CCHS DEGREE HAS BEEN REJECTED

I am at my wits end. In 1999, I earned a masters degree in public health from CCHS. I also possess a Bachelor's degree in health sciences from UNISA. Over the past year, I have been teaching as an adjunct lecturer at Audrey Cohen College. Recently, I applied for a full-time position, and after the second interview, I received a nasty letter which advised me that my application could no longer be considered as my masters degree was not awarded by an accredited college. I challenged the administration, and was advised that DETC accreditation is not acceptable for faculty appointments, and that only qualifications from universities listed in the International Handbook of Universities or the Higher Education Database are valid for such an appointment. THIS IS INDEED DISAPPOINTING. Also, I have never heard of the higher education database. Further,it is my understanding that accredited american schools are not included in the Handbook, it is for foreign schools only.

Ron

 

Accept my sympathy. This is however unexpected because Audrey Cohen is a fine regionally accredited university. A master's degree from UNISA would have helped you scale through the interview/selection process.
It is well known that the acceptance of DETC and California state-approved schools in RA schools is almost zero. But then they accepted you as an adjunct instructor. Did they also revoke your adjunct appointment? If they did, it will be a real setback for all DETC graduates who intend to teach with their degrees.

Ike

 

They have not revoked my adjunct apointment, however, it's the end of the Spring semenster, and they have no contractural obligation to re-hire me - I guess I wouldn't be re-hired. I will be taking legal action, as this speaks volumes about double-standards (an implied assumption that students taught by adjuncts get a different quality of instruction from those taught by full-time faculty). It is indeed demoralizing, and I doubt that I will want to continue teaching even if allowed. Also, could someone check to see if any DETC accredited school is listed in the International Handbook of Universities. John has popularized this GAAP thing (in fact one of the administrators mentioned John Bear's guide) and now some innocent, well-meaning folks are victims. I check the collegs's faculty list, and there are full-time professors with PhD and in some cases all credentials from foreign countries, including Jamaica (UWI) France (Ministry of Education), Poland, Germany, Mexico, and two from Berne University. TELL ME WHERE ARE THE GODS!!!!

 

Hey!!!

Hold the phone here!

It is a common misconception, often put forward by degree mill operators, that GAAP is somehow an invention (or, in this case, "popularization") of John Bear. It is not.
GAAP is something that has been in existence for many, many years... registrars at colleges have always had standards as to what they would or would not accept. The term GAAP was first used, as I understand it, by someone (NOT John or Mariah) giving a presentation at an AACRO conference several years ago. It is *not* a new policy or procedure, just a name given to what already existed.

So the notion of "innocent victims" is bogus. Anyone that's done the slightest research should know that (with a couple of exceptions) a degree from any school without accreditation (or the international equivalent) is nearly worthless. And it's been stated here many times that DETC accreditation is considered by many to be second rate, particularly as viewed by academia.

So the "innocent victims" are simply folks that didn't do their homework, or miscalculated what they might do in the future.

 

I checked the collegs's faculty list, and there are full-time professors (counted 15) with PhD and in some cases all credentials from foreign countries, including Jamaica (UWI) France (Ministry of Education), Poland, Germany, Mexico, and two from Berne University. TELL ME WHERE ARE THE GODS!!!!

 

Man, with all the bluster regarding GAAP, it could not have been put any better than that.

Rich Douglas

 

Although some have continued to consider DETC schools "accredited", I would like to know when DETC schools were ever "generally accepted".

 

Mr. or Ms. Nycedpro writes that he or she was advised that DETC accreditation is not acceptable for faculty appointments, and that only qualifications from universities listed in the International Handbook of Universities or the Higher Education Database are valid for such an appointment.

This cannot be accurate, since DETC schools are listed in the higher education database. It used to be published by the U.S. Office of Education, but then was taken over by Higher Education Publications (www.hepinc.com). CCHS appears on page 24 of the 2001 edition.

Mr. Nycedpro also writes, Further,it is my understanding that accredited
american schools are not included in the Handbook, it is for foreign schools only.

Not so. Thousands of US schools are listed and described in the International Handbook. US schools make up nearly 25% of this huge book.

Ike writes, It is well known that the acceptance of DETC and California state-approved schools in RA schools is almost zero.

Not so for DETC. As I reported here, the fairly extensive research I did, resulting in detailed questionnaires from more than 300 registrars of regionally-accredited schools, on what they do and do not accept, showed that DETC degrees had roughly 40% the acceptance of RA. Not terrific, but far from “almost zero.” California-approved, however, were indeed almost zero.

 

Funny, I couldn't find *any* faculty members with Berne degrees. And of the other faculty with international degrees, the ones I saw were all from respected schools in countries known for quality educational systems.

NYCEDPROG's posts are starting to look remarkably like posts from others that we've seen here with a particular agenda.... and I *don't* mean trying to enhance acceptance of DETC degrees.

 

SACS (another regional association) expects that faculty degrees will be from RA institutions, unless the hiring institution can justify that the faculty candidate has knowledge equivalent to that obtained through a RA degree. Many foreign institutions are widely recognized as RA-equivalent, but DETC institutions do not have a comparable degree of acceptance in academia.

