A new phony guidebook from World Association

In the spirit of more hijinks, I just noticed that fraudulent accreditor World Association for Schools and Colleges, in cooperation with Cadiz Press (publisher of "Waves of Atlantis")is now offering

The Web Guide to Non-Traditional and Distance Learning University Degree Programs

It comes, among other things, complete with
"A list of more than 75 highly credible universities who practice distance learning and alternative educational delivery systems for instruction"

I don't suppose American World, the Clayton schools, and Cambridge State would happen to be on the list of "highly credible" universities... heck, maybe MIGS is there, now that it supposedly no longer exists

In case anyone is unclear on this point: The book is undoubtedly a fraud. Don't even *think* about using it to find a quality DL program. It might be good for some amusing reading, but not much else.

 

Chip,

Where can I get a copy? I'm looking for a substantive program, and as usual, a bit of humor as well. BTW, is the University of Atlantis listed in the book?

Russell

 

The supposed "Compiler and Editor" of this book is the Commission on Distance Education, which is run by Asher's confederate Alfonso Roldan More. CODE's Web site is here:
http://www.ofitel.com/code/CODE.htm

I was given a Xerox copy of the book as it was printed and run off for Asher by the local Kinko's in Iowa City. The edition is the 1999 "Second Edition," and includes William Howard Taft University despite the that university's lawsuit and the settlement made between Taft and Asher when Taft sued because Asher continued to list them as a WAUC member. The book does not actually state that Taft belongs to WAUC, so perhaps Asher has decided to leave them in because she thinks Taft is just the cat's meow. While the "1999" book may predate the lawsuit, it is strange that the page would be left in a computer file of the book that continues to be printed up and distributed to prospective AWU students. Perhaps the "revised" Second Edition referred to on the WAUC Web site deletes the Taft reference.

The name of the publisher, Cadiz Press, seems designed to be confused with Spain's University of Cadiz Press. In actuality, despite the WAUC's listing it as "a scholarly publishing house," the publisher appears to have no reality except as a publisher of Asher works, since they have apparently only published this book and Asher's novel "The Waves of Atlantis."

The WAUC's Web site's reference to the supposed fact that the book lists "highly credible universities" is something I find rather comical, since merely being "highly credible" is far from being very impressive or praiseworthy. The book lists a few truly credible universities, but they appear to be there as innocent victims, and are perhaps only there to give credence to the other listings, which are largely the sort of usual suspects you envision:

Adam Smith University of America, Wailuku, Hawaii.
American Institute for Computer Sciences, Birmingham, Alabama.
American International Institute of Management and Technology,
Irvine, California.
American World University, Iowa City, Iowa.
American World University de Espana Inc., Madrid, Spain.
Berne University, Wolfeboro Falls, New Hampshire.
Boise State University, Boise, Idaho.
California College for Health Sciences, National City, California.
The Canadian School of Management, Toronto, Ontario.
Chadwick University, Birmingham, Alabama.
Clayton College of Natural Health, Birmingham, Alabama.
Columbus University, Metairie, Louisiana.
Cook's Institute of Electronics Engineering, Jackson, Mississippi.
Distance Learning Institute, Jakarta, Indonesia.
Eckerd College Program for Experienced Learners,
St. Petersburg, Florida.
Empier State College/State University of New York Center
for Distance Learning, Saratoga Springs, New York.
The George Washington University Division of
Continuing Education, Washington, D.C.
Greenleaf University, Maryland Heights, Missouri.
International School of Information Management,
Denver, Colorado.
International Technological University,
Santa Clara, California.
The Islamic Institution for Education, Dubai.
Jewish University of America, Skokie, Illinois.
Liberty University School of Lifelong Learning,
Lynchburg, Virginia.
Lacrosse University, Madisonville, Louisiana.
Loma Linda University School of Public Health Extended
Program Division, Loma Linda, California.
Newport University, Newport Beach, California.
Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Ottawa University, Overland Park, Kansas.
Preston University - Pakistan, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Preston University, U.S.A., Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, New Jersey.
Regis University School of Professional Studies,
Denver, Colorado.
St. Clements University, Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos
Islands, and Prospect, South Australia.
St. Joseph's College Distance Education Programs,
Windham, Maine.
SERSI Private and Independent University,
Herisau, Switzerland.
Tasmac Institute of Management, Pune, India.
Thomas Edison State College, Trenton, New Jersey.
Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas.
The University of Global Religious Studies,
Asher's Atlantis P.O. Box, Los Angeles, California.
The University of Health Science, Honolulu, Hawaii.
University of Iowa Guided Correspondence Study,
Iowa City, Iowa.
University of LaVerne College of Graduate and Professional
Studies, LaVerne, California.
University of London, London, England.
University of Nevada Division of Continuing Education,
Reno, Nevada.
University of Oklahoma College of Liberal Studies,
Norman, Oklahoma.
University of Phoenix Center for Distance Learning,
Phoenix, Arizona.
University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Engineering
Professional Development, Madison, Wisconsin.
Walden University Institute for Advanced Studies,
Naples, Florida.
Weber State University Continuing Education and Community
Service Distance Learning Division, Ogden, Utah.
Western Illinois University Board of Governors Bacherlor of
Arts Degree Program, Non-traditional Programs,
Macomb, Illinois.
William Howard Taft University, Santa Ana, California.

