Thread: Threat of the Week: Graduate Academy of Management

Well, it seems that the Graduate Academy of Management was rather displeased with RFValve's explanation about the problems with certifications in general, and Graduate Academy of Management in particular.

Herewith is the threat received from them (which also belies an utter lack of understanding about DMCA, trademark law, and various other things.)

Please remove this fraudulent page that is full of criminal and civil offenses. http://www.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?p=309202


It is full of copyright violations under the DMCA and also various trademark violations.


If not removed in 5 days, we will report your site to Yahoo, MSN , and Google legal departments under DMCA and Spam/Violations rules if this page is not removed immediately.


Many Thanks and Regards, George Mentz, Esq.
General Counsel - GAM Graduate Academy of Managment
www.lawyerlouisiana.com
www.classactionlawsuit.org

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Check out the websites for this... lawyer. Classy.

Way to go RFValve!! By the way, this organizations website has a strangely similar look (all the flags) to a mill and I cannot remember the name of it. I am thinking Grand Canyon but this is not it.

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Originally Posted by Randell1234

Way to go RFValve!! By the way, this organizations website has a strangely similar look (all the flags) to a mill and I cannot remember the name of it. I am thinking Grand Canyon but this is not it.

Indeed - thumbs up to RFValve for stating the truth, and to Chip for posting Mentz's foolish threat...

They're so silly when they trot out their smarmy lawyers. Good work RF!

From his on-line resume:
George S. Mentz, JD, MBA , CWM™, CPM™, CAM™, CILS, CEC™, MFP™, CTEP™, RFS™, CIPM

Juris Doctorate in International Law - Attended law courses at William & Mary and Tulane Law School Completing law studies in Madrid Spain, Sao Paulo Brazil, Cuernavaca Mexico. Loyola University School of Law (1996)
(But where is the degree actually from?)

Université de l'Etat de la Louisiane , Bachelor of Arts in International Politics
Hmmmmmm.

2002-2003 -Thomas Edison State University -Volunteer Pro Bono Faculty
If he taught there, you'd think he'd get the name right.

PUBLICATIONS - Prof. Mentz has authored and published 16 books and hundreds of other publications.

From Amazon: "Your search ""George S. Mentz"" did not match any books."
From Bookfinder.com: "Searching 150 million books for books where
Author is "George S. Mentz" Number found: 0.

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Originally Posted by Randell1234

Way to go RFValve!! By the way, this organizations website has a strangely similar look (all the flags) to a mill and I cannot remember the name of it. I am thinking Grand Canyon but this is not it.

The same mill runs another mill called "American Academy of Financial Management" (http://www.financialcertified.com/mba.html) AAFM

The AAFM grants post-graduate sounding certifications such as Master Financial Professional.

Originally Posted by HwyRogue

Indeed - thumbs up to RFValve for stating the truth, and to Chip for posting Mentz's foolish threat...

I just posted a testimonial, I sent a "good faith" resume and was offered the certification without evidence of degrees or experience.


http://www.businesscertification.org/cec.html

By the way, the resume is nothing more than a lame form that just ask you to list your credentials. I bet my dog can get one.

Originally Posted by Chip

Well, it seems that the Graduate Academy of Management was rather displeased with RFValve's explanation about the problems with certifications in general, and Graduate Academy of Management in particular.

Herewith is the threat received from them (which also belies an utter lack of understanding about DMCA, trademark law, and various other things.)

Well, if they bothered to send this is because their business is being hurt because of this. How can a testimonial be illegal? I'm not an attorney, but if someone just mentions an experience on a discussion group, I don't see how this can violate many copyright laws.
By the way, the guy mentioned that DCMA is accredited by a United States recognized agency? Can a non University or school be accredited?

It looks like our combative Mr. Mentz isn't exactly getting along with his former Middle Eastern partners either.

http://www.iafm.eu/

Originally Posted by BillDayson

It looks like our combative Mr. Mentz isn't exactly getting along with his former Middle Eastern partners either.

http://www.iafm.eu/

Certifications are an excellent business, zero investment is required. Just open a web site and give people nice sounding certifications. Certifications are better than degrees in a way as you don't need a special license. All you need to do is trade mark the name of a certification and pretend that only few can get this prestigious certification. People think that they are getting something special that few can get but the reality is that anyone with a credit card can get one.

I see you guys are having a good time here poking fun. And, you are right that well qualified masters degree holders or doctorate degree holders from accredited institutions could probably achieve a number of USA certifications from various organizations very quickly.

To be honest, I sincerely respect educators and academics in this board who have achieved accredited education and passed various exams to earn a graduate degree in a specific field and concentration.

I would not have suspected that any of you would have a problem with "Board Certification" that is issued or awarded to those who meet graduate requirements and have completed double accredited government recognized degree programs such as AACSB, ACBSP, EQUIS or even an ABA Doctorate Level Programs from Accredited Law Schools.

If you read authoritative certification websites such as the FINRA, CareerVoyages, BLS.gov, or Department of Labor websites about certification bodies which are publicly disclosed, you will learn abou many organizations and find these and many other certifying boards that have the same or exact graduate requirements.

As you know, there are thousands of "self regulated" certifying bodies in the USA and abroad that do not offer any Degree of Diploma, but they offer various Certifications, Charters, or other with publicly disclosed graduate requiremnets. As you have already stated, it is 100% legal .

As you know, some groups have hundreds of thousands of members and do not require any accredited education .

The wave of the future is that candidates will achive vendor neutral certifications by applying to attend a government recognized college or business school, complete 4-7 years of accredited education with exams and then meet the experience requirements and abide by ethics an continuing education policies. Today, this is becoming one of the chief methods of graduate certification.

