HELP! My Degrees Exploded!!!

Hi All-

New to this forum. The reason I'm posting is in pursuit of some advice. It seems that the University (Azaliah University nee Eastern American University) through which I obtained educational degrees, including Bachelor's, Master's and Ph.D. has lost their accredidation. More worrisome still, because I've also come to learn that I seem to have pursued my degrees during a time when the school was, apparently not accredited
<!!!! shudder>. This despite repeated assurances to the contrary by staff at Eastern American. Now Eastern has been bought out by Azaliah which WAS accredited, but no longer is. And as a result of all of this nonsense the validity of my Ph.D. appears to be of questionable validity.

For me, this is an unacceptable situation. I can see several potential solutions to this problem. I am writing for advice regarding one possible idea. I completed a VAST amount of school work (fully verifiable) to obtain these degrees. Assuming I could prove the work I performed for each degree, I would like to transfer the credit from the degrees acheived at Eastern American to a University with no taint on it's accredidation status. Naturally, I'd like to do this with as little brain damage and/or hoop jumping as possible. If anyone has a lead on the steps necessary to accomplish this goal I would be truly grateful.

Signed with hopefulness,

angeno

 

A degree from Eastern American University is from an unaccredited, state licensed school. I suspect it is beyond rehabilitation. No accredited school will give credit for doctoral level courses nor would they grant admission to a doctoral or probably even masters level program.

A degree from Azaliah University during the very short time it was DETC accredited would be considered as any other DETC degree with limited utility in academics. Note that Azaliah University should not have been issuing doctorates while accredited so I assume that your doctorate came from Eastern American.

 

What an unfortunate situation. But more clarification would help in thinking about solutions.

1. Do your diplomas read "Azailiah" or "Eastern American"?
2. What are the dates on the diplomas?
3. Do you happen to know the dates during which Azailiah was accredited by DETC?

It may lead nowhere, but it could do no harm to communicate with Mike Lambert, Executive Director of DETC. The one time I talked to him about these matters, I had the feeling that he had some discomfort with the fact that Azailiah had bought Eastern (later Eastern American) to get a US presence. He is generally accessible and affable and may have something helpful to say.

As for transfering everything, you are sort of in the 'Groucho Marx' situation: any school in the US that would do what you want is not the kind of school you would want a degree from.

The California-approved schools cannot, by law, give more than 25% of the credit for a degree based on prior work.

During my time with Greenwich in Hawaii (1990-91) we had two applicants who had completed all of the work for a doctorate at major universities (one was NYU, the other I think was Rutgers), but were denied their degrees for complex non-academic reasons (details on request). In each case, the students' entire guidance committees were willing to 'sign on' to Greenwich, solely for that one case, and approve granting the degree, which they did, and we did.

I'm not aware of anyone in the US who would now do this, responsibly. I don't even know if Greenwich, now based on Norfolk Island, still would. Luton University, England, is one of the few traditional schools that will consider a doctorate based on prior work entirely, but it is unlikely, if there is no recognized Bachelor's or Master's.

 

Hi, Angeno. You are in kind of an ugly situation here. What makes it particularly hard is that all of your degrees are from this place. I'm not an expert on education, but here's what I'd suggest:

First of all you need an accredited undergraduate degree as quickly as possible. So go to the Degreeinfo search feature and look up Lawrie Miller's 'BA in 4 weeks'. I think that this group often recommends this concept to people for whom it clearly isn't appropriate, but for you it might work pretty well.

Presumably you have lots of knowledge already, and your problem is to get recognized credit for it. You could earn a bachelors degree by examinations and portfolio pretty quickly, expecially if you have saved the work you did for Aliziah/EAU and can document it. Although it's hard to get graduate credit for prior work (especially non-accredited work), it might work for undergraduate portfolios and exam prep at someplace like Thomas Edison State College.

Then once you have a regionally accredited bachelor's degree, you might check out one of these British or Australian-style Ph.D. "by research" deals.

You will need to write a new dissertation, and I know how that sounds. But look at it this way: When you finally earn a doctorate you can't lay down and go to sleep, you will still need to continue doing work. So think of this as if it were post-doctoral work. You may be able to get some good publications out of it, you can develop and elaborate your ideas, and you will spread your name around your field, especially if you show up at conferences and are active in professional organizations. It's not wasted effort by any means.

