Yet another damning story on Buxton University

Interesting.

Somehow the focus has shifted from describing an objectively verifiable diploma mill to an attack on a well known and well respected member of the forum.

Not a bad trial tactic, really, until the jury sees through it. When you have no defense, make personal attacks even where the personal attacks have NOTHING to do with the evidence or, in this case, even the subject of the forum.

OUTIS should be in politics.

 

Thank you for making it clear that you are just pretending to have misunderstood and that your real intent is disruption.

 

"disgust of academic fraud and the scumbags that perpetuate it."

It is a general statement and not directed at any particular individuals. I'm sterotyping all academic frauds as well as the people that perpetuate or even defend academic fraud as scumbags. If anyone took it personally then I would have to assume that they have a guilty conscience.

Perhaps the concept is striking too close to home so that you're not able to see the difference? Let's take another example of something that I find disgusting, the sexual molestation of children. (I certainly hope that this doesn't strike too close to home for you. :eek I am disgusted by child molestation and the scumbags that perpetuate it.

I have quoted what you said above.

Anyone with an elementary command of the English language will understand what you mean.

You disgust me!

 

I'm pleased.

 

Another story on Buxton University

http://www.wate.com/Global/story.asp?S=2567661&nav=E8YzT9L5

'Typing "Internet degree" in a search engine finds a page full of replies. 6 News found one site called instantdegrees.com. The company touts getting a degree and legal use of a title in just days with no attendance.

For $160, 6 News turned executive producer Bill Doblilas into a doctor of philosophy in five days. He received a back-dated diploma and the potential to buy transcripts to go along with it.

A confidentiality agreement that came with the diploma basically threatens legal action if a connection is made public between the site and the alleged school. In this case, the school is Buxton University, supposedly in London although the postmark is from Portugal. But much like Buxton's mythical unicorn mascot, 6 News couldn't find any solid facts about the university.'

Cheers,

George

 

Another quote...

The following was also at http://www.nbc4i.com/news/3962400/detail.html

Kyle Anderson: You have your bachelor's degree. Maybe your master's. A Ph.D. comes only after years of work, right?

Scott Warrich/HR Consultant, Attorney: "It's easy. It's just so easy to do it."

Anderson: So easy for anyone to receive a doctorate in just about any field imaginable.

Warrich: "For $200, I now have a Ph.D. and for maybe for an extra $50 I'm summa cum laude, now. That's pretty good."

Anderson: So I tried it, and with a few clicks and about $350, I was not only a college graduate, but a Ph.D.

Five days after placing that order, I received this in the mail -- global priority mail from Portugal. Inside, two signed and sealed diplomas from Buxton University in London, England.

So for a few hundred bucks, I've got a Ph.D. in counseling, a master's of divinity in religion, some pretty official-looking letters from Buxton University, and their prospectus, which looks like it's printed on an ink-jet printer.

 

Not all of us are slackers and fakes!

Mr. Brown,
I commend you on your work to keep ethics in the educational system. I, too, find the idea that someone can purchase a degree that took their contemporaries many years to complete,reprehensible. In fields such as medicine, mental health, engineering and the like, these purchased degrees can have devestating consequences.
I have a degree from Buxton. My situation is different from what is generally perceived as the diploma mill graduate.
I stutter. My stutter is moderate, and has greatly limited my choices in career goals. My goal was to become a music teacher, but I was told by a career counselor that no one would ever hire me because of my speech impediment.
My father decided that vocational school was the route I should take to insure that I had marketable skills. After two years of vocational school I attended a tradtional university for 3 years, as a music major. As a person who stuttered, it was impossible for me to take the foreign language courses required, as well as the public speaking, diction classes(for my operatic voice classes), and any other subject that required public speaking. I was forced to drop out of a large lecture class, because attendence was counted, and I could not answer roll.
I left the university, and trained in portrait photagraphy. A broadcast technology school opened and I completed a 14 month intensive course in broadcasting, learning camera operation, writing for the news media and many other subjects covered in the last two years of a traditional broadcast journalism degree.
On completion of that certificate, I was given the opportunity to pursue my dream of starting an education program at a music store. I have been employed by this same store since 1987.
To further my job skills, I enrolled in massage therapy school which entailed over 600 classroom hours.
When I completed my massage course, one of my clients happened to be a professor of music at the local University and after hearing me play the piano encouraged me to become a freelance piano accompanist at the University's school of music, which I did for three years.
I am an organist at a large church and have won awards for my playing.
That said, I still had to say that I had no degree, which automatically implies that I'm lazy, not a good student and many other negative things, which simply do not apply to me. If anything, I turned a handicap into something that made me try all the harder to prove myself.
There has been much shame in saying that I have no degree, especially since I have invested much money and have probably clocked in more classroom hours than the traditional undergraduate.
I have toyed with the idea of returning to college to earn my degree, but I have nothing to gain financially or career wise by having it. It is a matter of pride, and a desire to have a piece of paper I have rightfully earned.
My degree is a B.A. in Liberal Arts. It implies no expertise in any field . It merely verifies what I have: a very fine, well rounded, and most importantly, MARKETABLE, education.
In closing, I would like to suggest that maybe those people with similar stories could qualify for an undergraduate degree in Liberal arts or General Studies
We are not all slackers, liars, and underachievers. Some of us are victims of circumstance. Please keep that in mind. Thank you.

