Comes now Lexford University of California

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by John Bear, Oct 19, 2005.

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  1. John Bear

    John Bear Senior Member

    http://www.luofc.edu/

    The website is minimalist; the phone is not in service, but by golly it hsa the ".edu" suffix.

    There is an affiliation with Universitatea Agora in Romania(http://www.univagora.ro/RELATII_INT.html) -- the only university in the U.S. so affiliated.

    As it happens, the 'campus' near Sacramento, California, perhaps appropriately on Greenback Lane, is also the home of a company called Romanian Tribune News (whose fax number is in New York).

    http://www.business-directory-ca-orange.com/company-home-california-orange/romanian-tribune-news-8910969.html

    Perhaps Agent Janko can take it from here.
     
  2. George Brown

    George Brown Active Member

    The footer states:

    Application for certification is filed and in process with the
    California State Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education.

    Does that mean it's ok to have the '.edu' suffix?

    Cheers,

    George
     
  3. DesElms

    DesElms New Member

    Nope. Use of the .edu top level domain (TLD) is limited to institutions that are accredited by an agency approved by the US Department of Education (USDE) and/or its Council on Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). State registration, approval or even "accreditation" (unless, in the case of "accreditation," it's New York) won't do it.

    That said, there are, of course, unaccredited institutions out there which use the .edu TLD; but, invariably, they're grandfathered in, having gotten said TLDs before the requirement described in the previous paragraph became effective.

    Therefore, it's likely that this school's domain name which uses the .edu TLD is not new. In fact... wait a minute... lemmee go look it up...

    [time passes]

    Yes, I'm right. The domain was originally activated in 2000. That was before the policy described in the first paragraph of my post, here, was implemented. So this entity is enjoying the use of the .edu TLD by grandfathering... which I oppose, by the way. I've always believed that when that policy was implemented, Educause (the keeper of the .edu TLD) should have given all institutions that did not meet the policy's criteria a certain period of time -- probably a year or so -- to:
    1. obtain a .com or a .org or some other TLD; and then,
    2. to re-do their web sites to change all incidences on all web pages of the .edu version of the domain to whatever is the new domain; and then,
    3. to submit the revised site with its new domain to all search engines so it will start ranking well in search results; and then,
    4. to use the Google "link:" operator to figure out all web sites out in the universe which link to the .edu version of the site and send an email to them all asking them to change their links to start pointing at the new domain; and then,
    5. once that's all done, Educause creates a plain and simple redirection web page that simply explains that the institution which used to use the old domain with the .edu TLD no longer meets the requirements to do so and, therefore, the institution's new domain name is [whatever it is] and links thereto; and said Educause redirection page will remain up for a certain period of time... perhaps anywhere from 1 to 10 years, depending on whether an accredited institution subsequently wishes to use the .edu version of the domain.[/list=1]Or so it is my opinion.
     
  4. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    They also offer a Doctor of Jurisprudence, but it is structured like a Ph.D. (Dissertation included.) It is not Bar-qualifying, however.

    The Doctor of Theological Studies is described in a weird way, point out the number of pages the candidate will read (30,000) and number of books in his/her bibliography (50). Amateurish. :rolleyes:

    The site says: "Upon enrolling at Lexford University of California, the student will be sent all necessary materials to complete the program. This includes all textbooks, course outlines, case studies, and examinations. (My emphasis.)

    Examinations? They send you the exams? Where's the academic rigor in that?

    And everything sent upon enrollment? It is clear from their financial page that the costs books and supplies are not included in the tuition, so that would mean you'd have to buy all of your books up front. Weird. :confused:

    No courseware is indicated, so it looks like a Kennedy-Western kind of thing: read the book and take the unsupervised test. I thought California already had a Kennedy-Western!:D

    They call it "cyber" learning, but it looks like like correspondence courses to me, except minus the courseware!

    No faculty listed. What, the ad in The Chronicle hasn't run yet? :rolleyes:

    The president, Viorel P. Duca Sr., J.D., seems not to be from the U.S. Italy, perhaps. He's a member of something called the "AMERICAN ROMANIAN ACADEMY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES." No credentials are listed for him on the university's website.

