Any new information regarding this relationship. Their Fall 01 newsletter makes mention of the degrees issued from Malawi having recognized accreditation from Malawi (discussed here initially). It also makes mention of their eligibility for Association of Commonwealth Univiersities membership and listing in UNESCO's handbook. Even if all of this should come to pass (i.e. UNESCO'S Handbook, ACU recognition) would this matter or would this put them in a similiar category with Berne University with the added benefit of ACU. CCWU lists graduates in their two newsletters posted on the web site. Anyone have any information regarding acceptance of the CCWU degree. North
I think this is where the notion of mGAAP comes in... the "m" standing for "modified" What we're seeing is a series of questionable or less-than-wonderful programs (MIGS, Columbia Pacific, Berne, Greenwich) pulling obvious end-runs around the process. Keep in mind that GAAP as it applies to accreditation was never a solid standard, but instead an attempt to document procedures that had already been put in place by informal agreement between registrars of various regionally accredited schools. The first example of an "exception" to GAAP is the idea of acceptance of schools based in Nevis or St. Kitts who have the approval of the Ministry of Education. Since it appears that the Ministry's approval can be had basically for the asking (or possibly for the exchange of consideration, I don't know), it is essentially meaningless. Most regionally accredited schools recognized this, and amended their own policies to require that a Nevis or St. Kitts school had to be recognized by the University of the West Indies in order to be considered legitimate. I'm quite certain that the same thing will eventually happen with Malawi. And the Greenwich loophole was effectively closed when Australia essentially (as I understand it and subject to correction by someone who knows more than I) decided that Norfolk Island did not know how to, and therefore didn't have authority to, grant accreditation to Greenwich. Devious owners of less-than-wonderful schools will always try to find ways of scamming around the rules. But it takes about 10 seconds for most registrars to figure this out and add exceptions that cover the loopholes. All in all, it's still best to go with a known quantity... a GAAP accredited school that operates in a country where the government has meaningful oversight of schools, and/or some sort of recognized, reliable peer accreditation where the peer schools are actually bricks-and-mortar, legitimate programs to begin with.
1. Is the word "accredit" used in the same way in Malawi as it is used in the United States? Or does it simply mean an *endorsement*, perhaps purchased? 2. Does Malawi maintain an effective accreditation mechanism? As I understand it, they only have one domestic university, so would they maintain an accreditation office that sits around doing nothing most of the time? Precisely who in Malawi granted this "accreditation" to Columbia Commonwealth? 3. What process did Malawi use in deciding to accredit Columbia Commonwealth? Did a team travel from Africa to make a site visit to Montana, or wherever CCU really is located? 4. Is Columbia Commonwealth even operating legally in the state of Montana? As I understand it, all degree granting institutions in Montana need either regional accreditation or the approval of the Montana regents. It is clear that Columbia Commonwwealth lacks the former, and very possible that they lack the latter. See this past Degreeinfo thread which discussed Columbia Commonwealth in much more depth: http://www.degreeinfo.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2402
I agree with Chip, but offer two minor points. First, the "G" in "GAAP" takes care of this. As Chip correctly notes, GAAP is a description of a process, not an applied standard. Just because a school meets one of the GAAP criteria doesn't mean its degrees will be recognized and/or acceptable. Second, I would resist lumping MIGS in with the other schools cited. MIGS was presented as an organization that would conduct independent study graduate programs leading to a degree from a school that readily meets the GAAP criteria. Degrees from the CEU (a degree-granting Mexican university of little note) are recognized here in the U.S. The questions became whether or not the CEU had the authority to award these degrees and whether or not a course of study at MIGS would result in a degree issued by the CEU (or one signed by Armando Arias and Bruce Forman). Those questions, while still being worked, seem to be answered in the negative. And that's where the misery of MIGS lies. And miserable it is. Rich Douglas
It appears that CCU’s possible accreditation in Malawi may be linked to several cumulative factors, all of which would be fertile grounds for any “less than wonderful” school to operate within it’s borders. 1) Malawi suffers from the lowest per capita income, the lowest of the 14-member Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), US$200 vs. US$360 average. 2) Famine in the southern areas of Malawi has put a tremendous strain on the economy. AIDs and various environmental development problems are being addressed by international organizations, due in part to Malawi’s inability to control diseases within their borders. 3)A constitutional decree requires that all Malawians have access to free education (29 September 1994). Due to limited space in post-secondary institutions, only 15% found places, distance education was encouraged. In 1965, the Malawi College for Distance Education (MCDE) was formed to provide youths with access to education in rural areas. After the educational decree, MCDE sought ways of fulfilling the requirements of the mandate and opened as many as 520 “distance education centers”, which outnumbered conventional secondary schools of which there were fewer than 200. The schools were funded by the Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture, but by the beginning of 1998, the Malawian government dropped twenty-one institutions to curb public expenditures. The Ministry of Education then began their encouragement of “distance education” from outside their borders. Rapid Results College has been permitted to operate a facility in Malawi and CCU may be next. "Rapid Results College is a private institution, which although it does not operate directly under the Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture, does seem to enjoy a close relationship with the section of Adult and Non-Formal Education. This section formulates policy on adult continuing and distance education to create facilities and opportunities for learning outside the formal system and coordinate and monitor the activities, personnel and organizations involved in programs under its charge. Due to its mission provide access to education to students with limited access to conventional educational classrooms, Rapid Results College has been working closely with the government to ensure the success of the Study Group Program." It does seem reasonable that CCU may attempt to develop a "similar" relationship. (http://www.saide.org.za/worldbank/Policy/Institutional/p12amal.html) According to CCU’s newsletter, they have purchased or are in the process of buying two schools offering instruction in AIDs and pastoral counseling. This would be a godsend for Malawi and an easy “in” for CCU. Add to this (hypothetically), CCU offering “free” post-secondary instruction and access, this would be essentially a governmental rubber stamp. This summation is conjecture, but adding together the facts as found, it’s probably more than plausible.
Two more interesting news clips for support of my hypothesis: Counseling Services Needed Education Complaints and Corruption Hmmm, sorta makes ya wonder!