Thus, it is predicted that business schools, law schools, engineering programs, and other programs such as IT/Computer Science departments will continue to develop proprietary certifications or form direct articulation alliances with self-regulated "VENDOR NEUTRAL" certifying boards.

At present, various graduate certifying bodies already have several hundred [accredited] registered college or university programs or alliances globally which is also a new trend over the last 15 years.

Therefore, the highest educational standards are with organizations and certifying boards that require "Double Accredited Degree Education ".

Education from from AACSB, ACBSP, EQUIS or ABA programs are generally "Double recognized" by the Government and the Accreditation Agencies as per the CHEA listings.

Overall, most employers respect the top 400 business schools and top law schools in the USA which are AACSB and ACBSP and ABA accredited.

Sincerely and Kindest Regards, EL

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I don't think anyone in this online community has any issues with legitimate, recognized groups providing board certification, such as AACSB or ACBSP or similar groups.

The problem arises when there's no regulation, oversight, or quality standards being imposed on certification boards; the barriers to entry are so low that all one needs is a $5 a month website and a janky $100 website design (and maybe a UPS store mailbox) to be in the business of providing certifications. Some might be legitimate and well meaning, but the majority are probably not.

And as soon as someone starts making the "100% legal " argument, credibility is pretty much out the window, as there are thousands of unwonderful schools offering utterly worthless degrees which are "100% legal " because they are in states or locales where there's little or no regulation.

(Also, since EducationLawyer failed to do so, it's worthwhile to disclose that he is affiliated with ICECC, a certification organization that appears to raise some of the same concerns that others have raised here. Check out their legal disclaimer for some of the best apologia I've seen in quite a while.)

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Originally Posted by Chip

I don't think anyone in this online community has any issues with legitimate, recognized groups providing board certification, such as AACSB or ACBSP or similar groups.

The problem arises when there's no regulation, oversight, or quality standards being imposed on certification boards; the barriers to entry are so low that all one needs is a $5 a month website and a janky $100 website design (and maybe a UPS store mailbox) to be in the business of providing certifications. Some might be legitimate and well meaning, but the majority are probably not.

And as soon as someone starts making the "100% legal " argument, credibility is pretty much out the window, as there are thousands of unwonderful schools offering utterly worthless degrees which are "100% legal " because they are in states or locales where there's little or no regulation.

(Also, since EducationLawyer failed to do so, it's worthwhile to disclose that he is affiliated with ICECC, a certification organization that appears to raise some of the same concerns that others have raised here. Check out their legal disclaimer for some of the best apologia I've seen in quite a while.)

I wonder what this quote is all about?
"This site is not intended for non-citizens of the United States"
Pretty poor wording.
To my knowledge US Nationals who are not US Citizens and permanent residents (green card holders) have pretty much the same civil rights as citizens except for a few governmental related areas.

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Originally Posted by RFValve

The same mill runs another mill called "American Academy of Financial Management" (http://www.financialcertified.com/mba.html) AAFM

The AAFM grants post-graduate sounding certifications such as Master Financial Professional.

Here's a few more awarders of certifications, apparently from the same source:

The American Academy of Project Management and the International Project Management Commission

http://www.certifiedprojectmanager.org

The International Board of Standards

http://www.internationalboardofstandards.com

And the Academy of Life and Wealth Training and the International Life and Wealth Commission

http://certifiedwealthtraining.com/about.html

A total of 6 publications - 5 articles, 1 book

College Savings Plans, Financial Aid, and Tax Strategy
by Richard Whiteside; George S Mentz
Article Article
Language: English
Publication: College and university : the journal of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars. 79, no. 3, (2004): 17
Publisher: [Menasha, Wisc.] : The Association, 1947-
Database: ArticleFirst

College Savings Plans, Financial Aid, and Tax... by Richard Whiteside
College Savings Plans, Financial Aid, and Tax Strategy
by Richard Whiteside; George S Mentz
Article Article
Language: English
Publication: College and University, v79 n3 p17-24 Win 2004
Publisher: American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO), One Dupont Circle, NW, Suite 520, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 202-293-9161; Fax: 202-872-8857; e-mail: pubs@aacrao.org; Web site: http://www.aacrao.org/publications/.
Database: ERIC The ERIC database is an initiative of the U.S. Department of Education .

Online Admissions and Internet Recruiting: An... by Richard Whiteside
Online Admissions and Internet Recruiting: An Anatomy of Search Engine Placement.
by Richard Whiteside; George S Mentz
Article Article
Language: English
Publication: Educause Quarterly, v26 n4 p63-66 2003
Database: ERIC The ERIC database is an initiative of the U.S. Department of Education .

Private wealth management and financial planning ... by George S Mentz
Private wealth management and financial planning : a treatise & guide for wealth managers and wealth management executives : fundamentals of wealth management for the wealthy, financial analysts, portfolio managers, wealth & trust management professionals
by George S Mentz
Book
Language: English
Publisher: [S.l. : Lulu], 2007.

The Forum - Guest Commentary, Analysis, International... by Richard Whiteside
The Forum - Guest Commentary, Analysis, International Resources, and Book Reviews - Online College Recruiting and Marketing -- Web Promotion, Strategy, and Ethics - Richard Whiteside and George Mentz discuss the Internet as a tool for marketing to students and reaching enrollment goals.
by Richard Whiteside; George Mentz
Article Article
Language: English
Publication: College and university : the journal of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars. 78, no. 3, (2003): 31
Publisher: [Menasha, Wisc.] : The Association, 1947-
Database: ArticleFirst

Academic Program Planning -- Assessing the Variables
by Richard Whiteside; George Mentz
Article Article
Language: English
Publication: College and university : the journal of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars. 79, no. 2, (2003): 11
Publisher: [Menasha, Wisc.] : The Association, 1947-
Database: ArticleFirst

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