Hamilton Univ Delayed Fuse

in the Department of Homeland Security.

GCN

 

I don't know if anyone caught it, but the reference to R. G. Marn in the article is the first proof I've seen of a direct relationship between Hamilton and American State, the nonwonderful that Jeffrey helped to shut down when it was in Hawaii.

My take was always that Hamilton's website and materials looked exactly like American State, but I don't remember anything that actually tied Marn to Hamilton until now.

For anyone who remembers, Rudy Marn was posting to alt.education.distance for a while some years ago (around the same time Snell was posting), trying in vain to defend his fraudulent program. I think he claimed to be a minister, and finally got chased away, if memory serves, after several people made some rather rude comments suggesting a lovefest between Snell and Marn.

 

That pop was just the ignition charge going off. She really should be prosecuted but I'm guessing that they'll "let" her resign.

 

Brunton said that the state sued Marn and his companies in 1997 for violating laws that required they disclose in promotional materials and advertising that they were unaccredited. Marn settled, paid a $39,000 fine, and ultimately moved to Wyoming, Brunton said.


K-W is in Wyoming for the same reason Marn fled to Wyoming. K-W has no published standards for the assessment of life experience for credit for one reason and one reason only. Their process is a joke and would be exposed if they did publish their standards.

I wish Jeff Brunton would take a job in Wyoming and clean it up in the same diligent manner he has been working on the Hawaii problem.

 

K-W is WY Regulated

Paul:

The difference is K-W is regulated by the State of Wyoming dpartment of Education and meets the standards for licensure pursuant to the Private Schools Licensing Act: W.S. 21-2-401 ET.SEQ.

K-W does require coursework and a Thesis.

HU claimed religious exemption, and therefore was not Licensed nor regulated by the WY DoE.

Have a Good Day.

 

Re: K-W is WY Regulated

I believe that you need to address Paul's issues directly rather than sidestepping them. K-W is a dreadful institution. One of the reasons that it is dreadful is what Paul's post described. Your post did not address that issue.

Now addressing the issue that you brought up, the coursework required by K-W is an embarassing joke. It is completely inadequate and the degrees earned are no where near the standard requirement. A half dozen courses comes no where near the normal Bachelor's degree program of at least 120 semester credits.

 

Originally posted by RJT:

And so does Hamilton. Apparently, the Ph.D. required a course on ethics (!) that could be completed in 5 to 8 hours, as well as a four-page dissertation.

If this is not acceptable, yet the meager requirements at K-W are, please tell us exactly where you would draw the line.

 

Legally operating and WY State DOE Regulated.

Minimum Entry Requirements: 5 Years Work Experience and an Accredited AA/AS Degree, or the passing of Associates Degree Equilvancy Test. If Fail, have a series of required courses must completed.

9 Month Degree Completion Minimum.

Regionally Accredited Adjunct Faculty.

Witnessed up to 9 courses designed under the direction of RA Faculty; minimal of 5. Adjunct RA Faculty available to help students with course questions.

Exams proctored/or taken on-lined and timed.

Mandatory Conerstone Project:

For BSc = 75 Page Report Minimum , beyond intro., and abstract (which could be 30+ pages itself), less diagrams, addendums and references.

For MSc = 100 Page Report Minimum, beyond intro., and abstract (which could be 30+ pages itself), less diagrams, addendums and references.

For PHD = For MSc = 150 Page Report Minimum, beyond intro., and abstract (which could be 30+ pages itself), less diagrams, addendums and references.

 

RJT,

Are you saying that these are the requirements at K-W, that these are the absolute minimum acceptable requirements, or both?

Moreover, these are mostly quantative measures of something that, I think, should be qualatative in nature. Does it really matter how long it takes to complete your degree or how many pages are in your dissertation? I think the more important issue is reliable, verifiable standards for the quality of the work.

Yes, perhaps K-W is a step or two above Hamilton. But that's not saying much.

 

KW:

1) Moved out of the State of California when approval standards became stronger.

2) Moved to Wyoming, which has very weak state approval standards.

3) Has opperated for years, but has never attempted to become regionally accredited, which is the gold standard for American schools.

4) Maintains its headquarters in California, but will not admit residents of California, due to legal reasons.

5) Issues degrees which are illegal to use in several states, and are not accepted for transfer to regionally accredited universities.

Its certainly sounds like an institution I would be proud to have graduated from.

I'm with Jeff Hampton.

 

6) Fled from California to Hawaii to avoid "legal problems" (same as 1)
7) Fled from Hawaii to Idaho to avoid "legal problems"
8) Fled from Idaho to Wyoming to avoid "legal problems"
9) Doesn't make public what the graduation requirements are
10) Doesn't make public what the entrance test is that is "required" if the applicant doesn't have 60 credits
11) Doesn't make public how the credit for work experience is administrated
12) Labeled a degree mill by the FBI
13) Labeled a degree mill by the Higher Education Council
14) Is associated with scamming asians for bogus honorary degrees

Kennedy-Western University (added for the benefit of potential future searches on this degree mill)

 

It is this basic practice that is at the heart of my problem with K-W. Experience means nothing. We have all worked with folks that had 10 or more years "experience" but were pretty clueless. Might be a few former co-workers may have put me in that category.

The point is that educational institutions are charged with certifying that specific learning and or knowledge has taken place or been acquired by its students. That is what a university is there for - to provide some reasonable standard by which the greater community can presume certain acquired knowledge by the student as a result of certification through the diploma granting process.

To award academic credit simply for having experience is a ridiculous notion given the charge that a university takes on. Academics are about knowledge, not simply experience.

The K-W process is void of any attempt to determine the knowledge of its applicants. It simply checks of experience. Academically bankrupt. It is a system designed for those who are at ease with rationalizations and at odds with the academic process of demonstrating what they know, not simply what they have experienced.

 

Curious

Bill:

I am curious

When and were did the FBI exactly use the term "degree mill" to describe K-W?

When did the US Department of Higher Education do?

Thanks,

 

RJT: When and were did the FBI exactly use the term "degree mill" to describe K-W?

Bill: This was posted in the DegreeInfo forum and IIRC you even responded to the post, something like, "that was too long ago to be relevent".

RJT: When did the US Department of Higher Education do?

Bill: It was the Higher Education Council not the Department of Education.

 

Into Kilauea with the lot of them!