Berne University loses US government certification

1. Was Mr. Hassad hired at Mercy based on the "doctorate" from Berne?

2. Was Mr. Hassad hired at Touro based on the "doctorate" from Berne? (And, either way, TUI goes down in my estimation for not knowing better.)


Importantly, how would either of these schools react were they to find out the truth about Berne? Reason #12 for not getting degrees from such schools -- sooner or later, someone tells on you. Kaboom!



Tom Nixon

 

I suppose we all spend more time here than is necessary, but we enjoy the debate pro and con. I've found these people to be good warriors in defending a position they believe in. Tcnixon has the right to post as much or as little as he chooses without that being inferred as a negative. The matter at hand is wheather Berne University exists as a credible school. I can't take a position yet as my knowledge is lacking on the matter, but I'm reading the posts and may well express an opinion before this thread runs aground. Do I need more of a life, probably, but I enjoy the exchanges, as I'm sure others do, or we wouldn't be here.

 

With apologies to Austin Powers…

• 
  So Mercy College and Touro got Berned?
  
  Are these Bernes in the first, second or third degree?
  
  This kind of thing really Bernes me up.
  
  If I were Darren/Dean/Roy/Rossi I wouldn’t be telling the world about that Berning sensation.

OK, that’s enough.

 

Re: John Bear's Comment

John

Better start deleting your email and run a program to overwrite the deleted files.

Must be a terrible obligation when people send you all sorts of documentation and you have to be selective in its use.

 

No, Gus, it isn't. A credential from there could be as hard to manage as a Weekend at Berne's.

 

I would like to nominate the above post as the Kook-of-the-month post.

Thank you so much Dean Darris for the joy and humor that you've so ungraciously bestowed on our little unimportant community that is rife with misinformation. Actually being rife with misinformation is one of the things that I enjoy so much, when people such as yourself show up just to spread said misinformation.

Dean Darris, I believe that you're very fortunate that this is a webpage of such little importance because it couldn't be good for Berne's sparkling image for people to see posts like you made above.

Now on a more serious and hopefully helpful note. I would like to welcome you to our unimportant community. I would also hope that you post again when you're not so emotionally disturbed. (But not as much as I hope you post again while you're still emotionally disturbed.) You really must put a stop to the unravelling that seems to be occurring on your little enterprise. May I suggest that perhaps you could try convincing the GAO (part of the government of the USA) that St. Kitts has 48 hours in each day? I'm sure that all it would take is the St. Kitts parliament to pass a proclamation.

 

So my 12 year old son can call himself doctor in New York. And your point is????

 

Thanks for the update.

 

Thanks, Roy for your your encouragement!

Yes, I do take my studies quite seriously! I have received only A's from Excelsior to date ... (hold for applause!) due to the quality of my previous work with Summit, or more correctly, the excellent learning environment and challenges posed by the Provost I worked under. Yet, no matter how I choose to view my former academic choices, I still come up against the issue of utility.

I run my own company, so as an employer, I fully accept and endorse my own credentials! (M.A., Counselling Psychology). But I wish to teach at the community college level... and therein lies the rub! So, its off to the land of RA.

Maybe I'm beating a dead horse here, but really, I have great respect for all learning, not just RA. If the learning is truly of value, it can be transmogrified to suit your needs... it is real, after all. Isn't it? If your Ph.D was awarded on quality work, then I say again, make it work for you! Prove what you did was of quality. The ultimate test is RA. I truly wish it were otherwise, but it ain't so.

BTW: I'm a boy!

Regards,

Dan East

 

Ramjeet deleted his post after I replied because it made him look a bit too much like a Berne grad. I really wasn't talking to myself.

 

I found my old e-mail. It is Education International. They are a NACES organization. The person whom I had contact with noted that someone should investigate their options thoroughly and that a NACES evaluation regarding Berne was not binding on anyone.

This has really been my point. No one has proven that the Education at Berne is substandard. Nonetheless, paying 18,000 bucks for a PhD from a West Indian island with no public university system is an interesting choice in utility. One should be careful and sensitive to possible limiations and issues.

North

 

well that mystery is solved....

 

As long as you don't start agruing with yourself, and losing the arguments we are all okay.

 

Dear DegreeInfo Moderators:

Please promote a free and fair exchange of information, and do not remove factual posts which do not support a particular position. I have been asked to post this information which was earlier removed by the moderator.


