Global University of Science and Technology (GUST)

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by cacoleman1983, Sep 7, 2022.

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  1. cacoleman1983

    cacoleman1983 Well-Known Member

    I'm surprised no one here has posted about this school which partners with other schools like Azteca University and San Juan de la Cruz University for transfer credit and validation with International European University (IEU) to award official degrees. They also have recognition for foreign credential evaluations / equivalency degrees with CUFCE. I've known about this school for over a year now but wanted to see if anyone else would have started a thread about it.

    http://gust.education
     
  2. Stanislav

    Stanislav Well-Known Member

    Degrees they offer are not the same offered by International European University; I have my doubts that any degrees IEU would grant would have official standing. That is, assuming such degrees are even conferred by IEU and it's not some vague MOU where an obscure Ukrainian school agrees to "mutually recognize credentials" with a weird foreign entity.
    BTW, I have never heard of "International European University"; their website suggests that this is a new schools on the far outskirts of Kyiv, catering to international students (medical and dental seems to be what they emphasize. Reps in India and Shri Lanka). Sucks to be them right about now; I hope at least the buildings are intact.

    P. S. IEU's official website is in many languages but NOT Ukrainian (other than scans of their diploma samples, that do look convincing). Understandable, because Kyiv still have a lot of primarily-Russophone people and the school is mostly for foreigners. But it is very annoying, given the situation. Care to show SOME at least token patriotism in time of war, folks.
     
  3. Stanislav

    Stanislav Well-Known Member

    Nevermind; they do have a Ukrainian website. The one I found first was for international students.
     
  4. AsianStew

    AsianStew Moderator Staff Member

    Last edited: Sep 7, 2022
  5. cacoleman1983

    cacoleman1983 Well-Known Member

    The strange thing about this set up with IEU is that the arrangement will likely be similar to what UCN had been doing with a MOU that would make the degrees official because IEU will not necessarily offer the same degree programs as these schools in this partnership they plan to certify. This is a much needed revenue stream for the Ukrainian school. IEU while properly accredited does not have a Wikipedia page about their University.
     
  6. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Three red flags plus that last one, which is worth three more on its own, as I see it.

    How many red flags are enough? :(:(:(
     
  7. Garp

    Garp Well-Known Member

    Recognized and accredited by City University of Cambodia. We have a thread on that and as I recall you and others found them sketchy. Addresses in Australia, strange connections, and they ripped off verbatim a Brown University description of number of employees and so on.

    They claim to be accredited by:

    "The GUST programs are validated & accredited by The Oxbridge: The Oxford and Cambridge International Professional Qualifications. It is a leading UK based assessment and accreditation body. The Oxbridge provides assessment, accreditation services, and professional awards, up to the equivalent of level nine of the Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF). Awards include Diploma and a Specialist Doctorate (Dr), or a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) which both come with the grade of Life Senior Fellow (Level 8). The Oxbridge also offers a Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship (Level 9), carrying the title of Professor. (Prof.).

    Furthermore, the GUST® dully registered and complying with the requirements of ISO 21001 set forth by the International Organization for Standardization. The ISO headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, launched ISO 21001 in 2018. It is now endorsed by 125 countries, and is a globally accepted accreditation standards for Educational Organizations. Then, ISO 21001 accreditation standards further validation of the GUST’s status as the most globally recognized educational and research complex."

    Of course don't think that is Oxford and Cambridge.

    Perhaps by some luck the European Ukrainian validation works out.

    Why throw hard earned cash and time into this. Oddities abound and your cash and effort may be blown away by GUST like a gust of wind taking that cash into the wild blue yonder. I won't make any fart jokes.

    At least UCN is accredited where it is. Always odd when these other schools crop up accredited by entities no one has ever heard of or aren't the equivalent of accreditation or by small Ministries of Business, Youth and so on in poor countries with unstable governments. Doesn't seem like a win-win situation.

    I have a PhD in Neuroscience based out of a mailbox in Australia but ostensibly located on a corral outcropping in Vanuatu and validated by the Ministry of Youth Sports in Benin.
     
    Last edited: Sep 8, 2022
  8. Stanislav

    Stanislav Well-Known Member

    I don't see how it's similar. I wouldn't go to SA, personally, but KAUST is a major university the Kingdom pours a lot of money into. So it's a legitimate offering, even though people they want to recruit are better off finding something in US.
     
  9. Stanislav

    Stanislav Well-Known Member

    They present their CUFCE evaluation deal in a very misleading way. This alone is enough not to trust anything else they put on that website. Avoid.
     
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  10. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Good one! :) You hit it, Garp!

    In past years, people would have been (rightly, per me) laughed out of the forum for ANY serious consideration of places like these.

    Know what? These 3 "schools" are a Trinity of Caprinities. (Caprine = goat-like). This is a new low. Sad that people who should know better, by now, would embark on a serious, hopeful exploration of these...whatevers. I shudder to think of newbies possibly being influenced by any such nonsense.
    .
     
