Hey folks. I answered a recent Craigslist advert looking for Masters level instructors to teach on-line. Turned in my resume and, a few days later, got a "You're Hired" notice from Victorville International University / American Centered University.No phone interview, no follow up email, just the hiring notice. I'm good but I'm not -that- good. They want me to teach two classes in the Fall, with a class size of 10-20 students, and a payment of $100 a head per student. $2000-$3000 wouldn't be bad but I'm a little concerned that the outfit isn't on the full up and up. Anyone have any experience with this outfit?
Hi Jody - It would be helpful if you'd provide some links but I think that you already know the answer to the question you've asked.
Victorville International University / American Centered University The web address of Victorville International University / American Centered University returns a link to DNS Made Easy (http://ahes-edu.us). Here is the primary URL found via a search of Google: http://parthaseo.wordpress.com Methinks the school is not legitimate. Sorry, my web browser is acting up this morning and will not let me use the URL button in the message edit window.
It looks like an unaccredited school. Real online schools normally conduct an interview and once hired an online training. A school that hires you with no interview and no training is indeed suspicious. I would be careful about sending my private information to an online outfit with zero credebility. You might want to try to work for them if you care about the money but I wouldn't send them my transcripts right away. Some schools also hire any person that applies just to fill their catalog with credible faculty. The money sounds about right but I would see if they actually pay before sending any credential.
I've removed some links in the previous post because they pointed to a site that has previously attempted to use devious means to plant their site links on degreeinfo (for the purpose of increasing their own search engine rankings, and pushing their e-book.) I am not saying that that the original poster was working for said site, only that since we've had issues with this particular site in the past, I didn't wish to reward them by linking to them, and I'm now suspicious whenever I see that site linked here. No offense intended to the original poster.
That was my reply. As I run a (non-degree info) site myself, I do my best to include links to where I get information from or who provided the information to me. I always figure everyone can use a shout-out for a bit of a traffic bump. I didn't know, though, there was bad blood between your site and the other site. Like this place, I found it to be a useful and friendly resource. The point of my reply was to thank folks for the help. I withdrew my name from what was pointed out to be a diploma mill. Finding out that it was associated with a woman who, on top of awarding worthless degrees, believes in Atlantis was a real hoot.
This sounds like a variation of other work-at-home scams that are going around. They try to get personal information from you like checking account numbers and social security numbers. I would file a complaint with the FTC. https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/
No worries, Jody, at first I was suspicious but the more I looked at it the more I realized it was simply what you said. Unfortunately, said organization has, more than one, used devious means to try to get traffic so we don't link to them. As for Maxine Asher... she's definitely a hoot. In addition to her Atlantis escapades, she wrote a book, which I own a copy of, called "Ancient Energy" and, even by my very new-agey beliefs, was pretty far over the line. Her novel "Waves of Atlantis" was even wackier. And when she ran American World University (a lovely unwonderful), she claimed that it occupied several very large buildings in, if I remember correctly, Iowa... but she refused to reveal where these large buildings were. One of her former employees later ratted out the actual location as a small, nondescript storefront in a nondescript strip mall. Definitely one of the more interesting characters in the world of diploma mills and unwonderfuls.
Jody, The school is a real University and are actually recognized by the US Department of Education. They seem to recruit professors and give them the hire but do check backgrounds and do full interviews once you are required to teach. The school itself is also listed with the California Board of Education and is required to follow policies of the state. It seems that your hire was to let you know that you have been selected to teach in the future but will have a full interview when they need you since you were probably chosen to teach online. The school has educational programs worldwide and I had a full interview before I was sent to South Korea to teach to MBA students. Best of luck.
What accrediting agency is VIU accredited with (and for those who are following along - we all know that the US DOE does NOT accredit institutions).
Well, how incredibly coincidental. I decided to do a lil research on David Parker and discovered that this person just happens to have placed ads looking for affiliates to promote his unwonderful school overseas, claims to have lots of affiliates already promoting it, and best of all, offering a 60/40 "commission" split on tuition paid by referred students if affiliates will allow use of their computer equipment/labs for students (something tells me this is a "flexible" requirement to get that cut.) Now... tell me, if the school's operating costs are so low that they can give away 40 to 60% of tuition to somebody referring students to them, just how good a program can it possibly be? Oh, and another ad shows that this person was also recruiting "MBA professor jobs in Illinois for American Centered University", not exactly the language a legitimate academic institution would be using to attract qualified faculty. And if the school is in California, then why are the professors in Illinois? Now for another joy: The school, on the posting I found, claims: Either they are completely ignorant, since the California "school board" does not accredit schools, or they are intentionally being ambiguous and misleading with the intent of implying credibility they do not have. And check out the cufce.org site... what a joke. How many educational credential evaluators do you know who threaten libel actions on their own sites? Or, for that matter, run their credential evaluation service out of a daycare center? Few things annoy me more than unwonderful school operators posting here and using phrases like "they seem to recruit professors" to imply that the poster is not affiliated with the school. But, lucky for this fine institution, this thread exists, will be indexed by the search engines, and if I'm feeling particularly petulant, i might even include images of said postings (which I've safely made in case somebody decides to try and remove the evidence.)
Great sleuthing! I have seen mills like this one set up booths at teacher conferences, post ads in otherwise legit publications and hack into listserves from professional associations to recruit information from faculty who are looking for adjunct teaching gigs. Some of these end up on rosters of diploma mills wthout their knowledge and unwittingly lend credibility to these bogus operations. Thanks for catching another one, Chip. jodyw1: When my institution is looking for faculty, we never use Craigslist.
The Amorsolo Foundation, that 'owns' them is a financial powerhouse. This from a non-profit info site: Amorsolo Foundation Incorporated EIN 912165044 IRS approved on 200212 Last filed 200812 Contact % Luis J Amorsolo Address 6550 Fountain Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90028-7823 Filing month 12 Assets $0 Income $14,250
