Columbia Commonwealth University

Discussion in 'Accreditation Discussions (RA, DETC, state approva' started by Gert Potgieter, Nov 7, 2002.

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  1. I noticed that CCWU has a new listing on yahoo.com. Looking at their site, I see that the Malawi accreditation statement is gone. The CCWU site used to say:
    • ACCREDITATION AUTHORITY to GRANT DEGREES

      Columbia Commonwealth University is accredited by the African Republic of Malawi, a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. CCU’s degrees are granted from Malawi under authority of the government accreditation which empowers the University to confer bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees.
    but now says:
    • Columbia Commonwealth University is licensed by the Wyoming Department of Higher Education to offer Bachelors, Masters, and Doctoral degree programs.
    with this statement on a separate page labeled "International affiliated centers":
    • Columbia Commonwealth University is affiliated with Academic Centers of Excellence that are being developed in various parts of the world such as Southeast Asia (India) and Southern Africa (the Republic of Malawi). The affiliate Center in Malawi is fully accredited by the Malawi government and is established as a non-profit trust corporation devoted to public service.
    CCWU also seems to have ramped up its "new age" angle, with a banner heading on the main page as follows:
    • Holistic Distance Education

      mind * body * spirit * community
    The slogan is not new, but is now more prominently displayed. Interestingly, they are displaying a different (and cheesier) version of their coat of arms with the slogan in English. Previously they showed a version with a ship (the Santa Maria?) with the Latin words "Unitas Mentis, Corporis, Spiritus, Communitasque". (Sounds a little like Posse Comitatus!)
     
  2. Paulwenliu

    Paulwenliu New Member

    The whole PCC Malawei deal was a fraudulent act. The only "official" thing that PCU got from the government of Malawei was the "acknowledgement" on the so called "Academic Centres of Excellence". Which by the way, was done by the Ministry of Labor/Training with the purpose to promote adult training/continued education in that particular country (quoted "devoted to public service"). The bottomline is that PCU was never accredtied by the Malawei Ministrey of Education per se.:D
     
  3. John Bear

    John Bear Senior Member

    From: John Bear
    To: Les Carr

    A contributor to an education news group has pointed out, today, that the CCU website no longer says:
    ------------------------------------------
    "Columbia Commonwealth University is accredited by the African Republic of Malawi, a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. CCU’s degrees are granted from Malawi under authority of the government accreditation"
    ------------------------------------------
    and now says, elsewhere, that "the affiliate center in Malawi is fully accredited by the Malawi government."

    You wanted me to be sure to say in Bears' Guide that degrees of CCU were fully accredited by the government of Malawi. But now it sounds as if the degrees earned by Americans would not have that accreditation.

    Can you clarify, please.

    Thank you.

    John Bear
     
  4. John Bear

    John Bear Senior Member

    From Les Carr, Columbia Commonwealth
    To John Bear

    Dear John;

    I was puzzled by your email regarding CCWU's accreditation as per Malawi.
    So, I asked my more computer savy Director of Admission to check this out.
    Considering that last night, I was in contact with Malawi Educational
    authorites, related to CCWU's plans to apply for NC Regional Accreditation
    candidacy status and Malawi's help offered in this respect, I was perplexed
    by your commuication. I would suggest your source take more Vitamin E or a
    few extra cups of coffee. As you are aware, to be eligible to apply for NC
    Regional accreditation, the institution must be licensed in the State of WY
    and be American based. So you will note our current statement which is
    prepared in such a manner as to meet those conditions. Also, CCWU is in the
    process of gaining recognition for its developing Centers in different parts
    of the world. The manner in which CCWU represents these added recognitions
    has both marketing implications (in the local overseas area) and also has
    implications in terms of CCWU's application to NC sometime during 2003 (the
    sooner the better). Even more complicated, the model that we have chosen
    fits in with tax and legal considerations. When these recognition advances
    become a reality, they will be listed in this manner on our CCWU website.
    Thanks for your interest. Les

    P.S. You may be pleased to learn that CCWU has made the decision to declare
    itself forcefully as a "holistic University"-with a holistic emphasis to be
    found in all courses, all programs, and all degree levels. This is a real
    challenge that we are working on curriculum wise....
    ===================================================

    From John Bear
    To Les Carr, Columbia Commonwealth U


    Dear Les

    Thanks for the prompt response.

    In my opinion, changing from the main claim of "Our Wyoming school is accredited by the Republic of Malawi" to "We have some affiliated centers, including one in Malawi, and that center in Malawi is accredited by the government," is a very significant change.

    John
     
  5. Bill Huffman

    Bill Huffman Well-Known Member

    John, I am curious, were you actually pleased to learn that CCWU has made the decision to forcefully declare itself a "holistic University"? Now perhaps you already need to answer this second question if you choose to answer my first question, could you please enlighten me on what it means for a course to have a holistic emphasis?

    Thanks,
    Bill
     
  6. I was amused by the following from the CCWU website:
    • Another important academic skill or competence is weathering without dissolution. Skills developed include enduring and surviving criticism, delay, disappointment, and confusion ...
    Unfortunately, I think CCWU graduates may get a lot of practice exercising these skills!
     
  7. Interestingly, the word "holistic" is attributed to former South African Prime Minister Jan Christian Smuts. When I was an undergraduate, I lived in a dorm named "Smuts Hall" and had to endure a certain amount of Smutsian hocus pocus. Smuts was thinking about emergent properties long before complexity theory became popular. In any case, I'm not sure whether the CCWU holism is related to the Smutsian holism.
     
  8. Dennis Ruhl

    Dennis Ruhl member

    HOLISM

    Is that the holism that is the academic antonym of halfism or is it the field closely associated with perforationism?
     
  9. John Bear

    John Bear Senior Member

    Bill: "John, I am curious, were you actually pleased to learn that CCWU has made the decision to forcefully declare itself a "holistic University"?

    John: Be still, my fluttering holistic heart. Actually, the predecessor to Columbia Pacific University was an enterprise established by Richard Crews (who really does have a Harvard MD), called the Wholistic Health and Nutrition Institute. It seemed to be a fairly large and thriving health care education provider and consultancy, and it was the wish to award degrees to clients that led to the founding of CPU.

    Bill: Now perhaps you already need to answer this second question if you choose to answer my first question, could you please enlighten me on what it means for a course to have a holistic emphasis?

    John: I always understood it simply as the treatment of the whole person: realizing that physical problems could have mental components (Crews was a board-certified psychiatrist, as well as a homeopathic physician*) and (this was Marin county after all) spiritual components as well.
    __________
    * It was Crews who either came up with, or passed along the wonderful line: "Did you hear about the patient who forgot to take his homeopathic remedy? He died of an overdose."
     
  10. Bill Huffman

    Bill Huffman Well-Known Member

    It's wonderful that CCWU is so nimble and flexible that they can change where they exist simply by updating the wording on their website. I am frequently amazed by our new electronic society. I'm looking forward to the point that I can move my household as easily.
     

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