"Cheyenne Police Chief Got Degree from Diploma Mill"

"Cheyenne Police Chief Got Degree from Diploma Mill"

(that's their wording, not mine)

Cheyenne, Associated Press


The city of Cheyenne has paid for the city’s police chief to earn a masters degree from a suspected diploma mill. Police Chief Bob Fecht got the degree from Lacrosse University in Mississippi.

http://www.kgwn.tv/home/headlines/1494192.html

(This is a CBS site, but the AP credit suggests that it is Mead Gruver, who's really on a roll.)

 

The Chief of Police should certainly be held accountable for his actions ... if a lower ranking officer or a police recruit were found to be using bogus academic credentials they would probably be terminated. However, the City of Cheyenne should also examine its policies concerning tuition reimbursment for employees. If the city had to approve the program/degree/school before the employee began their "studies", presumably this type of problem could avoided. (if the Human Resources personnel consulted their Bear's Guide )

 

He is probably very busy reporting to Moscow against the Chechen fighters to bother to check out the legitimacy of the degree he is obtaining.

 

Sigh. And to think he could have avoided all of this simply by attending a school licensed in his own home state of Wyoming....

Seriously, do we think he'd have had the same trouble with a degree from Kennedy-Western? I think so, which would be a testament to the fakeness of Wyoming-licensed, unaccredited schools.

 

The big problem was that the city paid for the degree, and the Chief might have gotten a raise when he got the degree. The public doesn't appreciate their money being spent at degree mills.

For instance, if my Chief got a Lacrosse Ph.D., I don't think anyone would care, because we don't get tuition assistance, and the education incentive ends with a Master's degree. If he wanted to waste his own money on a degree mill, he might be embarrassed in the end, but I highly doubt that it would be a very newsworthy story.

 

I don't think he would be in any trouble if he went to KWU to earn his degree. It is licenced by the State, and even the State of Oregon doesn't classify KWU as a degree mill.
I suspect he didn't earn a KWU degree because it was too much work.
Jim

 

Well, there's not much evidence of that, and a lot of evidence (including sworn testimony) to the contrary.

 

Hi every the reasoning in Chechnya is totally different from the ways and reasoning in the United States. You ask yourself, does the ordinary person in Grozny careless of the educational achievement of their Police boss? Most likely the answer will be no. Will the corrupt and lackadaisical Russian government care to check out the legitimacy of the Chechen police boss as long as he his adhering to the whims and caprices of the Moscow? The answer is no. So their goes the thinking in that part of the world

 

This is plain incorrect. Most diploma mills that have been proven fraudulent in a court of law had a state license. Explain to me how the claim of life experience for credit claimed by KWU is NOT deceitful! Explain to me why KWU fled the jurisdiction of California, Hawaii, and Idaho. Explain to me why KWU will not enroll students in California. Explain to me why the investigator passing 2 graduate engineering courses from KWU with only 16 hours of work is not indicative of gross academic negligence.

 

I've already said that I have issues with that "sworn testimony". They are personal opionions and not suitable for this forum.
Jim

 

Nuts.

 

"... not suitable for this forum."

Speaking of what is not suitable for this forum ..., this thread was started by the esteemed Dr. John Bear with a link to a news article that the Chief of Police of Cheyenne, Wyoming obtained his master's degree from a suspected diploma mill. After a follow up comment on this specific incident, this thread can logically evolve into several related areas:
- public officials using questionable academic credentials
- tuition reimbursment by employers
- police dept. continuing educational requirements
- perhaps even commentary on Cheyenne, Wyoming in general

What isn't logical is the disturbing trend of posters, regardless of topic of the initial thread and forum, to move the discourse to the topic of accredited v. unaccredited. There is a separate forum for such discussions, one in which I personally have no interest and choose not to participate. This thread, for example, has mutated into something beyond repair. Those with an interest in the original topic are SOL at this point. That's wrong!!!

The people who have made KWU, St. Regis, PWU, St. Luke School of Medicine, the Oregon ODA, etc. the focal point of their DL interests have their own forum in which they can exchange ideas. (and all too often personal insults) It is inappropriate and rude to intentionally steer (hijack???) unrelated topics back to the accredited v. unaccredited topic just so you can restate a point (for the umpteenth time) that you have already made in the other forum. As hard as it may be for some of you to believe, many people who visit degreeinfo.com don't care about accredited v. unaccredited, DETC v. RA, etc. I think you'll find a more vigorous debate on the merits (or lack thereof) of unaccredited schools by informed posters if these discussions are confined to the appropriate forum.

 

I HAVE to take issue with the title of the article.

The content states, and I quote:

"Fecht says the research projects and studies he did all involve issues in Cheyenne and have helped him and the department serve the community.

"Lacrosse is an online university that offers to give students college credit for life experiences. It has been mentioned in reports by the General Accounting Office as a suspected diploma mill."

Just because one department says it's a diploma mill don't make it so (and I know the argument both ways).

It appears that his studies have also helped improve him both personally and in the work he does in the community?

 

So, that's what we can expect when an anonymous troll is confronted with annoying (but accurate) facts. Very nice.

Enjoy your fake degree, "JimS." Hope it doesn't explode in your face someday.

 

Re: "... not suitable for this forum."

Since I suggested the comparison to K-WU, let me respond.

Lacrosse is no different from K-WU. Not at all. Since this person was from Wyoming, I thought it would be an interesting point. If you don't agree, either say so or don't. (Or complain, like you did. Whatever.)

BTW, isn't it a bit odd to complain about a thread being off-topic in an Off-Topic forum? Just wondering.

 

Kelechi: "So their goes the thinking in that part of the world" -- referring to the lack of interest in fake degrees in middle Europe.

John: Well, when the (subsequently deceased) President of Croatia bought himself a fake American doctorate, the media there showed considerable interest, leading to several stories in the National Political Weekly by Marko Custic.

 

Cheyenne police chief defends distance-learning degree

 

Reads to me like he's an innocent third party in this.

 

thread summary

1. The Cheyenne police chief got caught and is trying to talk his way out of trouble.

2. JimS is a shill and an apologist for degree mills.

3. Rich Douglas called him on it.

4. Tom H. is trying to play moderator and dictate which forum to use and the direction threads can flow. In a previous post he advised me to change my logon ID. Tom, remove your jacket, loosen your tie and lighten up! This is supposed to be fun.

5. intsvc sees the Cheyenne police chief as a "victim" and wants to let him off the hook.

I remain,

 

Interesting assessment. Based upon what? Doing a degree without actually taking courses? Paying a lump sum for the degree? Taking a degree from an unaccredited school, then asking for reimbursement, despite the fact that an accredited degree was required to receive it? Or the fact that this very public official didn't to a lick of due diligence in all of this?

Just curious.