Nearly every insitution in the country hires adjuncts who, while they technically meet the requirements of the regional association (e.g., a master's degree with 18 graduate hours in the field to be taught), do not possess the credentials expected of a tenure-track faculty member. To get a tenure track position in many disciplines, a master's alone is not sufficient. One must have a doctorate, often with post-doctoral experience as well. The adjuncts are expected to provide quality teaching, but they generally are not expected to demonstrate service and scholarly activity. In an emergency situtation (where someone is urgently needed to teach a course), rules may be temporarily bent to hire adjuncts who do not fully meet the faculty requirements.

Rather than legal action, perhaps it would be more effective to obtain the RA or equivalent credentials expected for faculty members at RA insitutions.

Alex

 

Originally posted by NYCEDPROG:
I am at my wits end. In 1999, I earned a masters degree in public health from CCHS.

This is highly unlikely, as CCHS did not begin offering Master's degree programs until 1998, if I recall correctly. (Not only that, but a graduate of a CCHS Master's program would more than likely use the correct form of the word "Master's".)

Leland, I think you should take another look at what Steve said about you the other day, and understand something else: I have not been sued by Harcourt and CCHS because I have never said anything untrue about them. Steve will not be defeated by MIGS in court for the same reason.

You, however, are walking on dangerous ground, partner.

 

Who needs any more evidence about the total shambles that "recognised" accreditation in the USA is ?

Or about the self-serving nature of the RA cartel and its membership.

No cheers for Ron/NYCEDPROG.

I still wonder if this qualifies as "retraint of trade", but David Yamada assures me not.

Perhaps there should be some testing in court ?

Neil Hynd

 

I don't want to give Ron a hard time here, but I should point out that most employers with some knowledge of the MPH degree expect a U.S. MPH degree to be accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH). CCHS is not listed among CEPH's accredited MPH programs. (Given CEPH's crusty nature, I don't imagine a distance-only MPH program will be accredited any time soon.)

Mark

 

It is disgusting when so called pundits try to doubt what others have personally experienced and know is accurate (yes CCHS did award Masters degrees in 1999,and there are Faculty with degrees from Walden, Union and Berne at my college - the online catalogue is not updated).

John Bear pointed out that CCHS is listed in the Higher Education Database. I went one step further and contaced AACRAO who were reluctant to confirm that CCHS possesses acceptable accreditation (albeit my experience with AACRAO is that they want to be paid for everything). I spoke with the school again this morning and the Chair of my department is insisting that CCHS is not listed in the International Handbook of Universities. John Bear is usually correct - could he have made a mistake when he stated that the school is listed? I sent an inquiry to UNESCO/IAU this morning.

 

I am all but certain that NYCEDPROG is not Goldie.

We monitor posts pretty carefully, and this poster does not fit the profile of the Goldblatt continuum for a variety of reasons... posting location, spelling, grammar, etc.

 

I have a catalog from 1996-97 showing their original M.S. in Community Health Administration & Wellness Promotion. I was enrolled in 1997. I am not sure when they started offering this original M.S. but it was before this as I remember seeing their advertisements in journals. The MPH came later but some required courses in the MSCHA&WP were the same as the MPH or could be used as electives. I think you were able to transfer easily into one of the newer Master's.

 

Mr. Nycedpro had said that the International Handbook of Universities does not list accredited American schools. I replied that they did -- thousands of them. But I do not have the current one, and thus I do not know if CCHS is listed or not.

But I do have the current Higher Education Directory, in which CCHS is most definitely listed. And the fact that they have an FICE number (Federal Interagency Commission on Education) suggests that they would also be included in other federal databases. (The FICE number is 022061.)

 

Originally posted by Chip:
I am all but certain that NYCEDPROG is not Goldie.

Chip, as I'm sure you know, I am not trying to cause unnecessary waves here. However, my gut instinct tells me this, like several others recently, is a bogus thread.

But, as intuition doesn't carry as much weight as it used to, I will call Audrey Cohen's toll-free number Monday to see if I'm right. If I'm wrong, I'll gladly eat my multi-colored hat and apologize. (Of course, at best ACC could only tell me if "Ron/NYCEDPROG" is a phony, not whether he is part of the Goldblatt collective. But if "Ron" is a phony, it certainly lends my contention some validity. And my contention, for those who haven't picked up on it, is that Goldie is posting here under as many as 20 aliases, now even going so far as to have conversations between aliases to feign authenticity. Not that I am an anti-Lelandite - au contraire, I have frequently gotten a kick out of Goldyisms. But I feel this forum is too important to muck up with one little man's fantasy world. So, we'll see...)

 

THE GODS ARE IN THE MIDST --- I have received confirmation that CCHS is listed in the International Handbook of Universities (16th ed. page 2530). The college was using an old edition. Also, it appears as though most colleges and evaluation agencies are also using the same old versions, as a few could not confirm that CCHS is listed in the Handbook. My college is now very pleased, and I will be meeting with the Chair on Monday to continue---great news.

 

a couple of notes--again too much time on my hands--

The reference to Union isn't the Union Institute, the DL stalwart, but the Union Theological Seminary in Morningside Heights in Manhattan near Columbia University; its website calls it an "independent seminary" and I hear it is a fine school.

The only reference to Berne University I found concerning Audrey Cohen College is at
http://www.audreycohen.edu/html/body_alumnitext.html

under "Yaa Asantewae Nzingaa"

no comments as to anything else, other than the fact that Audrey Cohen College seems like a pretty good school to go to--it evidently caters to a different class of student, a type that would probably fit in well on this NG--non-traditional types, I mean.

Scott "I Love New York" Metcalf