Neil and Century

Hello everyone:

It was unfortunate today that I've received a phone call from Century University and its brochures.

It appears that my wife has been tracking my internet activity and arrived at degreeinfo.com. Afterwards, my wife indicated to me that she wanted to pursue a Bachelor's degree with absolutely no residence with her 33 previous credits from college.

It took me awhile to explain to her that the shortcomings of a suspect state-approved degree has been mentioned time and again. But the sad part is, the majority of people do not understand the US accreditation process, and people get sucked in from advices from people like Neil Hynd.

Perhaps, he would like to explain to all of us why Century University is accredited by a bogus accreditor, and if state approval is all that mighty, why does the New mexico higher education authority now requires unaccredited schools to get state approval along wit recognized accreditation.

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No cheers,
Terry

 

After reading Neil Hynd's posts on Petersons’ board, I almost made up my mind to pursue graduate studies through Century. In fact I ordered and received the graduate catalogue from Century. I changed my mind after reading Dr. Bears responses to Neil.
I was new to DL then and it was difficult for me to make any distinction because I did not know the difference between US regional accreditation and state approval.

Ike

 

What is wrong with Century University?

Russell

 

I know the above post was made in jest, but I can't resist responding. Century University has no recognized accreditation, and makes no mention of accreditation, positive or negative, on its website (http://www.centuryuniversity.edu).

IMO, there are far better options available to DL students than Century University.

Bruce

 

I'd like to amplify Bruce's comments...

Century used to be in California, until it was unable to meet even the minimal California standards, at which point it skipped across state lines. For some years (and maybe still) the Century presence in New Mexico was extremely minimal and most everything still operated out of CA... never a good sign when a school claims to be one place and is actually somewhere else.

Additionally, Century has, for years, claimed accreditation from the worse-than-awful Accrediting Commission International (the fake accreditor that was busted by the FBI after accrediting a school with Larry, Moe and Curly as professors, and with "The Little Book of Fishes" as a marine biology text). The accreditor moved across state lines, changed from IAC to ACI, and immediately granted accreditation to all of the fake schools it had previously accredited.

Additionally, Century has, in the past, marketed itself by publishing a fake Bears Guide ripoff that (Surprise!) lists Century as one of the best schools on the planet.

Based on the above, one can see why just about everyone here (except Neil) thinks that Century is *not* an institution that has any sort of institutional integrity.

 

The true nature of Century has been discussed in great detail on this board. All of the questions you pose have been addressed and answered repeatedly by others. It is safe to assume you are not looking for more of the same. Rather, you chose this forum to flame another poster. This should be unacceptable.

I'm as critical as anyone of Century University. And I've responded in great detail several times to Dr. Hynd's assertions regarding the legitimacy of both Century and his own doctoral program, taking those assertions to task. But it is the ideas proposed that deserve comment and criticism, not the poster.

Rich Douglas

 

The purpose of this forum is supposed to provide for discussion and advice on DL. These self-serving, pedagogical, sanctimonious posts, especially those pawned off as "humor" dilute this purpose. Instead of legitimate discussion and advice in response to legitimate questions, they seem to be excuses for the same group of posters to "pile on" one more time. I fail to see the motivation for continually pulling these "issues" out of thin air.

I much prefer the bare-knuckled feedback from Steve Levicoff as opposed to this type of staged gang bang. Steve at least makes his comments in response to legitimate questions/ points from others, *and* has some claim to expertise in this area. I suppose I, too, could become an expert by enrolling in the University of Patagonia (GAAP), posting several hundred messages (including a few gags) and dispensing my sage wisdom to the unfortunate lurkers out there (because if nobody else is doing it, by God, then I will!). Sheesh.

 

Hi Terry,

Pardon me for not dwelling too long on this with lots of other things to do ... I'll just re-post something I made to another degreeinfo thread:-

" .......... one of my CU dissertation panel was a Union Institute PhD .... the other two panel members were also fully RA-d PhDs.

As were the two faculty advisers I had over six years, thanks to extended program time due to working almost month about between the Middle East and Europe.

Both had BS, MS and PhD degrees arising from Northwestern, UCLA and University of Southern California collectively.