Here is an excerpt of a letter sent to the Berne Alumni Association Representative by the Coordinator of the New York State Office of College and University Evaluation (NYSED) and dated 5/23/2003.

“First, under Section 224(4) of the Education Law, a person who has been awarded a degree by an entity located in a jurisdiction that has authorized such entity to award such degrees may lawfully append the letters of the degree to his or her name. If the degree is a doctorate, he or she may lawfully use the abbreviation “Dr.” before the name.

We understand that the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis has authorized Berne University to award degrees. If our understanding is correct, persons holding such degrees may lawfully append the letters of the degree to their names. If such persons hold doctoral degrees from Berne University, they may use the abbreviation “Dr.” before their names.”

“Second, the State Education Department does not evaluate the academic credentials of any person or make determinations about the higher education of such persons except for applicants for teaching certificates or professional licenses.”

Thanks,
Regina Harris, Ph.D. (Berne University)
Adjunct Professor, Walden University

NACES evaluation was required.

 

http://www.waldenu.edu/prospect/programs/psycphd/apply_acad.html

“Walden accepts only evaluations conducted by members of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services. (www.naces.org). Applicants must pay the fee for transcript evaluation directly to the agency.”

Regina

 

In other words, you may legally use the title “Dr.” as long as the state of New Hampshire has authorized Berne to award such a degree.

You stated that someone asked you to post these excerpts on this forum. May I ask who requested that you do so?

I guess they are not aware that Berne is not located (as per Section 224 of the Education Law) in St. Kitts and Nevis.

This excerpt appears to be a caveat to the first. In other words, according to the State Education Department, you can call yourself “Dr.,” but you could also be a complete fraud.

Did your Berne Ph.D. play a role in your being hired by Walden? If so, my opinion of that institution, and especially their ability to conduct due diligence, has dropped significantly.

Dr. Harris, instead of posting a self-serving excerpt, why don’t you post the entire letter?

 

here here......

 

Interesting. I know of a person that has been to several evaluation companies trying to get their Berne Degree evaluated and been turned down by all of them.

 

Note that Walden specifically requested a NACES evaluation which is on file with the University. This applies to all faculty with foreign degrees.

NACES definition of a foreign country (they know their geography) seems to be at variance with the legal definition for the purpose of eligibility for participatuion in Title IV.

Berne University like Ross University is located in St. Kitts. Both institutions are fully accredited by the Ministry of Education (St. Kitts) and each has a corporate office in the USA. I have a copy of the certificate of incorporation (St. Kitts) for Berne University, and I am not aware that St. Kitts is or was at anytime a territory or dependency of the USA. The only link is that Alexander Hamilton was born in Nevis. Further, Ross university conducts clinical training away from St. Kitts.

The US Department of Education was shocked to discover that there are fully accredited American colleges where students from foreign countries can complete their degree (BA to PhD) without ever visiting the USA (see Touro University and North Central University among others).

And then what about Walden University, UIU and others who actually conduct school in foreign countries and require a mere one week to 3 week residency or dissertation committee meeting, and award a US degree. The Berne University case is a whole new education for many who should have known better.

For those of you who are pursuing UK, South African and Australian PhD’s how often do you go to those countries, and when you are not in the foreign country (if ever) are you pursuing studies and still in communication with the university?

Further, with reference to the length of Berne’s program, note that an academic residency is a part of a semester (for which the credits are awarded).

They wanted to show Senator Collins that they are productive, and were misled by a few into believing that Berne is an easy target. It is beginning to backfire big time. The beauty of the USA is that the truth eventually surfaces and the PLOT gets uncovered.

Don’t turn that dial - the trial has just begun!!!!

Regina

 

My opinion of Berne is that it is essentially a non-accredited state-approved school with attitude.

In terms of its fundamental academic credibility, it seems to be similar to a lot of other questionable schools operating out of places like Hawaii, California or Wyoming. (I do think that several of the CA-approved schools are much more credible than Berne.)

If Berne and its champions simply presented it as another obscure state-approved school, then I would have no more objection to it than I have to any of the other schools in that class.

My problem with Berne has always been the claim that it is RA-equivalent.

If Berne operates with foreign "flag of convenience" accreditation that doesn't actually imply that it meets the expected academic standards, then the claim that it is equal to RA is simply empty.

Generally, the only reason that's ever given for its supposed RA-equivalence is the fact that the state that happened to approve it is a soverign nation state.

Unfortunately, that political observation doesn't even address the equivalency issue, it just obscures it.