Does anyone know what is happening to Greenwich University which was located on Norfolk Island, Australia. It seems that they closed their doors on Norfolk Island. They claimed Australian accreditation, but I don't think that they were GAAP accredited. Simeon Stanley B.S., City University of New York M.A., Long Island University Ph.D., Still searching for the right DL school
re - Greenwich A good starting point would be to use the search facility on this forum. Greenwich University has been discussed many times. If you do this for a start, any additional information you'll get will be built against this solid background. Opherus
The report this week was that Greenwich president Pauline Butler was in Sausalito, California making arrangements for Greenwich's opening there. I remain confused by this move, which would seem to involve association with a non-state-approved 'new age' school, of the sort that has gotten a bunch of bad publicity for Greenwich in the past. I also remain confused as to why Dr. Butler, John Walsh of Brannagh, and indeed the whole of Norfolk Island is blocked from using this forum.
I am new to this board and would just like to post my interest in following the current changes Greenwich University is undergoing. I read much press and an Australian court transcript regarding the Norfolk Island controversy and it left me with a strong feeling that there is a very backward attitude in the land down under regarding distance education. It seems they did not make the effort to investigate GU thoroughly nor through the consultation of more than a couple "experts." (Others who have been following this know how the topic then turned to the more complicated and sensitive issue of how seriously mainland Australia looks upon the decisions of Norfolk Island's parliament!) GU came very close to getting accreditation in California in the mid 90s. It was only its 100% distance learning feature that held them back. Since then, online learning has mushroomed in CA, even in its most traditional universities and colleges. In the long run, GU's move to CA may turn out to be very fortuitous to it and all past, present and future learners.
I don't know if this move to CA was planned with the specific intention of getting US accreditation or not; nevertheless it may be the best location to shoot for it. California is now very open minded toward online learning. GU could then focus all its energies on education and not local politics like what happened at Norfolk Island. Students who have labored long and serious hours in any institution do not deserve to have their efforts marred by external political disputes.
I wasn't aware that California was in the business of accrediting schools. How and when did this come about? Thanks,
In the mid-90s Greenwich received the status of "accreditation readiness" from Pacific Association of Schools and Colleges, a CA based accreditation board that, from all I've read, is legit and specializes in non-traditional learning institutions, but at the final hearing they backed out because GU grants degrees to completely-online learners. I haven't been following the subject, so I don't know how PASC and any similar boards are now faring. Does anybody here know if WASC or any other similar entity "in the business of accrediting schools" ever granted accreditation to a 100% distance learning institution? Since WASC seems to do most of its business in CA where online learning has become very respected, I'm hoping it'll eventually grant decent institutions like GU accreditation.
"Legitimate or not, sincere or not, accreditation by organizations like this has absolutely no meaning academically. " Quite a blanket statement! Is this based legally, empirically, scripturally? I have read of and met people who were employed and promoted with degrees from non-traditional universities such as GU that at this point lack conventional accreditation. But I do not at all intend to tell people to jump on the bandwagon without looking first very carefully where they might be landing. Often promotion or employment came with a detailed explanation and demonstration of how their work was not only legitimate, but on par with standards of traditional institutions, if not beyond those standards. Some still places did not accept this. A good online university still lacking accreditation will be very forthcoming regarding this, but you can count on a diploma mill to be mum on the matter.
PASC operated briefly in the mid 90s. It was started by a man who himself had an unaccredited doctorate. It never applied for recognition from the U.S. Department of Education or the other relevant organization at the time, the Council on Postsecondary Accreditation, and therefore, while quite possibly sincere, was never accepted in the slightest way by either the academic or business world. When they asked my opinion (as a co-founder of Greenwich, among other things), I strongly recommended to the owners of Greenwich that they abandon any relationship with PASC.
I have read of and seen a man whose parachute didn't open and he lived to tell his tale. But I do not at all intend to tell people to jump on the bandwagon without looking first very carefully where they might be landing.
First things first ... Mojave 19: In the long run, GU's move to CA may turn out to be very fortuitous to it and all past, present and future learners. Ohnalee: Before GU can get WASC-accredited, it will have to become California approved. This can't happen until GU applies for approval to operate with BPPVE. Which it hasn't done to date.
Re: First things first ... If Greenwich is associating itself with a California school that is not CA-approved and which might not even be operating legally, it's not a very auspicious sign. Greenwich is clearly on the ropes. If it's to survive, somebody in charge needs to make some competent decisions immediately.
From 1993 till 1996 I worked as an Australian Government Ministerial Correspondence Writer in Canberra, which meant I had to write replies to letters sent to Australian Ministers of Education. Sometimes the public would ask questions common in this forum but whenever I tried to put them on to schemes such as CLEP, GRE, Thoams Edison and Regents, my work would be returned by the Government Assistant Secretary with a huge question mark and advice to keep to guidelines. It was clear that the Australian Public Service had no idea about alternative teritiary education, let alone the lengths that people would go to incorporate a business name in an obscure locality, claim accreditation and recruit students. Despite this, when the Australian Government eventually woke up to what Greenwich was doing on Norfolk Island, it was fully justified in not recognising Greenwich. Greenwich had neither credible administrative structures nor accreditation processes. I was quite interested in Greenwich and applied to work for it when it was registered in Hawaii. It was immediately clear that although staff had titles, their relationships were vaguely defined and nobody knew who could make decisions. Much stress was placed on one official's place in Ireland's lesser titled gentry, as if that settled the argument of accreditation. When Greenwich moved to Norfolk Island, the list of qualifications and achievements of the university president read like a song from a Gilbert and Sullivan opera. In brief, that gentleman could obviously never have been able to secure a comparable position in a "real" university and it undermined Greenwich's case to be accepted as a serious tertiary institution. Later I worked at a "real" university with a member of Greenwich's academic staff. He had a "real" PhD and although the university did not renew his contract after eight months it was his manner not his knowledge that upset them. He told me he had supervised two Greenwich PhD students in Japan. However, there was no way of telling if their work was of equal value to that accepted for PhD at a "real" university. Maybe it was, but Greenwich's choice of locating to a small Pacific Island where local government had no experience in tertiary evaluation did not inspire confidence. It was highly probable that some Greenwich PhD graduates produced high quality work while others did not. There was no acceptable method of quality control.
