Chronicle runs ad for bogus school at the same time as they expose bogus schools

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by John Bear, Jun 23, 2004.

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  1. John Bear

    John Bear Senior Member

    The Chronicle is running 'help wanted' ads for Heritage University (www.heritageuniv.net) at the same time as they are devoting 15 full pages to the degree mill problem.

    The 'watchdog' in their advertising department, who invited me to put on workshops for their staff twice in recent years, is gone, and it seems their defenses are down.

    Heritage seems to be the same M.O. as Evergreen University, which ran comparable help wanted ads, got some fees from faculty as a recall, then faded away.

    Yes, of course I've told them.
     
  2. DL-Luvr

    DL-Luvr New Member

    I used to have respect for the Chron, but it looks like they just succumbed to the lure of money like other media outlets. Someone needs to tell them that once their reputation is gone it will be difficult to regain.
     
  3. Bill Huffman

    Bill Huffman Well-Known Member

    I'm not sure how much difference it makes but, it's unlikely that the degree directly approached the Chron with an advertising proposal that was accepted. I think it does make some difference in that they have likely gone to an advertising broker that basically accepts space from the highest bidder rather than dealing with the "poor business" directly. I believe that it means that there's some possibly mitigating circumstances in that they could be unaware that it is occurring. I suggest that we wait and see what kind of action is taken before making a final judgement.
     
  4. Lawrie Miller

    Lawrie Miller New Member

    Yes, and if it was a served ad, more that a possibility. As I noted in another thread, it is impossible to know, a priori, what served ads from which advertiser may appear next. It is also often difficult to discern the real url of the ad link or indeed the nature of the material in the ad.

    Publishers hosting served ads cannot click on an ad appearing on their website to determine its content. This can make maintaining sanitary conditions a fulltime job. Publishers of served ads from google adsense now have (past couple of days) the benefit of preview software that incorporates a method of accessing an ad without registering a revenue-bearing click. This is a blessing.

    Again, as noted in the other thread, an unwelcome school and its unwanted ads can and do come in a myriad of guises. Individual ad copy is filtered by its unique url. An undesirable advertiser, its agents and surrogates, can offer up such number and variety of urls that they can overwhelm any filter.

    Of 200 or so filters allotted, I have way less than one hundred after just 30 days of operation.

    .
     
  5. cogent

    cogent New Member

    Thank You, Dr. Bear

    I was and still am outraged by the excellent series of articles in the latest Chronicle and thank you for your good work in exposing these people. I sent a letter of protest to the Georgia University System Board of Regents and the President of Valdosta State University yesterday. Well, at least the graduate degree I have from Valdosta State is NOT from the college of business... (Ed.S. in instructional technology... an EXCELLENT program, by the way!). I would, however, love to be a fly on the wall in the Georgia Board of Regents and Valdosta State administrators' offices today.
     
  6. John Bear

    John Bear Senior Member

    I wasn't clear. I was talking about a print ad in the newspaper itself, not an on-line ad. They have quite a large classified ad staff, since the help wanted ads -- 20 to 50 pages each issue -- is what supports the publication. The bad guys keep trying to get in -- both to recruit faculty (or, more accurately, faculty names to use in their literature) and to make a little hay with the connection -- "As advertised in the prestigious Chronicle of Higher Education."
     
  7. iquagmire

    iquagmire Member

    Heritage doesn't appear to be accepting students until they get approved by the State of California (according to their FAQs). How are they a mill?
     
  8. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

    This an important stement that should be used as a warning sign. In the past, I was naive enough to apply for faculty member positions for similar degree mills. Some of them go to the extreme of asking you for transcripts and making you sign contracts where you agree that they use your name for catalogs. Then you see that your name runs on online websites and catalogs, but you never get to get even one student from these institutions mainly because they do not offer courses but sell degrees. In few words, I would advise not to apply for similar positions unless you want to appear in many catalogs and associate your self with degree mills without pay.
     
  9. cogent

    cogent New Member

    Diploma Mills Recruiting Faculty

    Yes, Dr. Bear may remember I emailed him about a place that was really hot to include me in their faculty roster list. Red lights flashing made me think it wasn't a good idea. It seems to me it was some college/university/fake school in Mexico. It just didn't seem right. And I wanted nothing to do with my name associated with that nonsense.






     

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