Threat of the Week: Graduate Academy of Management

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by Chip, Nov 18, 2009.

Loading...
  1. Chip

    Chip Administrator

    Education Lawyer neglects to mention that he is (or at least, appears to be, based on the email address his account is registered under, and a little bit of research) George Mentz.

    It's also interesting to note that George Mentz, whether or not he is Education Lawyer, does not appear to have the "arms length" arrangement with the organizations that he says are his "clients" or are "represented" by him. I don't know of any other corporate counsel that is the named registrant of his clients' domain names.

    As for the arguments, I don't think they refute anything said above. Yes, there are legitimate certification groups who essentially attest to the experience/legitimacy of a given person's credentials. However, RFValve's experience, while it's remotely possibly it was anomalous, indicates that no actual validation of credentials was occurring.

    Also, as others have pointed out, at least some of the organizations in question have names confusingly similar to older, more well established credentialing organizations. This does not enhance an argument that they are seeking to provide a legitimate service.

    There are lots of unwonderful schools that have made analogous arguments about their programs to the arguments being made here. I don't think the arguments have any more weight for certification agencies than they do for schools, other than the fact there's no "gold standard" (such as regional accreditation is for schools), that exists for certification agencies.

    In short, while the idea of certification agencies is not inherently bad, absent a rigorous process of evaluating potential certificants, and some sort of recognized oversight of organizations claiming to provide such services, it is nearly impossible to determine whether a given certification organization is actually providing a meaningful service that employers can rely on, or simply acting as a credential mill that will hand certifications to anyone based on whatever they claim.
     
  2. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

    "The AAFM Board of Presidential Advisors has closed the IAFM Dubai Training and the license and supervision of training courses has now been transfered by the AAFM Board of Standards Direct to the IIR Training for the UAE."

    As AAFM is nothing more than a TM name, there is nothing that prevents me or people in the middle east to grant certifications under another name like AAFMC (Canada) or AAFMM(Middle East). People don't realize that they are just buying a piece of paper from a traded mark name, their partners in the middle east probably realized that they don't have to pay them money so George got upset with them.

    I propose a new certification, a DIC (Degree Info certified) for those that want to show expertise in distance learning.
     
  3. sentinel

    sentinel New Member

    Does the DIC come with a Degree Info Certified Knowedge (DICK) book to study for the examination? :eek: If not, you are shorting your students.
     
  4. Chip

    Chip Administrator

    Copyright notices I've seen generally include language that appears to restrict fair use. In our case, that message is there to protect DegreeInfo's rights against wholesale scraping of our message database and content. It is not intended to restrict fair use of Degreeinfo content for appropriate purposes covered under fair use guidelines in copyright law.

    The courts have pretty consistently found that restrictive language does not effectively restrict appropriate and legitimate fair use. Criticism, analysis, commentary, and other such uses are clearly defined and specifically referenced types of fair use, and I doubt there's any credible argument that the question asked, and RFValve's answer (as well as the commentary on this thread) represent both the spirit and the letter of fair use.
     
  5. Denver

    Denver Member

    Dr. Bear wrote:

    Université de l'Etat de la Louisiane , Bachelor of Arts in International Politics
    Hmmmmmm.

    Dr. Bear, l'Universite' de l'Etat de la Louisiane is the former name of Louisiana State University (LSU). This was the name when Colonel William Tecumseh Sherman was superintendent (whose later Civil War campaign, Sherman’s march to the sea, was featured in numerous films). The name was changed in 1870. I welcome the oldest contributor to the discussion group.
     
  6. Chip

    Chip Administrator

    This reminds me of the old alt.education.distance discussion back when the unwonderful Monticello University was around and its proprietor was making similar arguments. We decided then that we needed a government-recognized accreditor specifically for these unwonderful schools, so they could have the recognition they deserved.

    The name suggested to appropriately recognize such unwonderful programs was the Bureau of Governmental University Standards, or BOGUS. That way, each such school could proudly proclaim "We have BOGUS accreditation."
     
  7. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    I love this.
     
  8. sentinel

    sentinel New Member

    At least such schools would not be stretching the truth with prospective students.
     
  9. GMISANARSE

    GMISANARSE New Member

    Royal Society of Fellows

    It gets even better with Mentz's claims of alignment to the fatuous Royal Society of Fellows a pathetic attempt at deluding people to believe that he is aligned in some way to the Royal Society which is the national academy of science of the UK and the Commonwealth and is at the cutting edge of scientific progress and who would never let any of these pretend operations across their doorstep.

    True "Greats" are admitted as Fellows of the Royal Society and not as members of the Royal Society of Fellows. A subtle distinction and one used time and time again by Diploma Mills such as the Graduate Academy of Management and the American Academy of Project Management www.aapm.info all of which are singularly owned by Mentz and his cohorts.


    regards
     
  10. GMISANARSE

    GMISANARSE New Member

    AAFM Diploma Mill Committees

    Very amused to see that one of the AAFM / Mentz diploma mill sites lists several committees. One committee has more than 120 members. MORE THAN 120.... ;)

    So where do these 120 meet. When was the last time they met. When will they meet again ?

    or is the reality somewhat simpler ........ these people get a little reward from AAFM for buying their certificate and allowing their names to appear on the website in a pathetic and transparent attemt to give legitimacy for AAFM. Total nonsense. Note that AAFM has clauses buried in its volumes of nionsensical legal jargon where it claims it is allowed to use peoples names.

