Bear 'Revisits' Bircham

[Winston Smith]

Would be interesting to know what prompted Klempner to "revisit" one of his many destructive, erroneous evaluations. Trying to avoid yet another lawsuit?

Bircham International University revisited

by John Bear » Wed May 22, 2013 3:40 am

More than ten years ago, my daughter and I included a listing for Bircham International University in the thirteenth edition of our book, Bears Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning. The book, in effect, separates schools into three categories: those with recognized accreditation, those that operate legally but without recognized accreditation (or the equivalent in other countries), and those that we identify as degree mills. Bircham is included in the middle category.

The CEO of Bircham, William Martin, has asked us to revisit that listing, and we are pleased to do so.

For purposes of reference, here is the original listing:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bircham International University
Madrid, Spain
Bachelor’s, Master’s, Doctorates
Degrees by correspondence at all levels in business, arts, health, psychology, engineering, computers and science. Website lists “delegation” addresses in Spain, England, United States (a Mail Boxes Etc. in Miami, Florida), Bahamas, Taiwan, China, Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Columbia, and New Zealand. We were told that the offices in Spain and Taiwan were the main offices, and that the offices in England and the Bahamas are strictly administrative and do not serve students, The Internet site is registered to an address in Madrid, Spain. Until 2000, the school was called Oxford International University; the name change was motivated, at least partly, by entanglements with its more venerable namesake. Will consider an “honorary doctorate” on submission of your curriculum vitae, two reference letters, and a minimum donation of $1,200 (U.S.).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The main thing we would add, if we were doing a new edition of our book (which, alas, we are not at this time), is to address the concept of non-formal learning, a concept which has become increasingly popular in most European countries in recent years. It is, in effect, a middle ground between formal education and informal everyday learning. Non-formal learning typically occurs in a formal learning environment, but often one that is not formally recognized. It can involve seminars, workshops, colloquia, distance or online courses, independent study, etc. An Internet search will find many articles on the topic. For instance, Malcolm Tight (Key Concepts in Adult Education and Training, London: Routledge) writes that non-formal education is about “acknowledging the importance of education, learning and training which takes place outside recognized educational institutions.”

Bircham International University describes itself as a practitioner of non-formal education. As such, while it operates legally under Spanish law, it is not formally recognized by the Ministry of Education of Spain (where it is located), although the Ministry has acknowledged the relevance of the concept, and, along with other countries in the European Union, is working toward establishing policies to identify, evaluate, and recognize those entities offering non-formal education. Bircham does not have (nor does it need to have) recognized accreditation.

In the matter of the use of the Oxford name, Mr. Martin writes that “In 2000 BIU bought a UK ‘shelf company’ called Oxford International College that was immediately changed to Bircham International College with the purpose of opening a branch office in the UK. We did not get the authorization to issue degrees in the UK, so neither the UK company, nor the office, was ever opened. There was never any interaction with the University of Oxford…”

For many years, we have written that in the process of choosing any school, the prospective student should determine, as best he or she can, that their credential will meet both their current and predictable future needs. Based on the testimonials offered by Bircham, it seems clear that there are many satisfied people with the [sic] their credential.

Mr. Martin has asked us to post this message on the DegreeDiscussion.com and DegreeInfo.com forums, and to send a copy to the Oregon Office of Degree Authorization, and the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, which we have done. He has also asked us to respond to any responses that may be posted on this forum. But there is really little more we can say, other than that we stand by what we have written.

--John and Mariah Bear, May, 2013

[bigfoot]

Guess (the publisher's) must have re-evaluated their position... and decided not to "re-publish" another worthless guide to "Bear's distance Learning"...good move on their part...anyone with half a brain-stem can get on-line and look up any school they want and make a quick, or timely decision concerning what type of education they wish to pursue...Bear's guides hadn't changed much (if at all) in it's last few publication's, and had ceased being relevant many, many years ago...they were chock full of lies, his own useless bias, and standard defamation, that Bear has become known for... coupled with inane prose, that he thought was clever and witty... in reality, it was nothing more then boring, asinine drivel that only amused and entertained Bear's sycophants... who enjoy massaging his (Bear/Klempner's) limitless ego at every opportunity... Bear is hopeless and utterly irrelevant...still good for a laugh though

[Winston Smith]

Bear's guides...ceased being relevant many, many years ago...

Good point, bigfoot. Before the internet it used to be fairly labor intensive and time consuming to get information on "non-traditional" sources. I think I've still got an envelope full of old catalogs from the likes of Sussex Institute of Technology, City University of Los Angeles, etc. The only alternative at the time was Bear's Guide. But now about five minutes of googling gets you the same info, without the lies and paid-for opinions about "good choices."

[Albert Hidel]

Anybody else notice that Goose awoke from his slumber to post a negative comment about Bircham on that thread, only to delete it later? Goose is too much of an asshole even for Goose. Did somebody else get threatened with a lawsuit?

What happened to that thread where the guy was asking who was running that board? That one seems to have disappeared too.

With all these deletions of embarrassing posts, it's beginning to look like Goose is taking website management lessons from Gollin's lesbian daughter. But then rewriting history has always been part of the klone playbook.

[Virtual Bison]

I wonder how many students of Bircham read Bear's excuse for a book, attended Bircham and earned degrees only to find now that Bear is throwing them under a bus?

This would not be the first time Bear was a cheerleader for an unaccredited college or university and then sold the school and its students down the river (anyone recall Kennedy-Western?)

I am especially astounded at how he expects the administrators of Bircham to respond to his accusations on Degreediscussion and degreeinfo or his lackys at the Oregon department of whatever. Why not ask them to kiss his fat ass!

This prick is so full of shit.

[jamesc1]

Bear was trying to get his butt out of a sling. He had run his mouth doing the mill-mill-mill crap. The post he made was to walk away from the "Unaccredited schools are all mills or worse" he was throwing around. Most schools take it, BIU didn't.

As we see, Bear can back up very nicely when he thinks he may have to prove what he spouts.

BIU may or may not be a good school, I don't know, and neither does Bear.

But----- here it is. NEVER-EVER- for any reason, use or don't use a school because of Bear's words. He will stand by nothing except a line to cash YOUR....check$$$$$$$.

It's funny to me that the Bear goes back to the more reasonable statement to make your own decision based on your needs, and basically on how useful the degrees will be to you. Strange that he fails to use the more recent rants about all unaccredited schools being mills.

I just love it when the MAN- THE GREAT EXPERT- has to crawl.....