Threat of the week from... the University of Alternative Studies

Chip brings up an interesting point: If you look throughout this woman's websites, it becomes obvious she is desperately trying to pass parapsychology off as a legitimate, scientific endeavor. She stresses how her "university" has instructors who are schooled in physics, and that the paranormal nonsense they teach is just a highly controversial but legitimate subfield of physics. So if we accept her argument that the area in which she's schooled is really just a branch of physics, how can she simultaneously pretend that a religious degree makes one an expert? I'm sure no Lutheran minister, for example, would use a Doctor of Divinity degree as a credential to get a job teaching chemistry.

 

No, the situations are quite different.

The difference is simple: the title of "Reverend" is (as far as I know) exclusively religious, and is not subject to state regulation anywhere in the US. Anyone who wants this title (or other religious titles, like "Deacon", "Bishop", "Cardinal", etc.) can legally claim it -- just as anyone can legally claim the title of "Mister". It's an unregulated title.

In contrast, the title of "Doctor" is not exclusively religious -- it obviously has secular uses, and it obviously is subject to state regulation. Now, it's true that in some states (not all) have exemptions to such regulations; they may choose to exempt religious degrees used for religious purposes. South Carolina appears to be one of those states, so it's quite possible that you could legally use the title of "Dr." in SC based on an unaccredited religious doctorate.

However, the religious exemption typically applies only when unaccredited religious degrees are used for religious purposes. In this case, the "University of Alternative Studies" does not appear to be a religious organization, and the "Dr." in question appears to be promoting her expertise in a field (parapsychology) that is commonly regarded as secular.

In other words, it seems possible that the unaccredited religious degree in question is not being used for religious purposes -- and if this is the case, then the religious exemption may not apply.

 

And Elvis is alive.

 

Of course he is, Ram! Not bad-looking, for 75 or so. Here's the proof! :jester:

Elvis Found Alive

Johann

 

Yes, Elvis is alive and well and performing wedding ceremonies in Las Vegas.

 

He probably has ULC ordination... :smile:

 

rotflmswnao

 

He probably also has the ULC DD.

 

The shingle hanging outside his Vegas wedding chapel probably reads:

The Rev. Dr. Elvis Aaron Pressley, DD

 

Rumor has it that the King holds several doctorates:

"One for the money,
Two for the show -
Three to get ready
Now go, cat go...."

Uh-huh. Thank you very much.... :smile:

Johann

 

I don’t see the title “Dr.” mentioned on the university site anywhere…nor a mentioning of an honorary doctorate…? I did find one location where she mentions it on a profile somewhere else and it states it’s from ULC and clarifies. So, I’m not sure why this is even an issue.... As far as the copyright infringement business, people hire web developers and graphic artists to make their site and graphics. So… maybe they don’t know, or maybe by the time they found out… it was years later.

As far as the accreditation bit, there are no accredited degrees in parapsychology in USA anymore, so they could not be accredited. Yes, they have accredited programs, but not degrees. If you click through the link on the accreditation disclosure page, it mentions a recent attempt at seeking accreditation for a parapsychology degree by another university that is already accredited, but they were turned down.

I see people mentioning $$ degree purchased, and so forth, but no one paying any mind to what non-academic background she has and the academic backgrounds of the people who support the university. Maybe it was a bad call to go the rout of ULC, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t learned in her field. She is a member of some pretty well-known associations after all, and seems to have some pretty well-know associates in the field.

I see many comments on what they are doing wrong, but not any comments really on what they could change, reasonably change, to be less irksome. I don’t think the mission of the website/business it to deceive anyone, and I don’t think the advisory board is window dressing, why else would it consist of higher education teachers? I’m not sure if the university was meant to be a one woman show, as it does have a page for teachers that may be interested in teaching at this institution. Maybe it’s just taking a while to get the show on the road? Not sure.

All I see is a lot of bellyaching, and no reasonable constructive criticism. As another poster mentioned, that posters should use some of their ranting efforts towards

If the university is trying to offer

then I would think they may be willing to hear that constructive criticism and find away to put them into effect. If they are trying to be authentic/not deceiving, then I'd think they would enjoy making a few changes to avoid misleading students and bashing on this forum.

 

Suspicious of you, am I......

 

:sgrin: Non-Dr. Theresa M. Kelly visits this forum every once in a while when she is not busy scamming anybody. Here is another masterpiece from Non-Dr. Kelly as her alter ego Dana Skywalker I mean "Walker."

​

 

It appears that some changes have been made.

There is an archived copy of Ms. Kelly's "Professional Profile" page, dating from July 15, 2011, online at archive.org. It uses the phrase "Dr. Kelly" a total of 13 times.

The current version of the same page appears to be similar, but it does not use the phrase "Dr. Kelly". All occurrences of this phrase have been dropped, or replaced by "She" or "Prof. Kelly".

 

A deceased equine is receiving an unanswered beating in this.

I repeat, real universities don't act this way. The rest of this is just over-stating the obvious.

 

This archived copy is for June 2012, and it is still replete with "Dr. Kelly."

 

Perhaps it wouldn't be as questionable if all references to Miss Kelly were as follows:

Dr. (This is a ULC religious doctorate for which I paid $32.99.) Teresa Kelly