Accreditation of OUS Royal Academy of Economics and Business in Switzerland

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by Studious_Eric, Jun 7, 2020.

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  1. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

    In the specific case of the University of Sedona, their business model requires graduates to pay ordained membership fees to keep their degree. I don't think this is a legal requirement but just a business model. They just rent you the degree but not grant you the degree.
    A very clever way to keep the cash flowing.

    I believe this type of credentials might be valid in the US but might not be valid in the UK and Germany. Some countries are very strict about the Dr. title. In Canada, one can legally use the PhD from UoS but you cannot refer yourself as a Dr. For Government jobs, one need to supply an official degree equivalency certificate from an authority. For industry jobs, it is market driven, it is up to the employer to recognize the credential but my guess is that UoS graduates would have a hard time selling themselves for professional jobs.
     
  2. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

    I think the UCN or Azteca degree might have their niche but not for everyone. I think it is ideal for self employment, provided that you can get an equivalency report from a recognized foreign credential evaluator. If I want to be an accountant and just needs accounting credits and already hold an MBA, I might want to top it up with a PhD from UCN in accounting provided that the credits satisfy the CPA requirements, this will give me a PhD to put in a business card and a credential to teach on the side. The same for other self employment careers such as psychologist, naturopath, psychotherapist, etc, etc.
     
  3. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

    I think so. If you want UK and German recognition, you would need a bullet proof doctorate from a recognized University. Most private school doctoral operations will not do the trick. I am not even sure if a for profit PhD from regional accredited school would do in Germany, I couldn't find any reference to the for profit schools such as Walden, Capella, etc on the German web site as being recognized.

    You could also check the Australian DBAs from Charles Sturt U, U. Southern Queensland, Victoria U., Cross U. etc.
     
  4. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    Back in the day, John Bear offered up the concept of GAAP. This stood for "Generally Accepted Accreditation Principles," a take-off on the accounting field's own GAAP.

    GAAP came from his discussions and research with admissions officials. Eventually, he came up with a list of about 6 sources of determining if a school was properly recognized. Examples included recognized accreditation in the US, listing in the Commonwealth Yearbook, being in the International Handbook of Universities, being in the Australian qualifications framework, etc. There were cracks in this concept, but that's why they were termed "Generally Accepted."

    One of the cracks was when colleges and universities went "off book," or beyond their recognized scope. This is the situation with some of these "unofficial" degrees offered by otherwise recognized schools. (Longtime readers will recall the Monterrey Institute for Graduate Studies, or "MIGS." It was an operation using the degree-granting authority of Mexico's CEU. They even got MIGS specifically covered in IHU's listing of the CEU. This meant MIGS met GAAP, even though the degrees to be awarded--they never actually awarded any--were beyond the CEU's approved scope.)

    But GAAP, as a concept, can be very useful here as well. Take these Swiss entities. They operate legally, but they do not meet GAAP. They're like state-licensed-but-unaccredited universities here in the US.

    "Just because you can do something doesn't make it a good idea." -- Chris Rock
     
  5. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    In Germany, in order to use the title "doctor," one's doctorate must be from an EU school or a research university in the US (or other such uni). (I forget what the listing in the US is called; it is very small, about 100 or so.)

    For example, a graduate of Union Institute and University would not be allowed to use the title "doctor" in Germany, but a graduate of the University of Leicester would.
     
  6. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    So, in Germany I'd have to call you "Ein-Doc-Doug?" :)
     
  7. Mac Juli

    Mac Juli Well-Known Member


    Maybe, but the main reason is - officially - that they are considered to be academically substandard. If this is true is completely another question.
     
  8. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    I couldn't understand Levicoff's concern about that handle. It was just to let the guy at DL"Truth" know it was me.
     
    Johann likes this.
  9. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Right. I can rarely understand him, these days. Maybe it's because he-has-a-RA-Ph.D-from-Union-and-I-don't. Say, with that degree might Dr. Levicoff be known as Kein-Doc (No-Doc) Steve, in Germany? :)

    Thoroughly Kein-Doc Johann (Doctorate-free.)
     
