KW responds to Collins circus

None, but if I had any, what’s it to you? We aren’t making any of those naughty ad hominem arguments now, are we Bruce? Some miscreant might post your picture on one of those other websites you don’t control.

Person A lives in a city where it is illegal to take a dump on a public sidewalk. Although it might be convenient to do so, Person A never takes a dump on a public sidewalk.

Person B lives in a city where the government celebrates diversity in thought, word and deed. It does not want to damage the self-esteem of its residents, or dictate cultural norms. Here it is perfectly legal to take a dump on a public sidewalk. Person B takes a dump on a public sidewalk whenever the urge strikes.

Using degreeinfo.com logic, Person B is the better person because it is perfectly legal to take a dump on the sidewalk. No thought is given to the underlying validity of the act, as long as it is deemed “legal” by someone who purports to know better than we do.

Person A, on the other hand, is the lesser person, because the government in his city cannot and does not certify, endorse or insure that he will never take a dump on the sidewalk.

Regarding K-W, let’s examine the underlying validity of the act in question. Presumably the state of Wyoming dislikes true degree mills as much as we all do. In attempting to define that elusive concept they have set forth The Five Benchmarks of Millism described in the code. (In this regard they are far more useful than anybody at the Collins circus.)

Assuming these five benchmarks accurately determine the underlying ill, and assuming K-W follows the law, they have met this objective standard and are not a mill. Many of your non-traditional RA darlings, although perfectly legal, can’t meet the same standard. By failing to meet that standard, aren’t they just regionally accredited mills? By meeting the standard, isn’t a school providing a legitimate education, without regard to whether it is accredited or not?

 

I guess that Gus's point was lost on you. Accreditation means that the obscene and probably fraudulent practices that are excercised by degree mills like KWU are not happening at those accredited schools. If KWU actually did operate at a higher standard then it would have been accredited years ago. Instead it flees California to avoid prosecution. It flees Idaho and Hawaii for the same reason until it could find a standard low enough that it could continue its scam.

 

Your analogy is flawed to the point of irrelevant.

Here's a much better analogy.

In many places, carrying a concealed weapon is against the law without a permit. Further there might be restrictions on who can get a permit and usually convicted felons are not allowed to have permits. KWU is like a convicted felon not being allowed to have a permit for carrying a concealed weapon because they can't be trusted. A convicted felon does not follow higher standards of behavior than a police detective that carries a gun just because he's not allowed to carry a gun. That is a rather ridiculous argument.

 

All of this will soon become moot when Wyoming, like other states before it, makes K-WU illegal. I wonder where they'll "move" then?

 

One man's "lack of regulatory standards" is another man's freedom. A couple million people already have voted with their feet and fled the state over this issue.

 

I’m sure there is an analogy in there somewhere. Let me guess. Person A lives in Oregon; Person B lives in Wyoming; and Kennedy-Western is what Person B left on the sidewalk.

I think you presume too much. If the State of Wyoming truly abhorred degree mills, state statutes would not let them operate in the state with impunity. Although we have seen some recent efforts to try and curtail the activities of degree mills in that state, much more is needed.

Absolutely nothing in the statues you have quoted can be seen as an effort to define degree mills. If anything, the statute clearly demonstrates the lack of faith and trust Wyoming has in the schools it licenses.

I think you simply assume too much.

They aren’t standards; they are legal prohibitions. Prohibitions, I might add, that are not imposed on accredited (both regionally and nationally) schools.

No. Once again, they’re not standards; the statutes simply impose legal prohibitions on unaccredited schools that are not imposed on accredited schools. For example, in my state you must be 16 years old before you are legally allowed to drive. The implication is that the state does not deem 15 year old individuals sufficiently trustworthy to issue them driver’s licenses.

No. By adhering to the statutes, the school is simply operating legally in a state that allows degree mills to legally operate.

 

With all due respect, tt seems to me that the well-intentioned rhetoric in the preceding posts is a very close kin to moot. What makes KW an unabashed, indefensible business masquerading as a school is its complete lack of a systematic process in assigning academic credit for life experience. The notion that they have a "review committee" has been demonstrated to be completely ridiculous. They will turn a one page resume into seven graduate courses worth of credits.

There is no defense for this singularly damning activity of KW. This has nothing to do with the Wyoming law. It is a practice that is either founded in reasonable academic procedures or it is not. With KW, it is a give away. Many credits are offered for nothing. This is the foundation of a diploma mill.

I would like Redlyne, or anyone else, to attempt a cogent defense of this non-existent assessment method.

 

I agree and when someone is done with that I'd like to see an explanation of how the few KWU classes that must be taken are not really the absolute joke they appeared to be in the "Collin's circus" testimony. Sixteen hours of time is all it took to successfully complete two KWU Master's level classes!

 

As Redlyne has now learned the hard way, one should never threaten a moderator.

 

Actually they have an assessment Paul. There are some papers that you fill out called PECA.

I think I figured out what the acronym stands for:

Phony Evaluation Chicanery Admissions

Not sure though!

 

Fine, but in this country, Kennedy-Western isn't a university. It can have all the "freedom" it wants, but it is not a university. It is a business pretending to be one.

 

I'm not sure from which state you are talking about here but the fact is that the populations of both California and Wyoming have steadily increased since 1970 (CA by 75% and WY by 50%).
Check out the figures at http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/

 

I'm sure that it's a very handsome picture. I'll be watching for it.