 

Hello, I read your posting and am very sorry you are in this situation. I hope you use Lawrie Millers' web page. I also suggest you attempt to e-mail him directly and spell out your situation in detail. I have a question about your thesis. If your school was lacking in credentials at the time of your thesis why wouldn't you be able to reuse it? I hope something falls into place for you quickly. Hille

 

Since Ph.D.s are supposed to be new learning, it's unlikely that any accredited school would let him use the same dissertation.

It is possible that he could try to scam the system by feeding the old dissertation slowly to his new faculty advisor. To be successful, he would have to show portions of his research in the process.

Not recommended because, if it is discovered, life would not be such a good thing.



Tom Nixon

 

I searched "DETC" and "Azaliah" on Yahoo and got the follow message on a page at the DETC website.

"The commission took note that Azaliah College, Johannesburg, SA has been absorbed by Azaliah University, Albuquerque, NM. Accreditation was subsequently terminated from Azaliah University effective June 1, 2002."

A small South African College receives DETC accreditation.
College buys unaccredited American university.
American university absorbs parent SA college.
Loses DETC accreditation.

I bet there is a story here.

 

my degree's exploded part deux

hello again,

thank you for the quick and kind replies. i am sorry to hear that i may have greater logistical difficulty in resolving this matter than i had hoped. in reply to dr. bear's questions:

1.q) Do your diplomas read "Azailiah" or "Eastern American"?
1.a) my bachelor's degree reads eastern university. my master's and ph.d. read eastern american.

2.q) What are the dates on the diplomas?
2.a) my bachelor's degree (not immediately handy) i believe dates from 1995. my master's dates from 1999 and my ph.d. was granted in december 2000.

3.q) Do you happen to know the dates during which Azailiah was accredited by DETC?
3.a) no, sorry.

perhaps it would be possible to speak with dr. bear? i would greatly appreciate the opportunity. i also greatly appreciate the input from the other folks who've been kind enough to respond to my quandry.

regards,

angeno

 

Did these folks actually represent to you that they were accredited when in fact they were not? And did they accept money from you as a result of that representation?

Nosborne, J.D
(whose professional antennae are tingling)

 

Are you saying that an unaccredited program would actually say they are accredited (probably by an unrecognized agency)? Maybe you should be suing the schools that don't claim accreditation for stupidity.

 

There are types and degrees of fraud, not all of which are criminal. I suggest that Angelino MAY have a civil cause of action against the school that may be valid even in the ABSENCE of intent to defraud. I can see that they may have breached their contract with him, or induced him through negligent misrepresentation to pay tuition AND expend considerable effort to obtain their degree. It may be possible to obtain legal redress.

Best advice: Run, do not walk, to your attorney and take advice.

Nosborne, JD

 

looks like i was faked out by eastern american....

Did these folks actually represent to you that they were accredited when in fact they were not? And did they accept money from you as a result of that representation?

Nosborne, J.D
(whose professional antennae are tingling)


Dear Mr. Nosborne-

The answer to your inquiry is yes to both questions. With so many schools offering distance learning programs to choose from, it would have been asinine to waste years of my life and many thousands of hard earned dollars in pursuit of educational degrees from an unaccredited institution.

However, as I was recently informed in an interview with ABC news 20/20, it appears that I may have done just that. Incidentally, I think that getting hit by a mack truck could not be too much more painful than having an ABC 20/20 correspondent inform a person that their educational credentials are basically toilet paper.

How these Eastern American University people can look themselves in the mirror escapes me. Color me sickened and disgusted.....

angeno

 

I'd rather see you colored "plaintiff". Go see your attorney. RIGHT NOW!

Nosborne, JD

 

degree explosion seqelae

if i may ask, in what state do you practice law?

angeno

 

New Mexico. But I am a state employee and may not engage in private practice.

I am concerned that you may lose any rights you might have if you delay taking action. That's why I URGE you to seek legal advice NOW!

Nosborne, JD

 

response to excellent advice

Dear Mr. Nosborne-

I shall take your advice to heart. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this matter with me.

best,

angeno