Columbia State Rolls On

Just to further underline the problem of people claiming degrees from fake schools, I give you yet more distinguished alums of our favorite diploma mill, Columbia State University. These took about 10 minutes to find, and are recent ones I didn't already have bookmarked from before.

With Pellar's operation closed for a few years now, I have to wonder how many of these people bought their degrees from Pellar, and how many bought them from the website that now sells the CSU diplomas (advertising themselves as a degree mill).

First up, we have perhaps the most dangerous. The Ohio Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers is sponsoring a (for-fee) prep course for the LSW and LISW examinations. The instructor for this course has his/her doctorate from Columbia State. Call now, I'm sure there are still tickets available. http://www.naswoh.org/whatsnew.htm

Next, we have Lionel Moore, a faculty member at Clark Atlanta University. Mr. Moore is a perfect example of someone who couldn't leave well enough alone in regards to his resume. http://www.cau.edu/acad_prog/music/music_faculty.html

Last but not least (and just for a little humor), we have Don Cook, a PGA golf pro who "earned" his MBA from Columbia State. Think this guy fudges his score card now & then? http://www.pga.com/Newsline/Industry_News/industrynews_detail.cfm?ID=2413


Bruce

 

Bruce,

You don't think its possible for one to be 100% honest after "earning" a Columbia State degree? After all, his degree could be in ethics!

Russell

 

I am reading this and asking myself, "By the end of the day, will names of the people listed above be forever changed?". I deplore this kind of thing - - nothing against you Bruce and I am not trying to be nasty here. I just cringe at doing this sort of thing. Just voicing my own thoughts and I do respect your right to do this.

 

KidDL writes: I am reading this and asking myself, "By the end of the day, will names of the people listed above be forever changed?".

Let's see. About a thousand people have subscribed to this tiny forum. And 20 million people use Google every day. Reporters and regulators are not stupid. If they want to find people with fake degrees, I would estimate that, oh roughly 99.999% would turn to Google, not to DegreeInfo.com

What would KidDL tell the mother of the child in North Carolina who was murdered by the "doctor" with the fake MD who took the child off insulin and she died. If that crook had been "outed" in time, a life would have been saved.

 

I'll probably regret jumping in ...

I agree. However it's not really the same thing as the trumpet teacher listed above who also has an RA masters ....

 

(Jumping in again)

Of course he ain't the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree to even put it on his resume either.

 

Bruce - After reading some of your previous postings on this and similar subjects, I'm assuming that you intend to take some kind of action to expose this "Dr." Nair. While I do not support involving the media at this time, I do support notifying the appropriate authorities. In this case that would seem to be NASW. As it happens, I am a member of NASW (Massachusetts Chapter) and so I have some interest in knowing how they respond to this information.
Jack

 

Dr. Bear, I simply posted my feelings here and it was not my intention to ruffle feathers. Correct me if I am wrong, but the orignal post was about someone using a fake degree in another field not related to medicine? (If I am wrong, please let me know).

I respect you Dr. Bear and have purchased your books for years. I have also encouraged a great deal of my associates to do the same. However, you and I have differing views with regard to this issue.

But what do I know, I am a liberal democrat

 

Of course, it may well be that he was hired based on the phony M.M. from Columbia State, or that he receives a salary increase based on the degree. Either way, the man is a fraud.


Bruce

 

That's certainly your right, as it's mine to deplore people who stain all of DL by claiming fraudulent DL degrees.


Bruce

 

And I respect your feelings here, honestly I do.

 

I wasn't planning on taking any further action at all, but if you want to e-mail me contact info I'd be glad to alert NASW discreetly.

E-mail: [email protected]


Bruce

 

Pardon my ignorance here, but is Columbia State a now defunct diploma mill? Was it ever a "legitimate" (here I go again with that subjective term unaccredited school? Did people simply buy the degrees?



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David F

 

It is true that someone practicing medicine with a fake degree would probably do more damage than someone teaching trumpet. But the underlying issue is the same. Presenting oneself as having a legitimate degree, when the degree is fake, is fraud, regardless of how the degree is used.

Russell

 

I am already doing some checking.

This isn't as clear cut as it might appear at first glance, and it is possible that the credentials in question are legitimate. Complicating matters, verifying the credentials isn't an easy task in this particular situation either. I'd ask that people give this a day or so and let's see if we can get the facts before exposing somebody who may not need to be exposed.

 

Excellent advice here Chip. This is part of the reason why I am mostly against “exposing” people for what at first glance, appears to be incriminating evidence. This is why I deplore this kind of thing.

I admit an argument can be made that if the credentials are real, no hard has been done. However, just think of the stress a person will endure because of someone’s zeal to expose a possible fraud. I realize my position on this issue is not popular here on degreeinfo.com - - however I truly appreciate the opportunity to voice different viewpoint.

 

OK, I've verified to my own satisfaction that the person teaching the prep course for the NASW-OH does *not* have a Columbia State degree. The website does in fact indicate this, but upon further digging, the website of the school where this individual teaches reports his degree to be from Columbia University in NYC, which is a completely different animal.

I have verified with UMI's Dissertation Abstracts that this individual did complete a dissertation for a DSW at Columbia U. in 1979, and have also verified with Columbia U registrar's office that he was enrolled there. (They were unable to confirm the degree because their computerized records of degrees awarded goes back only to 1983).

So... in this case, I'm pleased to be able to report that it's *not* a person with a bogus degree teaching about how to pass licensure exams for social work.

However, I suspect that the other two are, in fact, Columbia State degrees... as are hundreds of others.

 

This is one of the few times that I'm actually happy to be mistaken. The thought of a LISW with a Columbia State degree was downright scary.

I do have to wonder how the CSU reference made its way onto the website....maybe because people claiming CSU degrees have become so commonplace, the author slipped up?


Bruce

 

My guess is that it was simply ineptitude. The individual in question teaches at an RA school with "state" as part of it's name, and I suspect that the person making the entry mixed up the two.

 

But the damage has already been done. As predicted in a previous thread:
http://www.degreeinfo.com/ubb/Forum4/HTML/000144.html

This forum has become a breeding ground for witch hunters. And its even worse. It's sloppy witch hunting. Who's the next victim??