Hi all, I have a quick question, did Columbia Commonwealth U make application to North Central in January? I think I read somewhere that this was the intent, but could be wrong. Thanks for the info, I have enjoyed browsing the board in the past, and thought id drop in and say hi.
Les Carr, president of same, wrote a couple of days ago (not to this forum) that he and a colleague had a meeting last week with three representatives of NCA, as a sort of pre-application advisory, and he says there are some things they have to do before applying. So, Earon Kavanagh, is that good enough for your January deadline, or do you let loose the dogs of war?
Well, I got the snottiest reply to my enquiry from CCWU of any reply received by me in 2 years of DL investigations. Dean Liederkranz was even worse than the old crab at North Dakota who previously wore the oak leaves. I wish Earon well, but I wouldn't give a Malawian river rat's cloaca for the place. And no, it's not the new age tinge: Akamai has the same tinge and has been the acme of courtesy and professionalism in my discussions with them on various topics. NCA? NCA can play the whore if it wants to from Newburgh to Shangri-La, but I still won't sing it "Bring Flowers of the Fairest."
Just stumbled across this. Actually, John, I have been keeping abreast of the process, had contact with Les in February and got a report. It supposedly all went well, with another meeting scheduled for September, 2004 (I believe NCA is coming to the CCWU site). Could it (accreditation) happen? You and I know it could. Will it happen? I just don't know and will probably do another masters after I finish the Tilburg Ph.D. The clock keeps ticking and I can't wait around for what could be. - Cynical about just about everything after 15 years of distance ed Earon
Does CCWU have a site? I remember having a rather heated argument with George Brown and Gert Potgieter over that issue in this thread. I expect that the questions that I raised then will be raised by the North Central Association as well. BTW Earon, congratulations on the Tillburg Ph.D. program. It sounds kind of cool.
Thanks, Bill. My understanding was that the accreditor was encouraging Carr to continue to work with the CCWU "wholistic" model rather than change it. I'm not sure what the model translates to anymore in terms of how it is carried out. But I can honestly say that the CPU and CCWU programs (and specifically how I used the programs) helped prepare me for Tilburg's "reflective practitioner" approach to the PhD. Still, I cannot determine if the CCWU curriculum would have the same outcome for the average learner. I suppose that would be a good litmus test of CCWU's potential value should it ever get accredited. The CCWU website is www.ccwu.edu It hasn't changed much, other than dropping all claims to Malawi accreditation, which I believe remains intact, but only relevant to their Malawi operation. My understanding was that claiming Malawi accreditation would have no relevance to North American operations and would certainly get in the way of ever achieving NCA accreditation; so they dropped it. Carr was very clear about that in a discussion we had last year. As someone with a CWU degree I feel the need to ask them tough questions when the need arises. Carr's been good about answering my questions. But I have become quite pragmatic and conservative, and as I mentioned yesterday in a post, will probably do another (brick-and-mortar) masters after completing the Tilburg Ph.D. I haven't kept up on anything with CCWU other than the initial meeting with NCA (which actually means very little because its only equivalent to an exploratory meeting about the possibilities and requirements). I believe CCWU has a lot of work to do if it is going to think seriously about NCA accreditation. I keep prodding them in that direction and Carr is aware he is not getting any younger. I keep challenging him to think about the legacy he is leaving behind. He seems to now have a very able and collaborative team behind him with CCWU (far less of the ego problems that were existent in the CPU organization). I believe if CCWU gets into a close relationship with NCA they will become accredited, eventually. But it's a wait and see situation. I did supply CCWU with some graduate info about my Tilburg U involvement and my publications. That will probably help CCWU somewhat with accreditors, if enough other grads are able to move forward academically. Earon
