08-03-2008, 08:49 PM
Quote:
My point is that some of these people were not aware that they were actually buying a degree. They had no idea that they could have obtained the same degree by just giving their credit card number and not presenting any work whatsoever.
ham wrote:
Hard to believe in today's world but possible.
As I said in a previous post, it's difficult to understand how the set up operated unless you've had a first hand experience with them. But, anyway, there's no need to go into that, the hard evidence that a number of St. Regis "graduates" - most probably a tiny fraction of the total number - did not know they were actually purchasing a degree is the existence of the works they submitted to the outfit. This is a verifiable fact since these works are in the hands of the authorities and they should be also retrievable through the web time machine.
Quote:
They were of course aware that St. Regis is not Harvard or Yale, but it was cheap, fast, and accepting limitless work done elsewhere.
ham wrote:
one more reason to be suspicious.
Why? You expect different rules to apply when dealing with different educational systems. What about the French VAE? Limitless work done elsewhere is accepted throught VAE, isn't it? And degrees are obtainable through VAE within a couple of months from any French public university.
Quote:
And, most importantly, it was - or rather appeared to be - accredited by a MOE. We all know that it doesn't matter if an institution is accredited in Liberia, Uganda, Malaysia or any other country, degrees from MOE accredited schools are accepted almost everywhere.
ham wrote:
I don't think so...and anyways that was not a bonafide Liberian school, but an 'American' or whatever school boasting an accreditation from Liberia; it never served the population of Liberia the way say DETC accredited foreign schools serve their domestic population. In other words, say UNISA's primary target are South-Africans, then you get others...with 'exotic accreditation mills' it is the other way round: they only cater to people foreign to their country of accreditation, probably to avoid stirring trouble.
Degrees from universities accredited by the MOE of a sovereign nation are accepted almost anywhere and that's a fact. Don't forget Liberia is a full member of UNESCO.
St. Regis appeared very convincingly to be a bona fide accredited Liberian school. Nowhere did it appear as an American school or as a school run by Americans. They had a Liberian address and Liberian telephone and fax numbers. Their domain had also a Liberian suffix. Confirmation of St. Regis accreditation did not come only from the Liberian embassy as some people seem to think. People also confirmed St. Regis status by calling and/or obtaining accreditation and all sorts of other documents directly from the MOE in Liberia.
St. Regis "students" who thought they were dealing with a legitimate institution DID NOT RECEIVE their degrees immediately or within a few days after their application. They had to wait for various periods of time for what they submitted to be purpotedly checked and assessed. During this time, they had contacts with people who presented themselves as Liberian "professors", all of whom it was later proven were impersonations by Dixie Randock. The names of these Liberian "professors" included, "Dr" Jallah Faciann and "Dr" Thomas Carper. What you're saying above, you're saying it with the benefit of the knowledge we have today and not with what could be confirmed knowledge at the time.
My point is that some of these people were not aware that they were actually buying a degree. They had no idea that they could have obtained the same degree by just giving their credit card number and not presenting any work whatsoever.
ham wrote:
Hard to believe in today's world but possible.
As I said in a previous post, it's difficult to understand how the set up operated unless you've had a first hand experience with them. But, anyway, there's no need to go into that, the hard evidence that a number of St. Regis "graduates" - most probably a tiny fraction of the total number - did not know they were actually purchasing a degree is the existence of the works they submitted to the outfit. This is a verifiable fact since these works are in the hands of the authorities and they should be also retrievable through the web time machine.
Quote:
They were of course aware that St. Regis is not Harvard or Yale, but it was cheap, fast, and accepting limitless work done elsewhere.
ham wrote:
one more reason to be suspicious.
Why? You expect different rules to apply when dealing with different educational systems. What about the French VAE? Limitless work done elsewhere is accepted throught VAE, isn't it? And degrees are obtainable through VAE within a couple of months from any French public university.
Quote:
And, most importantly, it was - or rather appeared to be - accredited by a MOE. We all know that it doesn't matter if an institution is accredited in Liberia, Uganda, Malaysia or any other country, degrees from MOE accredited schools are accepted almost everywhere.
ham wrote:
I don't think so...and anyways that was not a bonafide Liberian school, but an 'American' or whatever school boasting an accreditation from Liberia; it never served the population of Liberia the way say DETC accredited foreign schools serve their domestic population. In other words, say UNISA's primary target are South-Africans, then you get others...with 'exotic accreditation mills' it is the other way round: they only cater to people foreign to their country of accreditation, probably to avoid stirring trouble.
Degrees from universities accredited by the MOE of a sovereign nation are accepted almost anywhere and that's a fact. Don't forget Liberia is a full member of UNESCO.
St. Regis appeared very convincingly to be a bona fide accredited Liberian school. Nowhere did it appear as an American school or as a school run by Americans. They had a Liberian address and Liberian telephone and fax numbers. Their domain had also a Liberian suffix. Confirmation of St. Regis accreditation did not come only from the Liberian embassy as some people seem to think. People also confirmed St. Regis status by calling and/or obtaining accreditation and all sorts of other documents directly from the MOE in Liberia.
St. Regis "students" who thought they were dealing with a legitimate institution DID NOT RECEIVE their degrees immediately or within a few days after their application. They had to wait for various periods of time for what they submitted to be purpotedly checked and assessed. During this time, they had contacts with people who presented themselves as Liberian "professors", all of whom it was later proven were impersonations by Dixie Randock. The names of these Liberian "professors" included, "Dr" Jallah Faciann and "Dr" Thomas Carper. What you're saying above, you're saying it with the benefit of the knowledge we have today and not with what could be confirmed knowledge at the time.