Comes now Unmanned Vehicle University

Unmanned Vehicle University

Degrees through doctorate, online. Seems to be attempting an unmanned landing in North Dakota (the founder-president Colonel Doctor LeMieux apparently lives in Lake Havasu, Arizona). He lists a PhD from Mississippi State University. Is the school real? I don't know enough to have an opinion yet. Any thoughts?

 

Really interesting claims:

"Accreditation: Fully accredited as of July 9, 2012

Financial aid: We are in the process of being verrified for finacial aid and VA benefits. We anticiapte certification in 2013."

Ignore the three spelling mistakes in that one sentence, for a moment. By WHOM are they accredited? Doesn't say.... Hmmm. That may be the accreditor's "drone" you hear, overhead... :smile:

BTW - seems to have HQ in Washington State. I must have missed the part about the unmanned landing in ND, Dr. Bear:

Unmanned Vehicle University
917 Pacific Ave, Suite 206
Tacoma, WA 98402
Phone: 206-787-2807
Fax: 206-299-3587

Johann

 

I'm inclined to believe that the people behind this operation actually do know something about unmanned vehicle issues.

But that doesn't necessarily mean that they understand higher education issues. Their home page advertises "Accredited Degrees" and the "About" page says "Accreditation: Fully accredited as of July 9, 2012". But it is not clear who has accredited them, or if they are even state-approved.

According to this news story, "UVU is anticipates application for accreditation with the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities in June of 2013." So they want RA, but are still months away from applying.

 

Actually the UVU is accredited, which their accreditation was approved by Unmanned. This is a funny name...

 

Also, some interesting wording on the diploma -very nice PDF print of one, by the way!

"By virtue of the authority granted by the State of Arizona..." Still no mention of North Dakota, Dr. Bear!

Whatever this is - hoax or not - it's a BIG whatever-it-is. Unmanned Vehicle U. claims no less than SEVEN US campuses Maybe they're being dropped from unmanned planes:

Unmanned Vehicle University Campuses
USA Campuses California Director: John Stampfli, [email protected], 424-204-3240
Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina Director: Gene Payson [email protected], 941-313-0074
Ohio Director: Dr. Annie Shen, [email protected], 740-593-1288
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington DC Director:
Mr. Tom Ciesielka, [email protected], 610-572-2976
Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Nevada Director:
Mr. John Minor, [email protected], 801 336 8827
Washington DC Director: Mr. Brett Hayden, [email protected] 240-626-8421
Washington Director: Dr. Jerry LeMieux, [email protected], 206-787-2807

The brochures section is very extensive - lots of PDF files. Again, mention of "ACCREDITED DEGREES" in big print, but no named accreditor... A wonderful combination of wide-screen military-like bluster with a hint of mystery...like an X-files movie! :jester:

Johann

"The truth is out there." - David Duchovny, as Fox Mulder. :smile:

 

It's a bit weird. I can't find his dissertation. He has no publishing footprint at all. Lots of hits on Google, but almost all generated by him. The school lists a Washington (state) address but the phone is in Arizona. The school's website claims it is accredited, but doesn't say by whom. (I found a blog that mentions the school and gives its accreditation as being from " International Association for Distance Learning," which the blog (surprisingly) notes is not recognized. An article in the Washington times mentions the accreditation but does NOT make this distinction (typical).

According to an article in the Las Vegas Review-Journal last month, there isn't much yet developed in the way of curricular materials. (I wonder on what basis they were "accredited"?)

Washington (state) doesn't list the school.

He claims to have been an instructor pilot in the Air Force and later a commercial pilot for Delta. I found a brief article by him in a newsletter produced by the Naval Postgraduate School (where he lists himself president of UVU.)

My take: the guy is probably real. The school is likely a real attempt, but it is missing some necessary realities, big time.

 

Sorry CalDog. I was working on the last post and didn't see your note re: UVU's declared intention to apply for accreditation in 2013. If they're anticipating RA but aren't even applying till 2013 -- I'd like to know what's with their "Fully accredited as of July 2012" statement. If UVU gets as far as a formal application, Northwest Commission isn't going to overlook past shenanigans, if any, re claims of accreditation.

Johann

 

Thanks for the IADL clue, Dr. Rich.

