The Online Degree Dorm Room

online degree programs psychology | Tragic story of student death

Posted by bposton on December 19th, 2006 — Posted in online degree programs psychology

I normally don’t like to share somber stories with you, but when I read about this I thought you’d want to know about it.

Another reason is that I’ve visited the campus in the story.

There was a student who was supposed to receive his master’s degree in business administration last Friday from the University of North Alabama. But he died at Huntsville Hospital on Thursday.

I’m not sure if the University has identified the student officially, but the papers found out that he was the fifth student in the university’s international program to be linked to two confirmed and two suspected cases of tuberculosis at the university.

You see, for a while now the university has been battling a TB outbreak.

Two weeks ago, the President of UNA, Bill Cale, sent a letter to all parents of university students regarding the TB scare.

That letter was part of an ongoing effort to end rumors about the TB cases.

The university also set up a telephone hotline to answer questions about the possibility of other cases.

Because of the situation, the university created a policy that would require all students, domestic and international, to have certain immunizations before coming to campus. If approved the policy would take effect Jan. 1.

All four of the UNA students are being treated for the disease. At this point none of them are still in the hospital and none are contagious.

Health officials have not said it the dead student died as a result of TB.

Although he had been a resident of Florence, the student was in Huntsville (about an hour south of Florence) at the time of his death. Records indicate that he had taken one course on campus at UNA and another through the University’s online degree program.

Again, it’s not clear if this student was the cause of the other infections on campus, but the investigation is continuing.

Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection that often is found in the lungs but can spread to other parts of the body. Most American students are given a TB skin test in childhood.

The student who died was from overseas.

I certainly hope that the other four students fully recover from the disease, and my thoughts are with their families and the family of the deceased student.

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online degree programs psychology | Degree Mill scam claims another victim

Posted by bposton on December 18th, 2006 — Posted in online degree programs psychology

Here is yet another story of how good intentions can lead to big problems with online degrees.

Down in Florida, the cheif pilot for the Sarasota County Sheriff’s department has resigned.

IT turns out that there was an Internal Affairs investigation going on at the time regarding an online college course that the pilot took three years ago.

Now this guy had 21 years on the job, and had dedicated his life to law enforcement. And he was brought down by a mistake he made while trying to finish up his degree.

As the story goes, when he was hired full time in 1989 he had 144 college credit hours, and he wanted to convert them into a bachelor’s degree online.

However, he made a big mistake when he chose the online college to do that. It turned out that the college he chose and received his degree from was not on the agency’s accredited list.

What happened was the that the college he actually received his degree from had the SAME NAME as an accredited college. However, the college was not an accredited school.

The investigation revealed that when he took the college courses online three years ago he received incentive money after he received his online diploma. The incentive money amounted to $2,250.

He has volunteered to reimburse the agency in full.

Now I don’t have any information as to the exact name of the college in question, but as in my last post, it can happen. Remember that LaSalle University in Louisiana is a dipolma mill and LaSalle University outside of Philadelphia is a real accredited school.

So now this guy has left his life long profession all because he made a bad choice when converting real college credits to a 4 year degree online.

Don’t let this happen to you. Be smart and check out the college you’re interested in. Make SURE that it is accredited by a legit accrediting body.

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online degree programs psychology | Degree Mill may claim another victim - Part 2

Posted by bposton on December 18th, 2006 — Posted in online degree programs psychology

Here’s a little more about this school superintendent candidate with a doctoral degree from a degree mill.

In all fairness, the search committee has said that having a doctoral degree was not a factor in picking this person as a finalist for the position, which has a budgeted annual salary of $95,000 plus benefits.

And, the candidate has served as superintendent of the Owego Appalachian Central School District. He has also been an assistant superintendent for instruction, a principal, assistant to the superintendent, director of elementary programs, coordinator of elementary social studies, an adjunct professor and a teacher.

However, there is another point that should be considered.

The candidate in question also applied to be the superintendent of schools for Leominster Public Schools in Massachusetts. The resume he submitted for that job did NOT list his doctorate, and he withdrew from consideration for that job to take the position of superintendent of the Owego Appalachian Central School District.

So if he didn’t list this phoney degree before, why now?

In case you’re wondering a bit more about the diploma mill that handed out his degree, heres some interesting history:

The founder and president of LaSalle University in Louisiana, James Virdamon Kirk, was sentenced to five years in prison for fraud. According to a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, Kirk acknowledged no educational value was provided by LaSalle University. Kirk and associates of his lived an “extravagant lifestyle” and spent $36.5 million in fees and tuition acquired fraudulently.

some 15,000 graduates from LaSalle in Louisiana were sent a letter from the U.S. Attorney and offered a refund. Most did not respond, because they would have had to renounce their degree.

Again, I must point out that there is a real LaSalle University, a Catholic college outside of Philadelphia, which is accredited and is not associated with LaSalle in Louisiana.

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online degree programs psychology | Degree Mill may claim another victim

Posted by bposton on December 18th, 2006 — Posted in online degree programs psychology

Just thought I’d share a recent news story about how a guy with a degree from a diploma mill may be in trouble with his prospective employer.

Out in Claremont,New Hampshire they’ve been searching for a new Windsor Southwest Supervisory Union superintendent. However it was recently learned that One of the two remaining candidates has a doctoral degree from a well-known diploma mill.
He was named as one of two finalists for the job last Tuesday. and On his resume, he listed a doctorate of philosophy from LaSalle University of Louisiana.

Fact number one - In 1995, the FBI raided the unaccredited Louisiana school and its founder was convicted of fraud.

Fact number two - LaSalle University, a Catholic college outside of Philadelphia, is accredited and is not associated with LaSalle in Louisiana.

This candidate declined comment When questioned about his doctoral degree.

Ok, so are you ready for this?

When the search committee was told of this phoney degree, they said that they still considered him a viable viable candidate.

The spokesperson for the search committee said that he began his doctoral work in Maryland and elected to finish the degree online after moving out of state, and that he had significant experience in the field of education which was more than the base qualifications for the job.

This candidate does indeed have a masters of education in curriculum and instruction from the University of Maryland, as well as a bachelors of science in elementary education from the same university of Maryland.

Of course, that’s according to his resume.

So, how would you fell if he got the job? Especially if you’re a parent of a child in that school system?

Or the other candidate…:-(

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