Warren National (formerly Kennedy-Western) appears to be in trouble

Hmm, interesting. If I recall correctly, it think KWU had some set up designed to lead people internet searching for Aspen U, to KWU via a link. I complained to Aspen because I felt it led people to believe KWU was somehow affiliated with Aspen. It pissed me off. I am guessing this is what the suit is about.

Abner

 

I was thinking of starting a new thread but, I'll instead just ask in this thread since the thread has already be revived.

A few months ago WNU had their accreditation visit/inspection. My question is when can we hear how it went? Am I to be amazed that they passed? I find this WNU case extremely intriguing. They initiallly appeared sincere in their attempt to become accredited. I came to this conclusion after they dropped many of their programs and published graduation requirements that followed academic standards. I was then disappointed to learn through the grapevine that they apparently were still practicing grossly sub-standard procedures. I then started wondering what they could possibly be up to? Was the grapevine information bogus? Are they playing some game to stay in Wyoming as long as possible and aren't really serious about accreditation? Is the owner/administration deluded into believing that they can become accredited while exhibiting academically sub-standard practices or do they believe that their sub-standard practices are acceptable? Any real information would be greatly appreciated but if all you want to do is pontificate on your own thoughts, that too would be fun.

 

According to WNU, we should not expect to hear about the results until March:

That would be about five months after the on-site visit. If the visit and other factors are favorable, then WNU will become an official RA candidate at that time.

For comparison, Westwood College had its candidacy evaluation visit from the same accreditation agency on May 14, 2007, and then announced that it had achieved candidacy status on November 15, 2007, about six months later. So the five-month time frame indicated by WNU seems reasonable.

 

EDIT: CalDog beat me to it!

 

Good catch, CalDog.

"a former staff mem" posted the above and if true would seem to indicate to me that the owner/admin didn't really understand how sub-standard their operation was? Alternatively, I guess that the plan for attempted accreditation could have been a scam for people to invest in WNU and then take off with their money after the accreditation failed? Since WNU hasn't moved to a new jurisdiction, it would appear that they may just close down the place? Note that this whole paragraph is predicated on the quote above being true.

 

Current Wyoming rules require unaccredited schools to pursue accreditation with a recognized agency. If WNU fails its initial candidacy review with HLC, then its options could include shutting down, or relocating from Wyoming to a more loosely regulated jurisdiction, as suggested above.

But perhaps another option for WNU would be to restart the accreditation process with a recognized national accreditation agency, such as DETC. As far as I know, there is nothing to stop an RA reject from applying to NA agencies.

I actually expected WNU to pursue DETC accreditation all along, and was surprised when they elected to try for RA instead.

 

Bill Huffman: "...would seem to indicate to me that the owner...didn't really understand how sub-standard their operation was?"

Are you suggesting that maybe he didn't learn how to run a doctoral program when he did his own at Indiana Northern University (the place run from a dairy farm in Gas City).

 

Wnu

Nothing new to report, but while I was Googling for an update, I ran across this piece in the Cheyenne Herald, dated 11/11//2008

http://www.cheyenneherald.com/_pdf/November%202008/November%2011,%202008%20Front%20page.pdf

 

That is a possibility however unlikely (or likely) it may seem. INU's greatest claim to fame is that Dr. Paul Saltman graduated from there. I therefore have to ironically have more respect for KWU/WNU. Afterall, KWU/WNU has been declared to be economically successful by Dr. Kjell Erik Rudestam in the Encyclopedia of Distributed Learning! http://books.google.com/books?id=PwNPSlDHFxcC&pg=PA354&dq=%22kennedy+western%22&sig=mKdEdYDZPcfC73GkhXqUc6TSn5s#PPA354,M1 Not to mention that KWU/WNU may have the strongest army of apologists in the world of non-wonderfuls. (Isn't the phrase "not to mention" strange, especially as used here?)

 

Thank you for the link. It would seem to lend more credence to the conclusion that Paul Saltman and admin were unrealistic in their assessment of their chances to become accredited, assuming that the post by "a former staff mem" is accurate.

 

Funny aside:

When I was first looking for adjunct online positions, I sent Kennedy-Western and 25 other schools emails/applications. I was quickly turned down by Kennedy-Western. Imagine my chagrin when I found out that not only was I turned down by high quality programs like Baker College I was turned down by unaccredited KW!

Of course, I was quickly hired by the CC where I still teach. Now I'm glad that they turned me down and I'm more careful about where I send my resume!

 

I had their catalog from quite a few years ago, and the faculty actually had impressive credentials. They must have payed very well.

 

As of today, Warren National is still trying to run the university with a skelatal crew (6 or so people). Not anyway near the amount of staff to maintain the current student ratio needed to be supportive and efficient. They are trying to graduate some of the students that are about to be meticulated, but will still not be able to gain accredidation status for the university with what is going on.

 

Six people! That's crazy.


Abner

 

Wow. 2009 will be a roller coaster ride for Warren National I am afraid.

 

Warren National Layoffs

From a monthly workforce newsletter for January 2009 -

"Warren National University has 8 employees of 15 being affected by a layoff due to a reduction of staff"

http://www.larimerworkforce.org/media/January_2009_Monthly_Economic_Snapshot.pdf

 

I'm not disagreeing with the conclusion but, my assumption is that the 6 people did not include the part time professor staff. I suspect that to be much greater.

To "a former staff mem", I thank you for the information that you've provided.

 

Do you all think that Warren National will survive 2009? I heard rumors it will close or move.

 

It depends in part if accreditation is granted. I'll guess that they fail their accreditation bid and will move their mailing address out of Wyoming and move their office back to California. What will be interesting to me is how well they retain their fanatical army of apologists. The latest moves made by WNU in an attempt to become accredited seems to have alienated many of them.

The bottom line answer to the question though is it takes relatively little capital to keep a diploma mill in business. So WNU can easily remain in business if they choose to go back to their more obvious substandard academic procedures. Like all diploma mills, such a decision rests on one person and predicting what one person will do when we don't personally know that person can be very difficult.

 

WNU closing their doors

Received this email this morning (Tuesday, Jan 27, 09)

"Warren National University has withdrawn its application for candidacy with the Higher Learning Commission."

Information Management Coordinator
The Higher Learning Commission of NCA
30 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 2400
Chicago, IL 60602

Meaning: they can not continue operating in the state of Wyoming.