Article"Police probe of Fraudulent Degrees"

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by simon, Dec 11, 2001.

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  1. simon

    simon New Member

    An article in todays internet issue of the Jerusalem Post notes that Israel is investigating and arresting individuals affiliated with Latvia and Burlington Colleges. They don't fool around in Israel!
     
  2. John Bear

    John Bear Senior Member

  3. simon

    simon New Member

    John,

    Todays editorial in the Jerusalem Post " Degrees of Corruption" as well as another article in the same edition explicates the far ranging extent of this problem in Israel.
     
  4. Jason Vorderstrasse

    Jason Vorderstrasse New Member

    This editorial and related articles are at http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2001/12/13/News/News.39877.html , http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2001/12/13/News/News.39877.html and http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2001/12/13/Opinion/Editorial.39858.html .

    Although the articles are not exactly clear on the names of the schools, one of them is definitely Burlington College in Vermont. An article which confirms this appeared in the Rutland Herald- see http://rutlandherald.nybor.com/News/AtAGlance/Story/39082.html . The degree program is also described in an August 1997 Boston Jewish Advocate article at http://www.jewishsf.com/bk970801/suppcoll.htm .

    It appears, from the articles above, that the "Latvia college" is the University of Latvia, an MOE-recognized institution in Latvia. I couldn't find much on the WWW about any programs of theirs in Israel, although the Jerusalem Post does mention them in an October 1999 article on foreign universities offering degrees in Israel. See http://www.jpost.com/com/Archive/22.Oct.1999/Features/Article-1.html . Perhaps they should have looked into whether or not the Israeli government had approved the university to offer degrees in Israel at that time!
     
  5. irat

    irat New Member

    Burlington College in Burlington, Vermont was one of the host colleges and worked through Modum/ISE in Israel. According to accounts in the Burlington Free Press 12/13/2001 and television interviews the relationship existed from 1995 to 1998. The program reportedly enrolled 636 students in Israel the first year. The Burlington, Vermont campus has 230 students. Daniel Casey the President of Burlington College called for an internal investigation. Casey has related in print interviews and in television interviews that Burlington College hired the Israeli faculty as part-time teachers through Modum/ISE. Casey reports that Burlington College administration made regular inspections of the Israel classrooms and curriculums. Casey reports that students obtained Burlington College degrees and have Burlington College transcripts on file in Vermont. Casey reported that Burlington College ended the affiliation when the laws changed in Israel requiring an extensive research library (in Israel) and full-time permenant faculty. According to the Burlington College registrar, Maureen Hirten, the curriculum was the same in Israel as it is on the Burlington campus. Maureen says she regularly visited classrooms, met with teachers, inspected curriculum, and looked at student products in Israel. Modum/ISE is reported to have had a similar relationship with Latvia University.
    Burlington College has been a solid small liberal school. I personnally believe that they tried to offer the same curriculum in Israel that was offered in Vermont. I can't say whether the Israeli connections had the same vision. I also don't know how the Latvia University figures into it.
     
  6. MarkIsrael@aol.com

    [email protected] New Member

    "Shas lawmaker Yair Peretz, meanwhile, plans to ask the attorney general to give him another hearing before the House Committee resumes its discussion of the request to lift Peretz's immunity. Peretz is accused of fraudulently obtaining academic degrees from the Burlington University branch in Israel and Bar-Ilan University. He is also suspected of copying essays written by another student to obtain a psychology degree."
    Google's cache of http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/403384.html

    "After he was questioned, Peretz admitted to reporters that he had studied at the Burlington extension, but had not received a degree, and called the charges against him 'nonsense.'"
    http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2002/01/28/News/News.42412.html

    "Responding angrily to the allegations, Peretz told an Israel Radio correspondent in the Knesset that he is being targeted because of his ethnicity, being a Sephardic Jew. [...] Peretz insists his academic degree was earned honorably and he did not buy it or obtain it in any fraudulent fashion."
    http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=55133
     

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