In response to someone who earlier posted a United Nations list here is another one. I don't know anything about the "Convivium for International Education" but the site talks about what the entity does. Of interest are some of the listings under Louisiana & South Dakota. Not to mention the only listing under St. Kitts. I don't know if I would jump on this list for reliability. http://www.unitednationseducation.org/louisiana.htm North
This list doesn't have anything to do with the United Nations. It's just another phony "accreditor" fronting for a degree mill. Or several in this case. "UNCIE" shares the same World Trade Center address with this cute little number: http://www.internationaldegrees.com/papfm.htm Whois shows the thing is registered to a "Paul Newham" in 2 Clarendon Crescent, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire England. He does business under the name Institute of Contemporary Research.
This thing seems to have offices, or at least secretarial services fronting for it, worldwide: http://www.internationaldegrees.com/contact.htm Here's how it surprisingly frankly describes its corporate structure: http://www.internationaldegrees.com/corp.htm It's not clear to me where its degree granting powers are supposed to come from.
Someone sure put a lot of work into this, but when you boil it all down, it seems to be the same old story: send in your resume, authorize a (big) credit card transaction, and wait for the mail. As best I can ascertain, it seems to be self-accredited. Two of the three agencies have nearly identical web sites, and the domain registration of the third lists the same physical address as the "school's" New York office. The clincher has to be the "affiliate program". Create your own web site, drag in customers, and split the fee. ------------------ Bill Gossett
When I check the list for educational institutions in Hong Kong, it is interesting to note that 'Clayton University' is included. In fact, there is no such university there! On the other hand, some other institutions are not included. Classification of institutions in the list is confusing.
Good catch! I skimmed the sight and some of the mills listed and thought that they certainly were not very discerning. They sure set it to to look affiliated. North
The UN does not look kindly upon unauthorized use of their name. I'm an NGO (non-governmental organization) representative to the UN Department of Public Information. There are strict guidelines which must be followed when using the UN name or logo. Of course, enforcing them is another matter. Christopher
I'd bet that if they bothered to file suit they would get the domain. A for profit use of a trademark that damages the reputation of the trademark is a big no-no.
