http://www.bendbulletin.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=16634 This now certainly sets the cat among the pigeons. The new 'disclaimer' which must be put on all material where one purports to hold an uaccredited degree will be interesting to regulate. Just what size type font should this be? It sounds similar to the Hawaiin legislation where many used to put it on the back of covers and in very small footers. Nonetheless, the story is poorly written, and Sen. Ted Ferrioli, R-John Day (what a name!!!) is totally ill informed when statements such as '...one applicant has a real degree and the other has a counterfeit from a degree mill' are made. Cheers, George
Yes, reporters are not nearly as well informed regarding diploma mills as is the general DegreeInfo crowd. For example, do a Google search and find a number examples of people with CCU degrees having their degree put in the same category as a diploma mill. The typical attitude with the general population when learning that a degree is unaccredited is to assume that the degree is bogus from a degree mill since the vast majority of them are. That is one thing that makes the Oregon law so delicious.
The new Oregon legislation doesn't specify type size. http://landru.leg.state.or.us/05reg/measures/sb1000.dir/sb1039.intro.html The new wording in the Oregon Revised Statutes is here, indicated by the material inside the { + and + } brackets: { + (2)(a) A person who has been awarded a degree from a school that does not meet the requirements of subsection (1) of this section may claim or represent that the person possesses an academic degree if the claim or representation is accompanied by a disclaimer that states: '(Name of school) does not have accreditation recognized by the United States Department of Education and has not been approved by the Office of Degree Authorization.'. (b) The disclaimer shall be made in any resume, letterhead, business card, announcement or advertisement in which the person is claiming or representing to have an academic degree from a school that does not meet the requirements of subsection (1) of this section. (c) This subsection does not alter any requirement for obtaining a license, admission into a school, teaching or employment or for other areas in which a degree from an accredited school is required. + } True. Another problem with the Hawaii unaccredited degree disclaimer is that it is possible to embed it in a longer text passage that essentially subverts it. Write a paragraph about how accreditation is voluntary and private and about how the US government only recognizes it for purposes of distributing financial aid. (Then insert the disclaimer.) And follow it up with a paragraph about how many of the best universities in the world like Oxford and Cambridge don't have USDoEd recognized accreditation either. I don't see anything in the Oregon wording to prevent that. Of course, that kind of written camoflauge might not be very practical on resumes and advertisements. But you can safely bet that in many cases the written legal disclaimer will be accompanied by all kinds of verbal contortionism trying to dismiss it's importance and explain it away.