    The Chairman of the Board of Regents is a Larry Bowler. No credentials listed. He, too, is connected with the Romanian thing. An article written about him in 2002 (and also mentions LUC--but calls it "Liberty" instead of "Lexford) here: Online Article Former California State Assemblyman, a Republican. I can't seem to locate anything online regarding his academic credentials.

    A new school, but it still has a History page. From it:

    "Lexford University of California represents a departure from the educational past and an introduction to the educational future. A future based not on abandonment, disregard, or disrespect of the past, but a future that is in keeping with the world in which we live and the progress occasioned by the advent of superior educational systems made possible throughout the advance of computer technology. "

    "Computer technology"? To do what? Take credit card info and print mailing labels?

    This is cartoonish, and clearly intended for a foreign market, one that will likely not understand that state approval isn't the same as being recognized as a degree granting institution. (Not unusual, many of California's mills, past and present, target mostly foreign students.)
     
  5. John Bear

    John Bear Senior Member

    Thanks for the valuable research and info, Gregg.

    Educause serves as ".edu" agent at the pleasure of the Department of Commerce. In our Degree Mills book, we suggest strongly that the Department of Commerce pay attention to the abuses of .edu use.

    Another matter: Lexford presents itself as
    Lexford University of California
    (all in the same size type).

    In the past, the University of California has maintained that such presentation is inappropriate, and has pursued the matter legally -- as, for example, with the former "Lawrence University of California" which changed its name to the University of Santa Barbara. I plan to send a note to the UC general counsel.
     
  6. BillDayson

    BillDayson New Member

    Apparently until recently Lexford was doing business as 'Liberty University of California', but a certain Rev. Falwell leaned on them and threatened court action:

    http://ads.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=33197

    The new 'Lexford' name remains consistent with the luofc.edu web address.

    Google generated 55 hits for 'Lexford University' but most of these were either the text of Falwell's press release posted on various sites or Romanian language pages. My guess is that this thing is run by Romanian immigrants and is in the business of selling 'American education' to Romanians back home.

    The BPPVE search page had no listing for 'Lexford University' or for 'Liberty University of California'.

    My old 1990 copy of 'World of Learning' doesn't have a listing for a 'Universitatea Agora' in Romania. It may or may not be legitimate, but it looks to me like one of those instant "private universities" that have appeared overnight in some of the post-Communist countries.
     
  7. miguelstefan

    miguelstefan New Member

    Oh, the irony. It seems that the non-bar Doctor of Jurisprudence curriculum is closer to that of traditional law schools than that of many bar-qualifying distance law schools.

    LAW 810 Legal Research and Writing *
    LAW 811 Tort I *
    LAW 812 Tort II *
    LAW 813 Criminal Law *
    LAW 814 Contracts I *
    LAW 815 Contracts II *
    LAW 816 Constitutional Law I *
    LAW 817 Constitutional Law II *
    LAW 818 Community Property *
    LAW 819 Corporations *
    LAW 820 Real Property *
    LAW 821 Intellectual Property *
    LAW 822 Professional Responsibility *
    LAW 825 Evidence *
    LAW 826 Civil Procedure *
    LAW 827 Federal Income Tax *
    LAW 828 Health Law
    LAW 829 Bioethics
    LAW 830 Wills and Trust *
    LAW 831 Cyber Law
    LAW 832 Estate and Planning Law
    LAW 833 Products Liability *
    LAW 835 Immigration Law *
    LAW 836 Health Care Regulation
    LAW 837 International Law *
    LAW 838 Business Law *
    LAW 888 Dissertation

    * mostly required at traditional law schools.
     
  8. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    The dissertation level law degree in the United States (J.S.D. or S.J.D.) HAS (confusingly) occasionally been known as the Doctor of Jurisprudence.

    However, there's nasty subtext here...I think Stanford Law School's J.D. is also called a Doctor of Jurisprudence rather than the latinesque Juris Doctor.

    Just a coincidence, I'm sure...
     
  9. miguelstefan

    miguelstefan New Member

    Doctor of Jurisprudence Program $6,250.00. Darn is this thing expensive for a non-bar unaccredited degree.
     
  10. M.P. Toothman PMP

    M.P. Toothman PMP New Member

    Now, now...

    How can we be so dismissive of a school whose website is designed by "Beers"? ;)
     
  11. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    Hey! They charge $1,000 MORE for their J.D. than for their D.B.A. and Th.D. programs! What's up with THAT?
     

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