SJ's New Kick Ass University

Here's the newest local school to appear on the BPPVE CA-approved list: San Jose's rather peculiar new California University of Protection and Intelligence Management.

They seem to be an executive bodyguard school that's trying to surf the post 9-11 homeland security thing, proposing to offer degrees through the doctoral level in... I'm not sure. Looking cool and kicking ass, I guess.

(That's a highly respected profession in LA.)

Here's their press release about their new degree programs:

http://www.vipprotection.com/

Here's their current webpage, offering courses in stuff like close quarters combat training. Check out the the assault rifles and the serious black suits and shades that they wear as they throw people to the ground. You gotta love these guys. (If you don't, they will kill you.)

http://www.vipprotection.com/wbbinfo/index.php

They say that they have an arrangement with the prestigious Monterey Institute of International Studies. Maybe they do, I don't know.

They seem to have some kind of relationship with this Singapore company, which claims them as an affiliate:

http://www.cssm.com.sg/default.asp

Unfortunately, this Singapore outfit seems to be related to The International University, which has been discussed on Degreeinfo several times before:

http://www.tiu.org/main.html

And if you look on TIU's accreditation page, you will see that they in turn are related somehow with the International University of Fundamental Studies in St. Petersburg.

What does it all mean? I don't know.

 

Look's like the kind of school that would attract the "Chuck Norris" types. Someone interested in being a body guard or learning self-defense would probably be interested in this school. I doubt however, that it will get any kind of accreditation or recognition.
The only school of this type that has a well organized curriculum is the International Krav Maga Federation. They've been around for a few years. However, as with most security, self-defense or body guard courses, they lack indepth theory, a study plan, exams, and an established method of delivering instruction.

 

It means that the BPPVE is willing to approve the granting of academic degrees through the doctoral level (as well as the use of the moniker “university”) to pretty much anyone.

 

It means that a CUPIM degree/certificate is just as valid, legitimate and credible as say, the Universal Life Church's ordination. Both have the right to award their credentials: CUPIM via BPPVE and ULC via religious exemption.

 

Or the wannabes.

It's already got CA-approval. Given the rather unique nature of its curriculum, I'd guess that accreditation would be largely irrelevant. What would matter most in this business is word of mouth, reputation among those who form a market for these kind of services.

That's where this thing might be an improvement. That will depend on what they roll out, I guess. The BPPVE aren't complete idiots, so these guys must have some kind of coherent program, at least on paper.

Actually when you think about it, high-end corporate security is kind of a science. There's the personal threat to executives, particularly when they are traveling abroad. Corporate bodyguards have become something similar to private secret-service. There is a need for secure communications technology on the corporate as well as the governmental level. There is event-security at conferences and gatherings. There is counter-terrorism which has recently become a greater concern. There is counter-espionage and protection of intellectual property both from industrial competitors and from foreign governments (many government contractors deal with classified information). There's the industry that provides security products and the engineering that goes into designing them.

So yeah, I can see the validity of degree programs in this field. It might be an idea whose time has come, actually. I'm little less clear about what a Ph.D. program would look like.

I think that this organization could stand to lose the guns-and-violence aspect of their publicity, the heavy-handed "delta force" and "black belt" references that make them seem like they've been reading too much 'Soldier of Fortune'. Make it more understated, and embed that stuff very subtly into the text. They also need to be much more discerning about who and what their affiliates are. The Monterey Institute of International Studies affiliation is very good though, if it's true. MIIS is the real deal.

I guess that this is a trade-school type bodyguard course that's trying to move upscale. More power to them if they can pull it off credibly and make it work.

 

Re: Re: SJ's New Kick Ass University

I don't agree with these kinds of comments at all. Here's a school that is offering (or will very soon) a very unique program that applies to a very few select people who can't get this anywhere else. Only a state like CA could be home to a school like that and you guys just beat it down before it even gets off the ground.

 

"You guys" seems to mean two people, and surely not the 650-person steering committee that meets daily to determine the official Sneer List for DegreeInfo.com.

I'll certainly reserve opinions on them . . . but if there is truly a connection with the dreadful "International University" (Missouri) and the even-more-dreadful enterprises of the Rev. Bishop Doctor Chief Swift Eagle, then I do have some concerns already.