And all of this was under and within the terms of a valid, annually-renewed American state license covering faculty qualifications, course credit-hour requirements and administrative probity."

Of course, that state licence is exempted for institutes holding accreditation recognised by the US DoEd.

If you have any questions about NM state licensing, why not ask them ? Afer all, they are the legal authority for education in that state ....

If you have any other educational quality issues surrounding this, I'll be happy to discuss with you by e-mail and you are free to post any of my replies to you on this thread.

Ma salama,

Neil

 

If one is looking only at the California Approval criteria one would find the written requirements to be extremely similiar to those of NCA. Many posters on this NG report that the standards (CA Approval) aren't regularily defended but that's another issue. On the front-end, Century University did not meet the CA Approval standards and thus moved out of state.

For more information on CA Approval standards as compared to North Central Association accreditation standards refer to the thread titled, "CA Approval versus NCA Accreditation -- Let's Compare."

Regards, Wes

 

It is true that the injection of humor is seen on this board, however, for the most part, one can find the legitimate and informative discussion of DL. With all the negative we hear on a daily basis, I for one enjoy the humor, i.e., clean, non-destructive humor.

Russell

 

And it doesn't meet New Mexico's. Century was grandfathered in before the rules got tougher. New Mexico is stuck with them.

Note to anyone curious about Century: Please see my comments and the comments of others throughout this board regarding Century. Dr. Hynd frequently posts his rationale for supporting his alma mater; one should read all that is said about Century (which Dr. Hynd does not and cannot refute).

Rich Douglas

 

Why do you validate his alma mater by referring to him as Dr. Hynd? Or is that just subtle sarcasm?

Scott

 

Good question. It is not sarcasm. He holds a doctorate from Century University and chooses to address himself as such. I may not approve of Century University, but that is my assessment of its quality. I would not presume to sit in judgment over Dr. Hynd. It simply wouldn't be my place.

Rich Douglas

 

This discussion never ends because it comes from at least two angles. Dr. Hynd says that his dissertation was of high quality and the detractors say that the school is of low quality. Both statements can and might be true. Someone can do fine, scholarly work without association with ANY school. The issue of Century is not Dr. Hynd's dissertation, but of the level of quality required by Century.

A motivated student can far exceed Century's minimum requirements if he/she so chooses. However, other students may get by with whatever the minimum requirement is. For someone trying to evaluate a candidate for a teaching or a "real" job, the question comes down to whether 'Century' means anything at all and whether the evaluator is willing to assess the candidate solely on the basis of a 30 minute interview, if 'Century' is meaningless.

This obviously gives a candidate from say, UNC, Stanford or the like a great advantage because of the presumptive higher minimum standard.

 

Bingo! Right on the money. I'm sure that if somebody did extensive reserach, they could find the occasional person that does a high-quality dissertation for a completely fraudulent school such as American State or Columbus or Monticello... but that doesn't make the school legitimate, nor does it speak in any way to the quality of education that *other* graduates have.

Neil always conveniently avoids addressing the issue of Century's deceptive marketing, fraudulent accreditation, move across state lines. Once, long ago, when he *did* address the move, the argument went something like "So why shouldn't a school be permitted to move across state lines", completely avoiding the fact that they did so to escape any sort of quality standards. And, of course, he also conveniently avoids, as Rich mentions, the fact that Century doesn't even *meet* NM standards since they are grandfathered.

It simply isn't possible to have a meaningful discussion about Century and other substandard NM schools when those who defend them refuse to acknowledge the most damning evidence against the school... but the evidence is there, it speaks for itself, and should be plenty of reason why one should avoid the school.

BTW: Cooke, no one is planting posts. Russell often posts funny stuff... and Bruce and Rich and I and others always take the chance to let people know the truth when there's a chance that someone could be misinterpreting the posts. Remember that we have a lot of foreign readers whose command of the language isn't perfect, and things like sarcasm often get "lost in the translation"... John Bear has gotten lots of letters over the years evidencing this sort of misunderstanding.

 

Century University (although this applies to many other schools) “graduates” fall into one or more of five broad categories.

1. The individual that simply did not know anything concerning accreditation issues, and were swayed by the marketing efforts of the school or even that of some of its alumni.

2. The individual who intends to deceive others that his or her degree is of the same caliber as that of a regionally accredited school.

