a degree off of my ink-jet printer. For an extra fee I'll even have my daughter shade it in with crayons (she's got the quality box of crayons, with the sharpener on the back). It'll be just as legit as any degree you'd get from Berne. Then you can go and lie about having an academic credential to anyone who will listen and save some cash in the process.

Won't that be nice, the lying I mean.