    I wonder if the majority of these committee members who actually hold some real qualifications as well as those they bought from AAFM realise that their names are on 120+ members committees for this diploma mill ?
     
  11. rickyjo

    rickyjo Guest

    Threat of the week? Does that imply that this is not the first time this has happened?
     
  12. GMISANARSE

    GMISANARSE New Member

    Classic Amazon review of one of Mentz's Books

    http://www.amazon.com/Private-Wealth-Management-Financial-Planning/dp/0615158749

    "This is my first review...I felt obligated to warn others about this book. First, the typesetting is the worst I have ever seen...it looks like a rough draft. Even the text inside the book leaves 2" of blank space on top of each page as if it were printed a size too large. But that's not the real issue. This book is a mish mash of information, some of it useful. It's as if the author asked a research assistant to pull it together by searching for it on the Internet. And guess what, certain sections are lifted verbatum from government websites. For example, a paragraph entitled "How Can I Buy a Treasury bill, note, bond or TIPS?" contains the answer "buy Treasury bills, notes, bonds or TIPS at one of the auctions we conduct or in the securities market"...I wondered who the "we" was so I Googled the question and turned up the same answer on the website treasurydirect.gov. While this site is listed in the "Sources and References" section at the end of the book, the least the editor could have done is make the text consistent. If you are looking for a handy place to reference text from government websites then this book may be for you. But if you are looking for something original, keep looking."

    If anyone needs any further evidence of the con that is www.aafm.info etc!!

    Unfortunately Mentz and his like won't go away so please keep up the good work and keep exposing them. Googling on Diploma Mill and AAPM now lists this organisation at number 1
     
  13. MENALEGAL

    MENALEGAL New Member

    Fraudulent Certificate Mill - George Mentz

    I represent the Dubai Government where Dr. Mentz attempted to set up his online diploma and certificate mill.

    Last year an acrimonious split occurred between the international board associated with Mentz's AAFM. The international team split with him, rebranded and sought formal accreditation in the Gulf, and I understand in Europe, as an education institution.

    Mentz fails to understand that an online certificate produced with no assessment or no pre-requisite fails to meet all sensible criteria of a professional certificate. In our enquiries more than half of the individuals he had listed on his so-called 'board of standards' had never been involved in AAFM whatsoever.

    It does not surprise us that he once again is coming under attack because of his lack of commitment to quality.
     
  14. MENALEGAL

    MENALEGAL New Member

    I believe the forum will find that apart from the JD and MBA all the other qualifications are those that he has awarded himself from his own certificate mill - this gentleman does not appear to suffer from any modicum of modesty
     
  15. GMISANARSE

    GMISANARSE New Member

    Friends,

    AAFM, as you all know, has been selling AAFM certificates thru internet world wide for just $ 320.

    I had one of my sons send AAFM his CV (without 'Education Lawyer' or George Mentz who is the lawyer for the 'education provider' AAFM (strange co-incidence) knowing that it was a boy and my son)

    The same day my son received a congratulation letter from George telling him the AAFM Board of Standards (who is George himself) had reviewed the CV and found him to be qualified for RFS & MFP certification and asked him to send $ 320 to receive his 2 Certificates with membership card thru courier.

    WHY IS THE LAWYER FOR AAFM SENDING OUT CONGRATULATION LETTERS ON BEHALF OF HIS 'CLIENT' ??????

    My son sent the money, and few days later my son received the 2 certificates and membership in AAFM, without any scrutiny, course material, course outline,speaker and without nothing at all... Simply CV and got 2 certificates taking into consideration my son had only 3 years of work experience...

    The reason to go thru this process and acquire these fake certificates, was to have a proof that AAFM is into Cetificate Mill business....

    I have all correspondance including copies of certificates awarded to my son by George Mentz for the record...

    For Your Information....
     
  16. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    You're correct. DegreeInfo gets threats of this sort from time to time. It's kind of funny, isn't it?
     
  17. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    The history is somewhat interesting but I have to say, speaking only for myself, you can not post here anonymously and expect that people will actually accept the idea that you represent the government of a entire emirate. Regardless of whether I agree with you or not, why should we believe that you are an official representative of the government of Dubai?
     
  18. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

    If it helps, ICMA Australia has considered them a mill certification. From CMA Australia's web site:
    "the use of the ICMA post-nominals with awards from unaccredited universities or from businesses posing as professional associations, such as Joe Citizen PhD (Degree Mill U), AAFM, CMA will not be permitted. Members found to be using such unaccredited or unregistered post-nominals along with those of the ICMA will be asked to stop continuing the practice as it devalues the ICMA qualification."

    http://www.cmawebline.org/membership/postnominals.php
     
  19. Chip

    Chip Administrator

    As Kizmet said, we get them fairly frequently. Most, but not all, have the title "threat of the week" so if you search that phrase in our search function, you should see some of the previous "winners."
     

Share This Page