 

The thread is still young John. And we know nothing about this new school, not even a course name, everything else is speculation.

 

Re: Re: SJ's New Kick Ass University

According to the BPPVE website, they only have approval to award bachelor's and master's degrees. I would be very surprised if the Bureau approves a Ph.D. program anytime soon.

 

Hey.....does the steering committee need a Chaplain??

North

 

Re: Re: Re: SJ's New Kick Ass University

I suspect they will soon be eligible to award the doctoral degree. California seem quite flexible in this regard. I can see it now.......the Bk.D. (Doctor of Butt Kicking) awarded Magna Cum Ouch. No dissertation to defend, you simply appear before the defense committee and if you can take them you get the degree.

North

 

Based on the experiences of the very few "badasses" I have met or corresponded with, learning to kick butt is boring and tedious. You don't go in there and instantly pick up Jackie Chan routines, and 90% or more of the stuff you have to learn is meant to improve your fitness level and natural reflexes--essentially practice material designed for situations that will never actually happen, and precisely the sort of stuff you're not likely to pick up by self-study. I learned a few much-less-impressive basics like pressure points and fall breaking, but my time would have been better spent if I'd learned First Aid or massage therapy instead. Much more likely to be useful in a real-life, rather than fantasy, scenario.


Cheers,

 

Re: Re: Re: SJ's New Kick Ass University

I agree with you (pretty much), and I (sort of) apologise for the irreverent tone of my original post.

I agree with you enthusiastically about the California approved world. Not only are some of the CA-approved schools good, but a few of hem are among the best in the world at what they do. Even the flaker ones often display a verve and imagination that's attractive (to me at least).

It's extremely cool that barriers to entry are kept low enough that small groups with modest resources can realistically think about starting their own schools, but simultaneously kept high enough to ensure that the products definitely aren't scams and actually offer halfway credible (and often interesting and unusual) programs.

Frankly, I think that the BPPVE has done a very good job of balancing the sometimes contradictory imperatives of creative innovation and protective regulation.

OK, moving from CA-approved schools in general to CUPIM in particular, I will admit that I'm not really sure what to make of it.

It says:

The University is planning to provide Bachelors, Masters and Ph.D. degree programs in the field of Protection Management, Intelligence Operations Management and Terrorism and Counter-terrorism Studies...
We believe CUPIM is the only approved and government licensed degree granting University of its type in the World.

American Military University offers majors in intelligence and counter-terrorism. Obviously the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey does as well, but that one is only open to military officers and approved federal employees with security clearances. And a university-level major in protection management does seem to be unique.

There's probably a need for this program, it might be quite valuable if it's credible, and it probably does illustrate the CA-approved world working as it was intended.

But I am put off by their old webpage. I mean, guys in black suits and shades getting a man on the ground and holding a gun to his head? Using that kind of imagery to attract prospective students suggests a lack of professionalism, at least to me.

I'm also not impressed by their Singapore affiliate. Admittedly, it's the Singaporeans claiming affiliation with them and not the other way around. But it seems to me that a security and intelligence program really undercuts its own credibility if it shows lack of discrimination in its affiliations.

Bottom line: I'll agree with you and assume a wait-and-see attitude and give them time to roll out their program in detail before I make any conclusions.

 

I can't speak to the quality of their programs--but unless their target audience is Barney Fife, they really ought to use a more low-key, professional marketing approach.


Cheers,

 

Since Officer Fife (at least on the TV program Andy Griffin) and I both are from North Carolina, I must rise to his defense. Fife was a skilled and gifted criminologist, so please don't malign him, Tom. Consider the following for which he could have gotten life experience credit at one of the big three:

1) Spotless uniform & spit shined shoes.
2) Updated maintenance of ammunition stock--1 bullet.
3) Meritorious service in keeping Otis under lock & key, because Otis did inhale.
4) Unrelenting devotion to his superior officer--Andy.
5) Behaved as a perfect gentleman to Lou Ann.
6) Meticulous manners in eating Aunt Bea's apple pie.
7) Periodic drive-by checks at Floyd's Barber Shop.
8) Sterling example to Opie.

What more could one ask for in an officer of the law?