 

Not all of us are slackers and fakes!

Mr. Brown,
I commend you on your work to keep ethics in the educational system. I, too, find the idea that someone can purchase a degree that took their contemporaries many years to complete,reprehensible. In fields such as medicine, mental health, engineering and the like, these purchased degrees can have devestating consequences.
I have a degree from Buxton. My situation is different from what is generally perceived as the diploma mill graduate.
I stutter. My stutter is moderate, and has greatly limited my choices in career goals. My goal was to become a music teacher, but I was told by a career counselor that no one would ever hire me because of my speech impediment.
My father decided that vocational school was the route I should take to insure that I had marketable skills. After two years of vocational school I attended a tradtional university for 3 years, as a music major. As a person who stuttered, it was impossible for me to take the foreign language courses required, as well as the public speaking, diction classes(for my operatic voice classes), and any other subject that required public speaking. I was forced to drop out of a large lecture class, because attendence was counted, and I could not answer roll.
I left the university, and trained in portrait photagraphy. A broadcast technology school opened and I completed a 14 month intensive course in broadcasting, learning camera operation, writing for the news media and many other subjects covered in the last two years of a traditional broadcast journalism degree.
On completion of that certificate, I was given the opportunity to pursue my dream of starting an education program at a music store. I have been employed by this same store since 1987.
To further my job skills, I enrolled in massage therapy school which entailed over 600 classroom hours.
When I completed my massage course, one of my clients happened to be a professor of music at the local University and after hearing me play the piano encouraged me to become a freelance piano accompanist at the University's school of music, which I did for three years.
I am an organist at a large church and have won awards for my playing.
That said, I still had to say that I had no degree, which automatically implies that I'm lazy, not a good student and many other negative things, which simply do not apply to me. If anything, I turned a handicap into something that made me try all the harder to prove myself.
There has been much shame in saying that I have no degree, especially since I have invested much money and have probably clocked in more classroom hours than the traditional undergraduate.
I have toyed with the idea of returning to college to earn my degree, but I have nothing to gain financially or career wise by having it. It is a matter of pride, and a desire to have a piece of paper I have rightfully earned.
My degree is a B.A. in Liberal Arts. It implies no expertise in any field . It merely verifies what I have: a very fine, well rounded, and most importantly, MARKETABLE, education.
In closing, I would like to suggest that maybe those people with similar stories could qualify for an undergraduate degree in Liberal arts or General Studies
We are not all slackers, liars, and underachievers. Some of us are victims of circumstance. Please keep that in mind. Thank you.

 

apology

My apologies for the double post. I made an attempt to delete it to no avail.

 

Hi Learned Man: Sorry, but the Buxton degree is without any merit. However, given the amount of stuff you have studied and can likely document having learned in professional settings, why not take a look at the portfolio option at Charter Oak or Excelsior or TESC? You say now that it's not worth the money. If you reconsider, this might be a viable option for you. Take a look at Lawrie Miller's BAin4weeks site. You might be pleasantly surprised at what you find. Regards, Janko

PS: Why not start a new thread on portfolio preparation? See what info you get. There are others who have done this with very gratifying results. (I have not, so what I know is only secondhand.)

 

Hi Learned Man,

If I understood your post properly, you claim that you worked for your Buxton University degree?

How many classes did you take? How many units did you earn? Who were some of your professor names? Where is BU located? How did you contact them? From what jurisdiction does BU draw its degree granting authority from? Where did you send your tuition?

Thanks,
Bill

P.S. If you can't answer these questions (no BU "graduate" has been able to answer any of these questions) then I'll be forced to conclude that you are being insincere and untruthful.

 

Re: Not all of us are slackers and fakes!

Certainly a victim of circumstance, but you have made a life for you and that is to be commended. I can well understand your desire for more.

However, associating with a sham such as "Buxton University" will only eventually bring you more heartache. It is not a real school, it does not offer real degrees, and anyone who says otherwise is being less than truthful.

Why, after doing all you have done in your life would you want anyone to even mention your name and this "school" in the same breath? There are other options as have been mentioned here. Please consider those.



