Venkateshwara Open University???

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by kozen, Nov 27, 2016.

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  1. kozen

    kozen Member

    Hi All,

    Does anyone know anything about Venkateshwara Open University?

    Degree awarded by Venkateshwara Open University is approved by UGC HRD & AIU. Globally valid degree attestable by MEA & overseas embassy.

    here is the link: Online VOU
     
  2. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

  3. iwshim

    iwshim New Member

    I read the link but can you tell me it means?
     
  4. msganti

    msganti Active Member

    The link posted by OP - "Kazian School of Management" - seem to be a study center of VOU.
    According to UGC, it's illegal for a university to establish study centers outside it's jurisdiction (usually the State), or for a study center to offer these courses to any one using online or distance education.
    These are grey areas - and you stand warned.
     
  5. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    Yes, thanks. I posted this little newspaper article as an indication that the school in question, along with some others, has been operating outside the guidelines of the UGC. The article doesn't specify which rules were/are being broken but as msganti has pointed out, the whole study centers/DL thing is a bit of a mess across the entire country and the UGC has been trying to rein in this practice for a while now. I believe that it is a part of the overall effort to eliminate degree mills and standardize practices and degree requirements. Now be clear, I'm not saying that VOU is a degree mill. I have no information about that one way or the other. But, as msganti hinted, getting a degree from a school that is violating UGC guidelines could result in the invalidation of that degree. Possibly. Maybe. I'm not sure but, yeah, maybe. So that's how I interpret the posted article.
     
  6. msganti

    msganti Active Member

    The problem is not the Universities. Most universities in India are legitimate, and there are very few fakes at any given time.

    The evil are the study centers. I heard of stories where they cheated students by selling fake degrees.
     
  7. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

    The school is approved by UGC

    http://www.ugc.ac.in/oldpdf/alluniversity.pdf

    This means that you will be able to evaluate it as the equivalent to a US degree. However, there is also the utility aspect, why do you need the degree for? If you need it to teach as an adjunct or to satisfy credit requirements for a CPA license, it might work as it satisfies the RA equivalent criteria but for professional jobs, most companies would be suspicious of an internet Indian school so it might not help you to get a job that a regular MBA from a US would get you.

    A friend of mine completed a degree from the Indian Board of Alternative Medicines that is non UGC approved, nobody would take the degree to work at a clinic because most Indian degrees even UGC approved are not so recognized in Canada but it worked for him to get insured as an independent practitioner and become member of a naturopathic association.

    In few words, Indian degrees from online schools have utility but a lot depends on the use you want to give to the degree. They are very cheap and the quality many times comparable to what you can get from a US school but the credibility is not there mainly because India has corruption problems and many people just buy degrees from Indian schools. There are many scandals over the internet that confirm that people have just bought degrees from Indian schools and get caught many times because they cannot submit proof of the work such as a published thesis.
     
  8. msganti

    msganti Active Member

    There's no issue with the university. It is legit. Problem is, OP posted a link to what seems to be a study center, and that's where fake degrees originate.
    Most schools in India offering online education are not equipped/authorized to offer them to overseas students. We need to keep this in mind.

    There are warnings about this IBAM in this forum as well as all over the internet.

    In most cases, it's these study centers who dupe people and sell them fake degrees. It seldom happens some one "bought" a degree straight from the school.

    More often, this is done by the so-called "study centers" stealing the degree certificate blanks from the university and printing the degree themselves. People buying these fake stuff know what they are buying, but cry foul when they can't use it.

    In general, schools setup under the UGC Act (more like the non-profit research universities in the US) are more straight forward and comply with laws and ethics. There are private universities setup under individual state laws that go into these study center traps to get more students, there by ruining themselves.
     
  9. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

    For this particular school, I can tell you that I was able to see the evaluation from a NACES approved credential evaluator that evaluated a ND degree from IBAM as the equivalent of a non RA ND degree from an American school. The report stated that school is legitimate but not accredited.

    I particularly don't put too much attention to internet rumors but go to facts. Fact is that in the US a NACES approved evaluation report is what it counts and not rumors on web sites or discussion boards.

    Many ND programs offered in the US are non RA accredited and this does not mean that they are fake or useless. Some states require an accredited ND degree while others do not, an IBAM degree might work for some while not for others. The NACES approved report can cover you enough to say that you have the training to practice profession and help you to get insurance.

    An IBAM ND degree is substantially cheaper than a non accredited ND degree from the US.

    As for teaching centers offering foreign degrees and fraud, Australian and UK Universities operate in a similar manner with hundreds of teaching centers around the world. No question that there is a lot fraud but this is not so difficult to verify, the prospect student can always contact the source school for verification and make sure that the degree comes from the source and not the teaching center.

    There are also a lot of web sites that sell fake degrees with emails for verification from real schools, this fraud scheme applies to any school and not just indian schools.
     

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