Central University of Nicaragua Degree Scheme

Discussion in 'Accreditation Discussions (RA, DETC, state approva' started by Rich Douglas, Nov 21, 2021.

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  1. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

    Good point. I have observed that few people with PhDs from countries with education systems that are not so recognized use their PhDs for post doctoral positions or as an entry qualification for a second doctorate. Technically, if you have a good publication record, you might use it to get a higher doctorate from a UK University but this is not easy.
    Some professional associations recognize foreign PhDs for admission. If the degree is in Psychology, a person might get entry as a psychologists in Alberta provided that the person can pass the entrance exam and get the required experience.
    I personally know a friend of mine with a PhD from an African school that completed a post doctoral fellowship at a Canadian school, he works now as an adjunct for several schools. Notice that in Canada, salaries for adjuncts at the University level are not terrible, public universities pay around 10K per course and are unionized positions so it is a feasible career.
    If your PhD from UCN is in accounting and you get it recognized by a recognized evaluation service, a lecturer position (teaching not research) might be feasible if the person has a CPA certification.
    There are other fields that might benefit from this PhD. I can think about nursing, nurses can get an administration position with a graduate degree that pay in the 100K plus range.
     
  2. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

    Very difficult, most likely the academic adviser and dissertation committee at UCN is made up of people with similar qualification as UCN so the peer review would be lenient. Also because the superviser is getting paid per dissertation and not a salary. it is not in his or her best interest to keep the person doing the dissertation for very long. Finally, if UCN publishes the dissertation at a public library, the similarity would be caught by a system like Turn it in so the dissertation would show similarity from a previous dissertation submitted and considered plagarized even if published by yourself.
    The best to do here would be to publish the dissertation in at least 3 peer review papers from journals indexed by Scopus or Web of Science and try to get a PhD by publication from a place like Charles Sturt University.
    This of course depends of the motivation of the person. I know someone with a PhD from UNEM that is a strong researcher and published many research papers at top journals. Some people are able to do this without a prestigious doctorate mainly because they have the motivation to do it.
     
  3. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    It is, usually. But there are, if I recall, legitimate situations where one program results in two degrees. I don't know if each would be a stand-alone degree, however.

    There was a time when you could write a book about some ducks, get a diploma mill to send you a PhD for it, and when you got caught you could go to another diploma mill with the same duck book and get another PhD. But I think that option is closed now.
     
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  4. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    The option that was used in that instance - yes, closed because both that Trinity and Knightsbridge (in a Danish farmhouse) have since folded. But you can still find other "schools" to do it. All you have to do is write one book and two cheques - or run your credit card through two transactions. Just like that guy did.
     
    Last edited: Jan 4, 2022
  5. mintaru

    mintaru Active Member

    There are so-called bi-national Ph.D. programs in the EU. In these programs, two universities from two different EU countries each grant a national doctoral degree for a joint study program. But these are not stand-alone degrees. You can not use both degrees at the same time.

    The largest such cooperation project is the so-called "cotutelle de thèse" of the Université franco-allemande. Université franco-allemande is not a university in the true sense, but a network of 208 universities from both countries.

    https://www.dfh-ufa.org/en/
     
    Last edited: Jan 5, 2022
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  6. LearningAddict

    LearningAddict Well-Known Member

    I have read the student handbooks of some schools where it expressly prohibits using your own previously-written papers. The term used is "self-plagiarism". A Google search immediately shows Turnitin using that exact term. Since Turnitin is a very popular plagiarism-detection software program, you can bet that the school you attend is ready for you to try it.

    That said, not suggesting one should ever do this, but word spinners have gotten remarkably sophisticated over the years...
     
  7. Dustin

    Dustin Well-Known Member

    Not sophisticated enough, mind you! Some researchers defined the term "tortured phrase" to describe a few key phrases in papers that have been run through word spinners. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02134-0

    Several are given in the paper, my favorites including:

    • Artificial intelligence = Counterfeit consciousness
    • Remaining energy = Leftover vitality
    • Cloud computing = Haze figuring
    • Signal to noise = Flag to commotion
    Self-plagiarism is a thing, but I think there's a qualitative difference between work you prepared for a course and work you actually submitted for credit. So if you took a paper you had not submitted for credit in one course (maybe you dropped the class), it's not clear if that is still self-plagiarism if you submit it for credit in a different course. And then extend that out to an entire dissertation.

