Nova College

Does anyone know anything about the fate of Nova College Canada? Does it still exist? At one time (the 80s) it was a reasonably respectable external enrollment/ distance learning program.

I am new to this list and wanted to share my experience regarding “distance learning”. Back in the late 80s I came across the school in John Bear’s book on distance learning and the program appealed to me. (Hello John, if you are reading this post). At the time I wanted to get a highly specialized masters degree in engineering. The traditional universities proved fairly inflexible in this regard so I picked up John Bears book to look around and see what was available.

One of the most appealing features of Nova was that they are (were) an exclusively external enrollment program. As such, they will never get American accreditation because they offer no classes; have no teachers and don’t even have a campus. It was a fairly radical departure from tradition. The idea (from the brochure) was to organize a degree program, submit it for approval and take courses at local universities – now referred to as the “consortium” approach.

All my coursework was taken at through the University of California college system. My thesis was published in the scientific literature. I’ve never had a problem with degree acceptability. Even during an interview with a prominent government agency, the only issue was the coursework and where I’d taken it –i.e. institutions with regional accreditation. It didn’t matter that the degree was from a foreign university –who traditionally do not have American accreditation. I know of others who have obtained a Nova degree and organized a similarly rigorous program for themselves. The school gave a fair amount of latitude in degree program organization. So if one wanted to give themselves an easy ride, I suppose they could. As such, there is likely a great deal of variability in the curriculum from one person to the next. The reason I am writing this is that I came across some comments fairly critical of Nova (from an old post on this site) and felt I should share my experience…. Better late than never I suppose. In the late 80s , Nova looked like the wave of the future. But from what I understand they are now called Farrelston College and have fallen from grace. Too bad.

Regards,
Jack

 

So I am guessing from your post they were/are unaccredited?

 

Hi, Jack.
I believe that Nova was almost always a one-man operation. Said man, Reginald Farley, had some interesting ideas, and a lot of wacky ones. When the Canadian authorities tried to close him down, he suddenly became a Utah-based college (from a mailbox service) that happened to have a branch office in Alberta. When Utah put a stop to that, he suddenly became a Channel Islands-based college (a mailbox service) that happened to have an office in Alberta. A merger was announced with Farelston University. I was never able to find any evidence of Farelston's existence. Farley used to write me long and annoyed letters, complaining about my criticisms, one of which related to their lack of a telephone. At one point, he offered to have a phone installed if it would make me happy. I said yes, but as far as I know, he didn't. My brief search just now found nothing at all on Nova or Farelston since the 80s, and nothing on Farley either since that time. I've just written to Kevin Paul, at UVic, who has written some very good books on Canadian higher education, the good and the bad, to see if he knows anything more, and will pass on a response, if one comes.

 

Sorry, I know this is off topic, but I still think its cool as heck see John Bear posting. He literally wrote the book on distance education..lol

 

For those of you who dont know what Maniac Craniac is talking about...Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.... Very very funny. The first time was eh...but it takes about 5 times to get to you and you see that EVERY scene is soo FUNNY.

YouTube - ace ventura - einhorn is a man

 

b4cz28: "Sorry, I know this is off topic, but I still think its cool as heck see John Bear posting. He literally wrote the book on distance education..lol"

John: Well I think it's cool that I'm still around, 36 years after the first edition, to annoy and harass those who need annoying and harassing. Thanks to the gentleman from Lovelady for remembering.

 

nova

Yes, R. Farley certainly marched to his own drummer. John B and I had
an interesting email exchange about it last week. We both agree that Farley was both an innovator and a bit of an eccentric. Beyond that, he really did seem like a well intentioned guy. I do remember that the school was run in fairly spartan conditions: all communication through mail correspondence only; mundane brochures, etc. For all anyone knew they were running the school from a garage. But they did hold you to your degree plan. And the cost was low which was nice since you were generally enrolled in at least one additional school. I now work as a marketing consultant in the electronics field.

And so, if a school that appeals to you calls itself "innovative" or
'experimental", make sure the curriculum you/they design will stand on it's
own. Because the school might not be around for very long.

Cheers,
J. Michael Albert, MBA, ME

 

unaccredit

< So I am guessing from your post they were/are unaccredited?

Foreign schools generally don't have American accreditation unless they directly apply for it. Most don't from what I understand. But that was 20 yrs ago. I'm not sure what they do in other countries now.

Jack

 

"Accreditation" or equivalent in other countries.

Hi -

For this purpose, let's use the word "accreditation" as meaning government-approved permission to grant degrees.

Countries have their own systems. Here in Canada, the individual Provinces have responsibility for universities. here's a Wiki on the subject.

List of universities in Canada - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia As this site says, traditional Degree-granting schools are usually memers of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada.- Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada's Web site - Le site Web de l'Association des universités et collèges du Canada.

An exception to this rule is made in New Brunswick, which, in addition to its traditional universities, has given permission to at least two DETC-accredited schools (Lansbridge U.and Meritus U.) to operate within the province and award degrees - all this outside the "regular" university system in that province.

Other countries? Other methods. Usually there's a government authority - and a list maintained of institutions approved to grant degrees. There's a thread over here which lists the websites of degree-granting approval for quite a few countries:

Accredited or Equivalent - by Country - Online degree forum

Cheers

Johann

 

Thanks for the info! It is always nice to learn new things.

 

Dr. John, I purchased your book in the late 1990's and thought I read a decent report on NOVA COLLEGE , while you did list what others have posted about it, you stated it was recognized by the United Stated Department of Health at that time and seemed to be a successful program and was used in some institutions in the United States.
I did enroll with Nova , transferred accomplished materials from a junior college and other life experiences and military school diplomas and on completion of a thesis, was awarded a degree.
I currently work in a situation connected with the United States Department of Health / Human Services and have never had any trouble with my credentials. Just wanted to share this.

 

Here in the depths of Dubai, I have no access to any of my materials ... But I would be astonished if Nova College ever had any acceptance from any government agency, US or Canadian. Some people used to confuse what was then called Nova University (Florida) with Nova Collège.

 

Well in the 90's I was 5 minutes away from sending 2000 USD to a mill.
That day I happened to be in a book store and in the reference section we were looking for a GRE or some other test prep book for my wife. I seen the Bear's guide and started
reading in the store, I see my future school listed in the not such a god area to be listed, so thanks to Dr. John Bear I obviously avoided trouble.
Also I was almost fulled by Columbia State University, I had that catalog etc, it was my second choice.

Now for the Jack, since all your work and thesis are from RA schools and I assume you can get the transcripts if needed.
In case you are looking for an umbrella to have the qualification, credential you may want to insider City and Guilds MCGI in Engineering or Engineering Management.

AS a MCGI I had it evaluated by NACES member services to be equivalent to US RA
Masters of Engineering degree.

The Thesis and Portfolio rout is available via C&G accredited centers.

I think it would be much better to have MCGI then Nova college credential especially if its backed with Consortium RA WASC accredited and possibly ABET accredited classes.

 

Hi Everyone. Thanks Lerner. I just now saw your post. I was thinking of doing something like that. Years back a fellow Nova alum went to a foreign degree equivalency organization and got her masters degree equivalent, in engineering I think. She said they were perplexed since she too took all her courses through American colleges. But her degree was considered foreign all the same. I haven't really looked into it but have thought about it.

cheers
Jack