The University of Global Religious Studies is an Asher school, and uses her Los Angeles Atlantis P.O. Box number, and her Iowa City email account, fax number, and 1-800 number. The President is listed as Lowell Ponte, who is an AWU faculty member and administrator, writes quacky publications himself, and has a far-right radio talk show. The only other reference to this university that I have ever seen have been a listing at the WAUC Web site, and a letter to the editor of The Futurist where Asher identifies herself as its president. The description of the university from the present book state that it is "a non-profit religious corporation in the State of Missouri and has also received its religious proprietary exemption from the State of Missouri." The Missouri corporations Web site does not show that there were ever any sorts of corporate filings to register this corporation.

I don't know about you, but I find the vague listing of "The University of London," a major institution with 40 separate colleges especially bizarre.

Almost half the book consists of ludicrous essays and bios of Asher, Donald Gruenewald of Adam Smith University, Dale L Berne of Berne University, Asher confederate Alfonso Roldan More, Asher confederate and Mrs. Alfonso Roldan More Beatriz Estebanez Gaston, Lowell Ponte, etc., etc.

 

Starrmustgo, was this list really printed in the book? At WAUC's website <A HREF="http://www.web-hed.com/wauc/universities.htm" TARGET=_blank> http://www.web-hed.com/wauc/universities.htm[/url] (I hope that I coded it correctly) I found the following:

"ACCREDITED UNIVERSITIES -

The following universities have currently met the requirements for
accreditation in the WAUC.

American International University of Management and Technology - Fax (949) 387-3101
American World University - http://www.awu.edu. [email protected]
Cambridge State University - Fax (808) 531-0651
Columbus University - http://www.columbusu.com. Fax (504) 483-3265
Distance Learning University- Jakarta, Indonesia - Phone 62-21-319-00442
Freie Und Private Universtiate Sersi - http://www.unihe.ch. Fax - 41-71-352-2560
International University For Graduate Studies - Fax 888/660-0686
International School of Management - Fax 33-1-45-51-09-08
IOND University - http://www.iond-univ.org. Fax 81-3-5380-1740
Jakarta Institute of Management Studies - Fax (506) 652-4281
Lacrosse University - http://www.lacrosseuniversity.com. Phone (504) 845-7462
Madison University - http://www.madisonu.com - Fax 228/868-6624
Oriental Medical Institute - Fax 808/537-5821
The Open University of Alternative Medicine -Fax 91-33-240 2792
Patent University of America - Fax 81-3-5449-3682
Preston University - Fax (92) 51-255817
Preston University, U.S.A. - Fax (307) 634-3091
St. Clements University - Fax 61-8-8269-4931
Universidad Internacional De Las Américas - http://www.uia.ac.cr. Fax (506) 222-3216
University of Global Religious Studies - Fax (319) 354-6335
University of Health Science - Fax (808) 951-8242
Universidad Central - http://www.universidadcentral.com Fax 506-281-1338

UNIVERSITIES - MEMBER-STATUS ONLY

The following universities are members of WAUC. They are not accredited by the organization.