    Last edited: Jun 8, 2020
  10. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    That should be correct. To use the title "doctor" and have one's PhD from the US be recognized in Germany, it must come from a school classified as a Research University by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. Union is not recognized as such. (Many doctorate-awarding schools are not. It is quite a small group.) There are no DL schools as we know them on the list. The only school on either list (there are two) with any real connection to the DL community is Nova Southeastern University because of its early roots in Nova University and NSU's pioneering role in DL.

    Can't drive a truck to Germany anyway, so it's probably moot. And I'd like to think having a Union PhD doesn't make you act that way. But I'm an optimist.
     
  11. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

    So the distance degree are substandard but the local degrees are OK? If someone completes the PhD from UCN on campus is OK but if it is completed distance is substandard? Middlesex University runs doctorates with foreign private schools with local supervisors but this seems not to be substandard according to them.

    The main difference is cost, while UCN charges 5K MU charges 60K so not many Germans are going to go for this last option just to be called Dr in particular when PhDs are free in Germany.
     
  12. Mac Juli

    Mac Juli Well-Known Member

    Yes, it is seen like this. Don't shot the messenger...Maybe the quality assurance system of the Middlesex University is trusted more?
     
  13. Johann766

    Johann766 Active Member

    Exactly. The DL programs of Ucn in the German language areas are offered by local satellite schools of Ucn which are based in Austria. The German authorities don't consider these satellite schools as scientific institutions and do not accept their degrees.
    If you study at the Ucn campus in Nicaragua your degree ist accepted in Germany.
     
  14. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

    Fair enough, but the same approach is used by some British Schools like MU. My take is that because Germans are not running after MU because of cost, the Government doesn't know.
     
  15. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

    I read few articles that even DBAs or EdDs cannot be called Drs in Germany as these programs are not scientific enough. If the OP wants a PhD that can be used in Germany, he or she would need to get a PhD from a large traditional University with a large number of research programs and this excludes most for profits, latin schools from under developed countries, DBAs or EdDs offered in DL format, etc.
     
  16. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Like a low-class German redneck might say (if such a person existed) - "If it ain't Deutsch, it ain't Sch---en!"
     
  17. Mac Juli

    Mac Juli Well-Known Member

    The closest to a redneck in Germany would be a "Proll", which is a derivative of "proletarian". - However, which word do you mean with "Sch---en"? I suppose "sh*t"? If yes, he would rather use the noun, which is "Sch**sse" or shorter "Sch**ss".
     
  18. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    .
    Point taken, Mac Juli. However, back in my late teens, I had a German friend, who was good at fixing cars. When something went wrong, he'd often say "Ach. das Sch***en!" That's how I picked it up (the phrase, that is.)

    Can you account for this? He was from the south of Germany. Would this possibly be a Low German variant?
     
    Last edited: Jun 9, 2020
    Mac Juli likes this.
  19. Mac Juli

    Mac Juli Well-Known Member

    Possibly; but I know no cussword or expletive which would be like "Ach. das Sch***en!". - But when you were in your late teens, I was not even *planned* [I am not even 40 yo], and considering how fast a living language changes, this might be a valid explanation... :)

    However, do not mix two things up. "Low German" would be "Plattdeutsch". It is spoken in Northern Germany and is quite similar to English (!). In Southern Germany, one would expect that another dialect - Bairisch (Bavarian) or Schwäbisch (Swabian) or something similar would be spoken.
     
  20. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Thanks for straightening me out. I meant Plattdeutsch but I got the regions all wrong. I think Mennonites have a form of it which they call "Plautdietsch." The pronunciation of many Yiddish words still shows their Low German affiliation, even after a thousand years -e.g. "shteyn" for Stein. (Stone.)And yes, Plattdeutsch has some resemblance to English. I remember we got to read one novel with a lot of Plattdeutsch back in High School.

    I haven't seen Erich in nearly 60 years. Maybe I'll look him up and ask him what he meant.
     

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