RA Degree Not Required?

Discussion in 'Accreditation Discussions (RA, DETC, state approva' started by Steve King, Jul 23, 2007.

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  1. Steve King

    Steve King Member

    This evening, I was trying to get a sense of how many professors of DL schools earned their degree from other DL programs. While scrolling through American Military University’s faculty list I came across a professor with his masters and doctorate from Hamilton University. His title "Dr." is frequently used on AMU's website, which suggests to me that AMU endorses his doctorate and that he is likely teaching bachelors and masters-level classes at this RA university.

    My question is, I thought faculty at RA programs needed to hold an RA degree equal to or higher than the class they teach? Am I mistaken about this? :confused:

    On the Faculty List page, it simply reads, “PhD: Hamilton University, Adjunct Faculty.” I did a search on DegreeInfo that seems to suggest that Hamilton University is not RA. Is it likely that Dr. Romanich is only teaching associate-level courses at AMU?

    For reference, here’s the link to the page that stumped me: http://www.amu.apus.edu/Academics/Faculty/faculty-details.htm?facultyID=1174

    Thanks for your help,
    Steve
     
  2. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    You're right -- his postgraduate credentials look totally bogus. Anyone want to ask APUS for their opinion?

    -=Steve=-
     
  3. iquagmire

    iquagmire Member


    Is this the same Hamilton University listed as a diploma mill in Wikipedia?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton_University
     
  4. BillDayson

    BillDayson New Member

    This isn't the first time this kind of thing has happened at AMU/APU. My guess is that they aren't very selective when they are hiring adjuncts and get sloppy sometimes.

    Maybe they confused the doubtful Hamilton University with the prestigious Hamilton College in New York. (SAT median about 1400, 80% of freshmen in top 10% of their HS class.) As far as I know, Hamilton College doesn't have any graduate programs, certainly not doctorates. It's an undergraduate liberal arts college.

    http://www.hamilton.edu/
     
  5. John Bear

    John Bear Senior Member

    When Laura Callahan, senior official at Homeland Security, was discovered to have Hamilton degrees, she promptly lost her job, her government pension, and her reputation.

    The totally phony Hamilton was the focus of the 60 Minutes segment that Ezell and I were on a few years ago. There is nothing even slightly real about it.
     
  6. Lerner

    Lerner Well-Known Member

    I think you are correct.
    I remeber National University in CA confusing Columbia State UniMillsity with Columbia University. The emploees that screen candidates at times make errors.
     
  7. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    I let them know

    Dr. Powell is the Academic Dean at APUS. I'll report any relevant response.

    -=Steve=-
     
  8. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Response received

    I suppose we'll see how long it takes them to update their web site.

    -=Steve=-
     
  9. Bill Huffman

    Bill Huffman Well-Known Member

    I enjoyed the one Hamilton University requirement that their Ph.D. candidates had to take an ethics course. It indicated to me that the academic fraud running the place had an ironic sense of humor. :)
     
  10. sulla

    sulla New Member

    Good job. APUS just removed Mr. Romanich's bio from their faculty list.
    I wonder what Mr. Romanich is thinking right now...
    http://www.amu.apus.edu/Academics/Faculty/faculty-details.htm?facultyID=1174[/url]
     
  11. John Bear

    John Bear Senior Member

    Bill: It indicated to me that the academic fraud running the place had an ironic sense of humor.

    John: According to the 60 Minutes people, he did. Apparently he lived (and lives) very comfortably in Key West, where he has been prominent in the large gay community there.

    http://www.glinn.com/keywest/images/kwp05.jpg
     
  12. raristud2

    raristud2 New Member

    Is he still teaching at APUS?
     
  13. RobbCD

    RobbCD New Member

    Didn't this same thing happen a while back at AMU with a person who posted here (and other channels)? IIRC, in that case the computer science "professor" was claiming a PhD from a mill with no undergraduate degrees, and that the need for any degrees were "waived" in his case.

    It's strange that these degrees keep slipping by the AMU computer science department's HR reps.
     
  14. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    In this case at least they did the right thing right away. And as someone else suggested, perhaps this case was a simple matter of confusion between Hamilton Un-iversity and the real Hamilton College -- where a hiring dean in a hurry said, "Oh, I know that school's real."

    Mistakes happen. How they dealt with this one says something, at least to me.

    -=Steve=-
     
  15. Bill Huffman

    Bill Huffman Well-Known Member

    My guess is that most academic fraud that HR encounters involves claiming a degree which was never actually earned from a real university, as opposed to actually purchasing a bogus degree from a diploma mill. This guess is based on some discussions with HR personnel. So checking on the validity of the school should be secondary. Of course if the issue was really just checking the information being put up on the web rather than a hiring issue then it's very understandable.
     

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