At the very bottom of the Accredited Membership page, in tiny print, the IADL site says it will waive/abridge the initial appraisal and evaluation process if the school is locally/regionally/nationally government-licensed. State licence to operate a school will do, I suppose. I'm guessing they might have an AZ licence from the "by the authority of" statement on the repro-diploma. IADL "Accredited Member" Fees are around US$310 or so. Here's their page that sez so:

http://www.iadl.org.uk/accredited_membership.htm

Is this what UVU is calling "Fully accredited?" Oh, my aching drones!

Johann

 

The North Dakota connection notion came from a usually reliable source in that state. I will make further inquiries.

 

There are two Washington State business incorporations.

Unmanned Vehicle University International, incorporated 1/7/12

Unmanned Vehicle University Inc., incorporated 2/3/12

Washington Secretary of State Mobile

Caldog quotes their "about" page as saying that they were "fully accredited" on 7/9/12. That's six months after the earlier of the two business registrations and five months after the second.

The State of Washington doesn't appear to be impressed and has posted this consumer protection warning:

Consumer Alerts | WSAC

 

Unmanned Vehicle University sounds like a stupid name.

 

Dr. Bear:

Is this perhaps the connection with North Dakota? University offers ‘unmanned’ degrees | Unmanned Vehicles News | Unmanned.co.uk

University of North Dakota has conferred the first U.S. degrees in Unmanned Flight. (Nothing to do with UVU.)

Johann

 

I'll always think of them as RCU.

 

So does "Full Sail University," as I see it. But, unlike UVU, Full Sail is a "real" school -- nationally accredited by ACCSC.

For another bizarre (stupid, as you might say) name, how about "Lovely Professional University" in India - fully UGC approved, that country's equivalent of accreditation. Another "real" school. Again, not like UVU, which claims accreditation - and neglects to mention (as required) that its accreditation is not CHEA / USDoE recognized.

Johann

 

That's funny! :smile: Best all day! Kudos.

Johann

 

Anybody thought - how dangerous this could be?

Unmanned drones, huh? These could put the "anthrax crop-dusters" in the shade! Terrorists could give the US (or anyone else they didn't like) a "9/11 2.0" without risking a single one of their fiendish lives!

And druglords -- wow! Fifty years ago, I had a scheme - solely in my head - involving a fleet of gas-powered model airplanes, each flying a relatively small amount of heroin across the Niagara River. Not being a druggie, particularly felonious, or having any "connections" - I never, of course, put it into practice. But I'd say it's likely that the idea of cross-border drones has occurred to those in the narco-trade. We do know that some major drug-lords are already well-versed in the use of submarines. They've got their own navy - why not an unmanned air force?

I think the US should carefully regulate all instruction in this field -- to avoid the "Al-Quaeda Crop-duster Flying Club" syndrome. No "student visas" for unmanned flight school, to foreign nationals of ANY country. Stringent police and government background checks for all applicants. If they are in any way short of qualifying for the FBI - then they can't make it into unmanned flight school.

And "rogue operations," as UVU appears to be - let the CIA run a "black op" to shut 'em down -- and they can call on their own "cleaners" afterwards -- so nobody would know the "rogue" school was ever there in the first place.

What next - Open enrolment at the College of Uranium Enrichment?

Johann

 

Or Flaming Rainbow University.

 

I believe that the United States already has lots of laws regarding military exports, exports of technologies, and what the Commerce Department calls "deemed exports", which refers to transfers to foreign nationals within the US.The US government is serious about this and there have been a number of prosecutions, which can result in heavy fines and long prison sentences.

The Commerce Department has what it calls Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and a Commerce Control List (CCL).

And the State Department has what it calls International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and a corresponding US Munitions Control List (USML).

See Stanford University's discussion of these issues, with links to the lists, here:

Lists of Controlled Technologies

Here's the Commerce Department's EAR page:

U. S. Bureau of Industry and Security

Here's the State Department's ITAR page:

US State Department - Policy - Directorate of Defense Trade Controls

I don't have a clue whether or not this so-called "Unmanned Vehicle University" is currently violating or threatening to violate of any of these laws. Given its owner's seeming obliviousness to state university licensing laws, I suspect that he might not be entirely clear on this either. He's certainly entering risky legal territory, so he needs to be addressing these issues as soon as possible, if he hasn't done so already.

 

And if he hasn't -- or isn't, on both issues - control and university regulations, then I feel appropriate authorities should step in and address them for him - right now.

Johann