    Of course, if you have to ask if something is wrong the answer is yes, but it's an entertaining hypothetical to explore.
     
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  8. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    The concerns over using prior work have less to do about getting double credit and more to do with submitting research not supervised by your advisor. The whole point of doing a doctorate is demonstrating that the candidate can conduct research. The advisor should be involved in the process along the way. (In my two cases, this was less true at Union and not at all true at Leicester.)
     
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  9. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Sounds EXACTLY like Google Translation!! :)
     
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  10. LearningAddict

    LearningAddict Well-Known Member

    I laughed at the table of those in the article. The one that got me was "Random value = Irregular esteem", LOL!

    I think if a person is doing that and not even bothering to proofread and edit phrases like those, that's another level of laziness that deserves its own separate punishment in addition to the punishment for plagiarism.
     
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  11. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    The rewards of hard work take some time.
    The rewards of laziness - can be had right away.
     
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  12. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

    I happen to know the gentleman that used to run this home based operation. There is too much noise for this institution but the reality is that he had not more than 10 students at the time enrolled in this university. There was nothing illegal because the school was registered properly but unaccredited, there was too much noise because he was one of the first ones to offer online unaccredited PhDs. Their programs have some rigour but most were correspondence type with book readings and essay assignments. I met him few times, it was a one person operation and most people working were just contractors paid per student to correct assignments. At some point he was unable to enroll more students due to bad press and just closed doors.
    I am not so sure if it can be compared to Trinity College and University that just sells the diploma with no work. Trinity College and University is still around, one of the first degree mills claiming registration in Delaware but operating from Spain. I believe they are still in business.
     
  13. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Well, we could make some noise against it - or not bother since it (Knightsbridge U.) has folded. Henrik Fyrst Kristensen was the guy, right?
    Yes, they are. www-trinityeducation-dot-com. Domiciled in Spain, as you reported. We have threads back to 2002. Website looks like the early 90s! Appears they target overseas. All sorts of 'consultants' - various African nations, India...

    Yes - as you said, there's a bit of a difference in work required - i.e. not enough (Knightsbridge) vs. none (Trinity). Anyway, one is gone, the other is a clear-cut fraud. Let's move along, folks -nothing to see here.
     
    Last edited: Jan 13, 2022
  14. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    That's not even close to being true. Do I even have to argue this? Diploma mills selling doctorates were very robust long before this one came along.
     
  15. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    How can you support this assertion? I've been a strong critic of a guy who sold a doctorate to another guy on the basis of a self-published book. I'd love to hear why this thing should be taken more seriously.

    Did he have an earned doctorate from a recognized institution? I don't recall one. And it is reasonable to expect that it takes one to grant one.

    What "press"? Are you seriously saying that the media caused this thing to shut down? What support might you have for that assessment?
    I'm dying to know why not. Here's one point in opposition: that guy sold a PhD to someone who'd already submitted his work for a PhD elsewhere. There is simply NO circumstances where that is a legitimate practice.
     
  16. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    Do you have any evidence that Knightsbridge actually required work for issuing their bogus degrees? If so, they were even more of a fraud. They weren't just partnering with the buyer to perpetrate a fraud on others; in that case, they were perpetrating a fraud on the buyer him/herself.

    Sorry, but you don't get to decide this.
     
  17. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    No. Anecdotal, at best, e.g. what was said in this thread. Happy to confess.
    Neither do you. Thanks for seizing on my benign, somewhat humorous old quote and trying to turn it polemic. Nice!
     
    Last edited: Jan 13, 2022
  18. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member



    Didn't say I did. That's the point.
    Double-down on the clown? Fine. But if you sling b.s., expect to get called on it, especially when (in Knightsbridge's case) you can't support it.
     
  19. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    As I said when asked: "No. Anecdotal, at best, e.g. what was said in this thread. Happy to confess."

    And so it should be -- if I set off someone's BS detector, I DO expect to be called. If I'm wrong, I'll 'fess up, as I did above. Never a problem. And you know that. No need to press random buttons.
     
    Last edited: Jan 13, 2022
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  20. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    I don't know a lot about anything about you, but what I've known has been good, IMHO.

    Back to the mini-topic, I don't recall much activity at all regarding Knightsbridge, so it was a hard thing to judge--except the externals we could all see. In fact, I doubt we'd know about it at all if it wasn't for one purchaser who staunchly defended that purchase for years.
     

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