Article in Chronicle today. Moonlighting for an Unaccredited University - Many professors who work for Kennedy-Western are proud to do so, but some hide it.
I love the lady who hung up the phone on The Chronicle. You think she's concerned about the legitimacy of the school? Foster (the author) states in both articles that K-W declined to be licensed in California. That's a very forgiving way of putting it, and probably necessary, for the real reason (K-W wouldn't meet California's new requirements) is harder to establish. But it is alluded to in one of the articles. I love the "I'll do anything for a buck" comment by one professor. That about sums it up. But I was disappointed in the suspension of disbelief by several others. "It's someone else's job to legitimize their diploma. Whatever they get from me is good." Sad, but it rings true. Rich Douglas
My favorite part was when Mr. Gellin of SUNY's College at Buffalo, after clearly stating that he though both students and employers didn’t understand the concept of accreditation, waxed philosophically, "If the employer is happy and the student is happy, why shouldn't I be happy?" Ah, yes, ignorance is bliss—what a wonderful credo for an educator to subscribe to!
WHat the professor needs to realize is that the student may very well not be happy in the long-term when they discover that the degree limits them. This can also make an employer unhappy if the employer requires an accredited degree (and many do). Overall, the problem with many unaccredited schools is how generous they are with awarding life-experience credits. Based on life-experience a diploma may very well be awarded and the faculty have no say on the qualifications because some admin based on some credit formula makes the award. K-W on their web-site states that the faculty serve to provide instructional equivalency. http://www.kw.edu/faculty.asp How true is this statement? I wonder if their diploma also states, "...upon the recommendation of the faculty..." John
According to the picture in their catalog it does say "... on recommendation of the faculty..." Regards, Dick
Is this more like: 1) a would-be broadway dancer who is waitressing to make a living, or 2) a would-be broadway dancer who is stripping to make a living?