Commencement of service

Rich,

Sincerity. Not sarcasm. I'm sorry it came off that way.

I was going to write something longer, something about the foolishness of relying on an employer's ignorance to use a degree but I didn't do so. You're correct; a market for such degrees exists and providers will seek to satisfy that market.

I don't think very highly of unaccredited schools and I think even lower about outright degree mills. That's probably influencing the tone of my posts.

 

Mike,

Attention to another thread in amongst the children's summer holiday activities forced me away from your response, sorry for the delay.

The 'ticking time bomb' analogy is only partially valid, in my opinion. Not all unaccredited awards can be said to be described by the analogy, even remotely. As an aside, considering how many you'd expect to be out there, it is quite unusual to hear of such a case, or am I the only one to think so?

On the 'Start your own college' side, I have already acknowledged that I can see how a reader in the US, used to colleges being also degree granting bodies, might view the offer as a proposition to set up such a body. But that was not the intention.

I should mention also that I would not expect mills to make a big deal of the constituent parts of such an offer including courses, faculty, student administration etc., i.e. the things that take time and money to set up to be able to offer HE. They would much more likely sell the right to using a name, much as it appears the Trinity folks did.

This is not a franchising deal, takers would not be using our name at all, but setting up their own organisations where they happen to be, using the template as a starting backbone. It's a way to allow people in HE wishing to start for themselves a shortcut to being instantly going.

The taker needs of course to be sure that they can set up and run the organisation they have in mind within the legal framework of their local jurisdiction, but this should, I believe, contain potential pitfalls only where degree programmes are to be offered. However, it would be entirely their responsibility to ascertain that all such requirements can be met.

I hope this clarifies the issue a bit better.


Henrik

 

Pehaps a good term, rather than cynical, would be closed minded, or having already reached a decision before hearing any information. If you already know the answer, at least in your own mind, what's the point of seeking more information. A person that only looks for knowledge, proving what he already thinks, isn't looking for knowledge, but is really only seeking evidence to bolster an already formed decision. Not everything different, from what you believe, is incorrect, it's just different. There are good aspects to RA, DETC & Approved. I have used all three at times, and will continue to do so. Why limit my choices in response to the views or opinions of others. Not all approved schools are the same, some are barely better than the worst degree mills, and some are much better, and many are all over the place, between the two extremes, and most important of all, to me, good students come from good schools, fair schools,and bad schools. I may dislike all degree mills, some approved schools, and a few RA schools, but it has to be strongly proved to me that a student, of any legitimate, state licensed or approved school, is of poor quality, educationally or intellectually, or morally.

 

It's great to see Henrik providing far more lucid replies than either Dennis, BillH, BillD or Gus can provide - all of whom suffer greatly from the closed minds of RA apologists and who seem to know little about the functions of non-RA universities; conveniently lumping everything other than RA in the'mill' basket. They also completely ignore any comment that might be contrary to their own narrow philosophy on DL education.
Henrik is without doubt a 'breath of fresh air' to the DegreeInfo
discussions. To get Henrik involved is a credit to DegreeInfo and to Dr Bear.
'Duck Boy' in 'paradise'.

 

That was a cheap flame that added nothing to the discussion. (So was this.)

 

Re: Henrik

LOL!

Thanks, Dennis. That made my day.

Roscoe

 

If I "know little about the functions of non-RA universities", then please enlighten me. What functions do non-RA universities have, in your opinion? How do they fulfill those functions?

As for "conveniently lumping everything other than RA in the 'mill' basket", I think that I have put considerably more effort into defending credible non-RA programs than you have.

 

I partly agree with Dr Rich about my previous post - it was cheap shot. But the people I mentioned certainly provide the impression that they have closed minds when it comes to discussing any aspect of non-RA DL Education. Non-RA (my new term) being State Licensed and other non-RA accredited DL universities, learned societies and other DL educational groups - there are many such groups spread throughout the world. And
I have previously supplied names of some of these.
Within the DegreeInfo discussions 'non-RA' seems, to me, to be a more factual definition, as many supposedly unaccredited internet DL universities are in fact accredited in some form or other, whilst others (such as learned societies) operate completely and successfully under their own umbrella - the NZ Institute of Management and the NZ Design Association are two examples of this. NZIM has been involved in running their own DL courses and exams for several decades.
Whilst DegreeInfo is largely centered around activities in the USA there are lots of other DL activities going on in the world!
'Duck Boy' in 'paradise'.