UNISA -- reverse time bomb

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by PSalmon, Oct 23, 2001.

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  1. PSalmon

    PSalmon New Member

    Here's a story about something of a "reverse" time bomb. This character is alleged to have fraudulently claimed a degree from UNISA (which has no record of his enrollment). A compliment for UNISA in a backhanded way -- typically one would not claim a degree from a second-rate institution.

    http://www.africaonline.com/site/Articles/1,3,22232.jsp
     
  2. Guest

    Guest Guest

    Second-rate institution? Based on what criteria?

    Russell
     
  3. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member


    If I read the original post correctly, the poster was implying that UNISA must be a good school for the "poser" to lie about having a degree from there. The supposition is that one would not lie about having a degree from a poor school, so the "poser" is paying UNISA an odd compliment in lying about holding a UNISA degree.

    BTW, I don't agree with the notion. I would think someone would get away with claiming a non-existent degree from a non-descript school. A claim of a degree from a world-reknowned school might raise suspicions (although this, too, happens).

    Bear notes that it was long ago reported that Yale had logged some 7,000 publicly and falsely claimed degrees from that institution. The number must surely be higher. One high profile case was David Begelman, accused by actor Cliff Robertson of misappropriating funds while head of Columbia studios. Begelman claimed degrees from Yale and Yale Law school. Neither claim was true. (The check forging allegations against Begelman were substantiated in the book "Indecent Exposure" by David McClintick in 1982. Begelman continues in the entertainment business to this day, despite the educational "time bombs" and the stolen money.)

    Rich Douglas
     
  4. John Bear

    John Bear Senior Member

    Another high profile false Yale claimant was the late Robert Irsay, who 'sneaked' his Baltimore Colts off to Indiana in the middle of the night. (His heavily publicized war record was a fake, too.)
     
  5. Guest

    Guest Guest

    Perhaps in reading the post so fast I misunderstood its implication. But why would one lie about having a degree when one could get a "real" one from Trinity C & U---no work, no effort, no energy, all based on life experience? [​IMG]

    Russell
     
  6. BillDayson

    BillDayson New Member

    I note that the individual who is accused of doing this is a Zimbabwean. My understanding is that UNISA is quite prestigious in African countries outside SA. Many of these nations have few quality universities of their own, so a distance degree from UNISA looks very good indeed. I think that UNISA emphasizes serving this kind of market perhaps more than the North American market, which appears to already be well served by universities.
     
  7. PSalmon

    PSalmon New Member

    Yes, that was my intended point.
    On reflection, I agree with Rich here. Also, fraudulently claiming a degree from a "distance education" school has the added benefit that you would not be expected to know much about the university campus or environs, or about campus events and personalities.
    True. Though the University of Zimbabwe was (and perhaps still is) well-regarded. It was originally a College of the University of London, established in 1955 by Royal Charter as the "University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland". The University of London established entrance requirements for the admission of students, syllabuses, examination procedures, and the award of University of London degrees.
     
  8. Peter French

    Peter French member

    Someone else can do some research on this, but from the SA academics I have been involved with the last few weeks, there isw an opinion in SA that you only do a UNISA degree if you can't get one somewhere else.

    I have just spoken witjh a teacvher O do work with, who has just returned from a project there and she confirms the opinion within SA and ranks it about the same as our ******* ********** University.

    I will obviously get shot down in flames by someone, or on the other hand all may ignore this comment. It is obviously better than no degree and more than a couple of rungs above TC&Ubut it appears that the home opinion is that one could do considerably better.

    Let the fight begin...

    Peter French
     
  9. PSalmon

    PSalmon New Member

    I wouldn't want to fight about it, but I think this characterization of UNISA is a little harsh. I did my undergraduate degree in South Africa, and I would say the top tier are Cape Town (my alma mater, so must be first!), Natal, Pretoria, WITS, Stellenbosch, Potch (more formally Potchefstroomse Universiteit vir Christelike Hoër Onderwys), Vrystaat, Rhodes, and maybe RAU. Second tier would be UNISA, Durban-Westville, Western Cape, Port Elizabeth, Transkei, Univ of North. Third tier would be Univ of North West, Fort Hare, Venda, Vista (8 campuses, incl. the distance education campus known as VUDEC), Zululand, and all the Technikons (which are akin to the old Polytechnics in U.K.).

    In any case, the real fun here is to guess what Peter meant by "******* **********". My choice of lower tier Australian uni's to match that format would be Central Queensland. [​IMG]
     
  10. Peter French

    Peter French member

     
  11. Tom Head

    Tom Head New Member

    (As an aside: I briefly considered the University of Adelaide for my Ph.D., based largely on the fact that David Chalmers--author of The Conscious Mind, who recently turned down a chair at Oxford so he could stay at the University of Arizona--did his B.Sc. there. When I found out he actually majored in mathematics and didn't tackle his life's work until grad school, the mystique was gone.)


    Cheers,

    ------------------
    Tom Head
    www.tomhead.net

    co-author, Bears' Guide to the Best Education Degrees by Distance Learning (Ten Speed Press)
    co-author, Get Your IT Degree and Get Ahead (Osborne/McGraw-Hill)
     
  12. Guest

    Guest Guest

    Three observations:

    1) It is always good to see Potchefstroom in the top tier--for some reason it gives me a positive feeling. [​IMG]

    2) Did you earn your undergrad degree at Cape Town via DL, in residence, or both?

    3) Dr. Archibald Hart, professor of psychology at Fuller Theological Seminary, and the author of numerous books, earned both his masters and Ph.D. at the University of Natal.

    Russell
     
  13. PSalmon

    PSalmon New Member

    Residential. The traditional residential universities have not played a major role in South African distance education. The institutions involved in large-scale distance education in South Africa have been UNISA, Vista University Distance Education Campus (VUDEC), Technikon SA, and Technical College of SA (TECHNISA). UNISA is a general broad-based university; VUDEC focuses on education of teachers; Technikon SA and TECHNISA focus on technical/vocational education. These are the main players in undergrad distance education. The number of registered distance education students at these institutions is quite high: the numbers circa 1996 were 128,000, 13,000, 85,000, and 9,000 respectively, for a total of 235,000 students (all distance education). There are plans afoot to consolidate some or all of these institutions. A combination would have more students than the renowned Open University of the U.K. There are also some 64 private institutions registered under the South African Correspondence College Act of 1965. For the most part, these don't provide conventional college education but provide professional/vocational courses as well as high-school completion courses.
     
  14. PSalmon

    PSalmon New Member

    And campus in Dubai, I believe? Wollongong also has campus in Dubai. What makes Dubai attractive to Australian universities? Trying to lure Century graduates into the fold?
     

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