Tom Nixon

 

Hi Bill,
I said none of the things you mentioned in your post. I mentioned the many years of study I have endured, and state that A Buxton degree gives me validation for a very varied and excellent education.
As I stated, I have nothing to gain from this degree, I have no desire to defraud anyone. I am self employed. For my own pride,
I want a title for the 6 or 7 years I put in the classroom.
The purpose of my post was to say that people who seek diplomas from degree mills( and the wording cleverly disguises them), are not all out to defraud.
The thought of earning a degree for work I did not do is unethical and unlawful. Even though I have strong educational backgrounds in music and journalism, I would never have the audacity to say I earned a degree in those fields.
I feel the title "General Studies" or "Liberal Arts" gives me vailidation, describing perfectly my background, without defrauding anyone.
I was a victim of the "anyone can open a school" trend in the 1980s.
I have my diplomas, but the schools have closed. This is very depressing. As I said, I am handicapped, and the college system did not meet my needs. I needed marketable skills. A music diploma would have been a degree with little merit.
I'm just tired of the shame of not having a degree, and knowing I invested many years and much money. I just want a sheet of paper that acknowledges that,and let's face it, an undergraduate degree in General Studies or Liberal Arts is not the same as claiming a Masters in Chemistry or PH.D in any subject.

 

No, it does not. How can it? No recognized authority on higher education recognizes Buxton as a university. How can this possibly validate anything? All it validates is a willingness to buy a "degree" and a huge amount of self-deception (not to mention the deception of others).

Sorry, but if you want validation, get your degree from a valid school. It's that simple, and everything else is an excuse, nothing more.

 

Hi Learned Man,

My post was mostly questions. Questions that you (like all your alleged fellow graduates) did not answer.

How many classes did you take?
What time period did this supposedly take place?
How many units did you earn?
Who were some of your professor names?
Where is BU located?
How did you contact your professors?
From what jurisdiction does BU draw its degree granting authority from?
Where did you send your tuition?

If you continue to refuse to address these questions then I can only conclude that you are fabricating the whole story and that BU is totally fraudulent since all real evidence indicates that BU is totally fraudulent.

Thank you,
Bill

 

Quite true. Beyond the millions upon millions of people who have legitimately earned bachelor's degrees, you're not defrauding anyone. Yep, except for those people who actually worked to earn their degrees, you're free and clear.





Tom Nixon

 

Thank you for those who responded. Obviously, my years in the classroom mean nothing. There are programs for people who are handicapped, but, ironically, stuttering is not considered a handicap.
As I stated, there were many speech required courses that I could not take.
Please do not respond any more. I will not use my "Buxton" degree.
I will simply have to state that I have three years of traditional college and three certifications. I'm glad that none of you had handicaps of which I'm aware. Sometimes people just can't do something due to an impediment, so they either achieve nothing, or find alternatives to make successes of their lives. I chose the latter. Unfortunately, not having a degree implies not having a good education. This is why you are fighting a losing battle toward the degree mill controversy. The education system needs to see a need for long term non traditional learning,and for people with certain disorders who simply can't do traditional college. I'm sorry that you people are so rigid that you can't see another point of view.

 

LM

Your posts are turning into whining. Yes, I understand, your challenge in stuttering and the roadblock it presented. Do you believe you are the only one to suffer that or other challenges? Do you think others with same challenge as you or worse find a way to graduate? As to your years of study, if it legitimately equals a four year degree, you could attain such from the Big Three or other accredited school. Resorting to a degree mill like Buxton only shows you had the cash to buy the degree, nothing more.

 

There is no reason why you cannot do reputable DL because of stuttering. No reason at all. This partially disabled poster criticized another poster for using his disability as an excuse for acting like a jerk on this forum. I would suggest that your use of your disability as a reason for getting a degree mill degree is not only nonsensical but also not in your long-term interest. I do so in the confidence that your disability would be no bar whatever to your obtaining a perfectly legitimate DL degree.

We are not rigid or blindly traditionalist (us of all people!!!). But crap is crap. No one wants you to serve it--or eat it. Please reconsider your perspective, not because it will make us happy, but because it will be in your long-term interest and might well vindicate you against anyone who underestimated your abilities. A degree mill degree will never do that for you. Legitimate DL can and will, should you choose to avail yourself of it.

Regards, Janko

PS: You're not aware of my "handicaps" (a term I refuse to use, BTW) because they're none of your business--or anyone else's on this board. I mention them simply to shut up your "poor me nobody understands me" silliness, which is your real disability, not your stuttering. Consider, for starters, King George VI. Nuff said.

 

Thanks for the wake up call. I will do a portfolio accessment and start the process of earning a legitmate degree.