Aiwa Medical University (Holistic Healing Program only)- Phone/Fax 03-3923-3809
Asia Pacific International Institute - Fax 6231 8202128 Email - [email protected]
Bio Resonance University - Fax 81-0537-27-1870
CA Hudson University - Fax 81 3 3352 1204
California Lakewood University - Fax 81-3-3219-8424
College of Japan Hypnotherapy - Fax 81 6 6741 0191
Florida University of Management - Fax 813-221-2295
Global Crown University - Phone/Fax 81-6-6390-3340
Hegel International University - Phone/Fax 81-557-86-0558
Institute of Business Administration and Information System - Fax 88-2-912-19-20
International University of Kyrgyzstan - Fax 33-12-21-96-15
Japan Aeronautical University of America - Fax 81 551 28 7142
Mary Immaculate University - Fax 81-742-3221
Naif Arab Academy for Security Sciences - Fax 9661-246-4713
New Arrow University - Fax 81 48 640 3806
On-Line University.com - Fax 956-661-0104
Pacific National University for Professional Studies - Fax 973 283 1044
St. Columbia University - Fax 81-537-27-1587
St. Willibrord University - Phone/Fax 530/654-6636
The College of Dona Ana- Phone 505/647-1681
University of Toho Chiropractic - Phone/Fax 81 3 3291 0661
West Coast Institute of Management and Technology - Fax 61-8-9225-4120"

The reason that I ask is that the list you submitted includes quite a few legitimate institutions. One would think that WAUC would be susceptible to numerous legal actions.

Regards,

Mark

 

Dear Mark,

Yes, these are the schools listed in the book. While I know that anyone can sue about anything, and while I would be happy to see an institution that appears to be so questionable sued when that is justified, the problem for any suit in this case would be, I suppose, that Asher and her confederates could say, "Well, we were just listing you in a list of superior distance learning institutions, and what is the harm of that?" Of course, by being listed among such questionable institutions, a valid university's reputation would probably be damaged....

Another example of such a situation is provided by Asher's confederate/business partner Franklin T. Burroughs. Mr. Burroughs, presently a prof. at Notre Dame College in California, presided over Armstrong University when it lost accreditation, then soon after joined forces with Asher in the incorporation of her instititutions. In addition to his position at Notre Dame College, he has more lucrative schemes as the head of his own degree mill, Nobel University, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, and his own accreditation mill, the International Association of Universities & Schools, Switzerland. You should take a look at the latter's Web site. The main page is buried in frames, but three pages to look at are these:
http://www.iaus-accreditation.org/officers.html http://www.iaus-accreditation.org/member_schools.html http://www.iaus-accreditation.org/contactus.html

Even more than with the WAUC book, I was amazed by the listing of valid universities as IAUS "members." If these universities are actually wasting money--in some cases, that would be taxpayer money--to belong or subscribe to IAUS as "members," I think that's pretty shocking. When I first came across this, I thought that (1) they must not be aware of Burroughs's reputation or that of IAUS, and (2) it must be computer departments or computing/distance education departments partners paying these dues, and they must be rather careless how they spend their money.

It's really terrible if any valid universities are propping up the reputations of degree mills and accreditation mills.

 

I think it's far more likely that valid universities aren't aware that they are listed as IAUS "members."

The website is a little screwy -- if you click on the link "Members of IAUS" it displays the page http://www.iaus-accreditation.org/officers.html in the right-hand frame
-- this has a heading "Member Schools" and lists fewer schools.

If you click on the button "Directory of Distance Learning Schools" then you get the http://www.iaus-accreditation.org/member_schools.html page in the right-hand frame. This page has no heading, so despite the file name, it doesn't actually present the schools as members.


------------------
Kristin Evenson Hirst
DistanceLearn.About.com

 

Because of the file name, one could argue that the page does present the schools as members. I also seem to recall that the main page with frames used to have slightly different wording which repeated that the list of "members" was indeed a list of members, and note a mere directory, but I'm not sure of that.