    Last edited: Sep 8, 2022
    Garp likes this.
  11. mbwa shenzi

    mbwa shenzi Active Member

    Oh well, here goes: the founder of GUST, Mohamed G. Kafafy is/was a director of the American Association for Higher Education and Accreditation, AAHEA. He's also on the advisory council of The Board of Quality Standards, aka Ballsbridge University. The AAHEA and the BQS both validate GUST degrees.

    The AAHEA, as has been mentioned before, is not the same organisation as the AAHE which went out of business in 2009, see again https://www.chronicle.com/article/inquiry-into-higher-education-group-reveals-odd-connections-1094/ California University FCE is a member of AAHEA

    GUST's programmes are validated and recognized by the World Green Economy Council, the president of which is, as it happens, the above mentioned Dr Kafafy, a graduate, if I remember correctly, of West Coast University, Panama, St Clements University, American University of London and the University of America, California.

    GUST claims accreditation from the Quality Assurance Commission UK, which is an organisation linked to Hardeep Sing Sandhu, Irish International University, now Isles International University.

    GUST degrees are apparently validated by Universidad San Juan de la Cruz in Costa Rica. I think there was a legitimate school with that name but it may have closed shop in 2006.On the other hand, there have been at least two other San Juan de la Cruzes out there, one run by Daniel Esteban Odin who ran an alternative UNESCO (Union Nacional de Education Superior Continua Organisada as well as an alternative to the International Association of Universities under the name International Alliance of Universities. The other San Juan de la Cruz was/is run by the above mentioned Dr Sandhu. As for The Oxbridge, another accreditor of GUST, see https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2008/01_january/07/bogus.shtml

    The many Chartered Institutes mentioned on GUST's website are interesting too. 'nough said.
     
    Johann likes this.
  12. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Thanks for ALL of that, my extremely knowledgeable friend. As I said earlier, I shudder to think of "newbies" possibly getting pointed in any wrong direction.
    Hopefully, your informative remarks have made the dangers clear. Some days lately, I really wonder what has happened around here (DI). The level of knowledge appears to go down and the permissiveness goes WAY up.
     
    Last edited: Sep 8, 2022
  13. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    @mbwa shenzi Thanks again for your good work in "righting the ship." Much needed - and appreciated.
     
  14. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    @Garp Thanks for your perspicacity. A good thing for DI. It needs you.
     
    Garp likes this.
  15. Dustin

    Dustin Well-Known Member

    Note that AAHEA appears on lists of unrecognized accreditors and are not recognized by CHEA/DOE. (http://www.b-ac.info/unaccredited-agencies.html)

    Edit: Sorry, I understand now. You were noting a variety of suspicious connections. It wasn't clear because I wasn't familiar with many of those other organizations (outside of Ballsbridge.)
     
    Last edited: Sep 8, 2022
  16. Stanislav

    Stanislav Well-Known Member

    In other words, it's a time bomb.
    Avoid, avoid, avoid.
     
  17. mbwa shenzi

    mbwa shenzi Active Member

    Well, you know, AAHEA is unaccredited but I don't know where the Board of Quality Standards copied that list from. I don't think they actually checked it either, because elsewhere, BQS lists AAHEA (and CUFCE, and a few others) as a partner, http://www.b-ac.info/accredited-agenciespartners.html

    No, I apologise, it wasn't very clear, I guess. I've been keeping track of these schools/organisations since around 2006 so I sometimes forget that they might be new acquaintances to others. As for ASIC, I've been following them since 2008, that is even before they got into international accreditation. While ASIC serves a purpose in the UK - and it's not accreditation as in the US - it has no remit outside the UK and quality assurance of UK universities is of course not something ASIC is responsible for.

    A former AAHEA director is a member of ASIC UK's so-called ACS consultants, as is Dr Berchtold, dean of Azteca's and UCN's European programs. Another is a graduate of St Regis University. Let's just say there's a pattern to this.
     
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  18. Garp

    Garp Well-Known Member

    Is there the equivalent of "the Dark Web" for higher "education" or perhaps this is a dusty corner of the "Dark Web" where these entities and personages network and grow in their bubble of the underside of education? That part that is opaque in terms of equivalency to Regionally Accredited or Recognized accreditation and operates in a twilight zone of legitimacy. Paging Rod Serling!
     
  19. mbwa shenzi

    mbwa shenzi Active Member

    Maybe, I don't know, but quite often they're fairly open about the fact that they cooperate with each other. I had a look at https://gust.education/memberinstitutions/. SC Private Swiss School is in the list. That's the Swiss branch of David Le Cornu's St Clements University.
     
  20. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    For many years, his name has struck me as unusual. Le Cornu - "the Horned One." Ominous... :eek:
     

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