3. The individual who forthrightly admits that he or she was looking for a way to get a degree with significantly less work and effort than that required from a regionally accredited school.

4. The individual who erroneously believed that he or she simply had no other alternative (i.e. would never be accepted a regionally accredited school, or no one else offered a program that met his or her needs).

5. The individual who was willing, and or actually did, the same amount and caliber of work to earn a degree as that required from a regionally accredited school, but chose to do it at a school with a questionable (at best) reputation, for degree that would provide significantly less utility, and that he or she would have to spend a lifetime defending against legitimate detractors.


Which one of these would you consider to be the most delusional, foolish, and dangerous?


Gus Sainz

 

Dear Mr. Douglas,

If my previous post, regarding Century University has caused you extreme discomforts, loss of sleep, and your mood for a credible doctoral program, please accept my sincere apology.

Degreeinfo.com was the first and my primary distance-learning resource I've discovered since the destruction of AED. I come here to seek information, and to learn, and not to insult others.

I would hope, Mr. Douglas, that you do not, and did not, interpret the numerous issues directed to you and MIGS in the hundreds of posts here as "flames." And if you didn't, I don't see how you can interpret my post as a "flame."

It is true that Century remains the root of the problem. Like Chip said, CU has fraudulent accreditation, and a set of state education guidelines that looks impressive in the book, but are unfortunately, hardly reinforced. But, as another poster noted, Neil continues to post all over the web (i.e., AED, peterson's, and here)and misleads people on the usefulness of New Mexico private postsecondary regulations, or that the "RA cartel" is there simply for financial aids. It is this that upsets me. To be frank with you, my wife does not make much. And I will never let my wife (who also happens to be my best friend), and puts in hours of study and $3500 to earn a useless diploma. Century is deceiving people, and Dr. Hynd is misguiding people.

I, too, consider your reply to my post a flame. I have seen much issues, surrouding california state approval, being brought up over and over again. Why don't you make your bold suggestion and put an end to those posts? So let's make a deal, whenever I see california coast/SCUPS topics being brought up, you will stop them from discussing it, since they have all been discussed before.

I would like to take this opportunity to remind you that I'm new to this forum and I was fascinated that I can post my questions here without going to read every thread there is here. Also, people, like Dr. Hynd, may not be as honorable as you're, who will not clean up their acts like your withdrawl from MIGS, and will never admit that they've been bagged over.

_____________
Best regards,
Terry

 

Perhaps Dr. Hynd would care to explain why
1)the recent New mexico school licensing laws requires new schools to be both on the accreditation track, and as well as state approval?

2) Why is Century accredited by a fraudulent accreditor?

There's no need to take this thru email. This is a discussion forum, so let's utilize it.

_____________
Best regards,
Terry

Best re

 

Terry,

The purpose of this forum is to discuss distance learning issues, including the validity (or lack thereof) of Century University.

It is not, however, an appropriate appropriate to single out one individual, in this case Neil Hynd, and make comments directed at him.

While I may not agree with Neil's views on Century, I defend his right to state them on this forum without being attacked.

You are welcomed to comment on his statements about Century, and to ask him to respond to the issues you have raised, but further comments about Neil in the context you are making them are not appropriate.

Thanks

Chip

 

Dear Terry,

If you're trulyconcerned about the legitimacy issues and as well as the history of Century University, I invite you to a thread I've started quite sometime ago.

Here's the link: http://www.degreeinfo.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000347.html

We also have a chance to review Steve's humor and reasonable arguments in action.

I, too, and quite harshly, expressed my concerns on the legitimacy issues of Century U. But, one thing that I've learned from Neil, is that education is more than just a diploma. Again, as Chip noted in another post elsewhere, it appears that Neil has done legitimate (maybe even more than a RA Ph.D)and substantial work for his doctorate. He demonstrated that there is some level of standards for Century, which he shared with us (let alone the ACI accreditation and their move to New Mexico).
He has done his part, and your posts are full-on-flame.

I can smell your bullshit a mile away. I'm confident that you must be some kind of spammer from AED, and you're here to make trouble, specifically in sarcasm involved with Rich Douglas in your previous post, and your obsession with Neil Hynd.

Cheers,

Byran