Introduction to Accreditation
Accreditation is a validation—a statement by a group of persons who are, theoretically, impartial experts in higher education, that a given school, or department within a school, has been thoroughly investigated and found worthy of approval. To offer recognized accreditation, an accrediting agency must meet at least one of the following three criteria: Recognized by the Council on Higher Education Accreditation in Washington, DC, Recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, Recognized by (or more commonly, a part of) their relevant national education agency. Schools they accredit are routinely listed in one or more of the following publications: the International Handbook of Universities (a UNESCO publication), the Commonwealth Universities Yearbook, the World Education Series, published by PIER, or the Countries Series, published by NOOSR in Australia.
Under guidelines, accrediting agencies are required to evaluate these twelve matters, but the way they do it can be individuallydetermined: Curricula, Faculty, Facilities, equipment, and supplies, Fiscal and administrative capacity, Student support services, Program length, tuition, and fees in relation to academic objectives, Program length, tuition, and fees in relation to credit received, Student achievement (job placement, state licensing exams, etc), Student loan repayments, Student complaints received by or available to the accreditor, Compliance with student aid rules and regulations, Everything else, including recruiting, admissions practices, calendars, catalogues and other publications, grading practices, advertising and publicity.
There have been quite an extraordinary number of new accrediting associations started in the last few years, and they are getting harder and harder to check out, either because they seem to exist only on the Internet, or because they exist in so many places: an address in Hawaii, another in Switzerland, a third in Germany, a fourth in Hong Kong, and so on. Some new ones have adopted the clever idea of bestowing their accreditation on some major universities, quite possibly unbeknownst to those schools. Then they can say truthfully, but misleadingly, that they accredit such well-known schools. This is the accreditation equivalent of those degree mills that send their diplomas to some famous people, and then list those people as graduates.
It seems extraordinary that any school would lie about something so easily checked as accreditation, but it is done. Degree mills have unabashedly claimed accreditation by a recognized agency. Such claims are totally untrue. They are counting on the fact that many people won't check up on these claims. Salespeople trying to recruit students sometimes make accreditation claims that are patently false. Quite a few schools ballyhoo their "fully accredited" status but never mention that the accrediting agency is unrecognized, and so the accreditation is of little or (in most cases) no value. One accrediting agency (the unrecognized International Accrediting Commission for Schools, Colleges and Theological Seminaries) boasted that two copies of every accreditation report they issue are "deposited in the Library of Congress." That sounds impressive, until you learn that for $20, anyone can copyright anything and be able to make the identical claim.
Words That Do Not Mean "Accredited" Some unaccredited schools use terminology in their catalogs or advertising that might have the effect of misleading unknowledgeable readers. Here are six common
phrases:
Pursuing accreditation.- A school may state that it is "pursuing accreditation," or that it "intends to pursue accreditation." But that says nothing whatever about its chances for achieving same. It's like saying that you are practicing your tennis game, with the intention of playing in the finals at Wimbledon. Don't hold your breath.
Chartered.- In some places, a charter is the necessary document that a school needs to grant degrees. A common ploy by diploma mill operators is to form a corporation, and state in the articles of incorporation that one of the purposes of the corporation is to grant degrees. This is like forming a corporation whose charter says that it has the right to appoint the Pope. You can say it, but that doesn't make it so.
Licensed or registered. - This usually refers to nothing more than a business license, granted by the city or county in which the school is located, but which has nothing to do with the legality of the school, or the usefulness of its degrees.
Recognized.- This can have many possible meanings, ranging from some level of genuine official recognition at the state level, to having been listed in some directory often unrelated to education, perhaps published by the school itself. Two ambitious degree mills (Columbia State University and American International University) have published entire books that look at first glance like this one, solely for the purpose of being able to devote lengthy sections in them to describing their phony schools as "the best in America."
Authorized.- In California, this has had a specific meaning . Elsewhere, the term can be used to mean almost anything the school wants it to—sometimes legitimate, sometimes not. A Canadian degree mill once claimed to be "authorized to grant degrees." It turned out that the owner had authorized his wife to go ahead and print the diplomas.
Approved.- In California, this has a specific meaning . In other locations, it is important to know who is doing the approving. Some not-for-profit schools call themselves "approved by the U.S.
Government," which means only that the Internal Revenue Service has approved their nonprofit status for income taxes—and nothing more. At one time, some British schools called themselves "Government Approved," when the approval related only to the school-lunch program.
Our Thanks to: Bears' Guide to Earning Degrees by John Bear, Ph.D.,
and Mariah Bear, M.A.
Original Post ESL in Canada Directory
***********
ESL in Canada Blog URL
http://eslincanada.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Archives ESL in Canada August 2001 NEWS
ESL in Canada August NEWS
Hello Everybody Hot times in Canada this summer. The temperatures
rose to over 100 degrees in Ontario this year, the first time in many
places where temperatures have been recorded. We had been joking
about no summer this year with several cool days in July. The old
statement "Be careful what you wish for" sounds like good advice.
We have lots of changes in the ESL in Canada website this last month.
We are trying to organize all of the functions and formats we wish to
offer on the website. We will be putting some formats on the website
only and some formats in the newsletter only. The website will be
primarily organized to provide information and explain services for
ESL students and ESL teachers. The newsletter will provide additional
information promoting specials or new programs available at schools.
We will be organizing the school information into program and
facilities information summaries. The priority will be to illustrate
what the students can expect when they choose a school. We will take
the content approach rather than the image approach. We will be
promoting good curriculum, excellent teachers, efficient
administration, organized education resources and interesting student
activities.
The schools will be organized into lists of Universities, Colleges,
ESL schools, Vocational schools, IT computer schools, LINC schools,
Public Education, Private High School Education, and Summer programs.
The student information will be organized into: FAQs, Questions to
Ask, Visa information, News, Testimonials, Consumer Alerts, Overview,
How to learn English, Free English Lessons, English Tests, Books,
Videos, CDs. A new section will be Accreditation, what it is and what
to be aware of.
The services for students will be organized into : Free agency
services, consulting services, mail services, Coop & volunteer
programs, language exchange, homestay placements, private classes and
ESL activities, a new program "ESL in Canada Student Card" for
shopping discounts.
The information and services for teachers will be: Tesl training
courses information, overseas job postings, overseas resume postings,
free listings for private tutors in Canada and teacher stories.
We have many projects to work on. The ESL students in the advisor
training program and the coop/volunteer program will be touring
schools to be familiar with the facilities and also to update the
excel charts for the new program facilities formats. We will be
placing extra priorities for volunteers to assist with translations.
We have a request from a few schools, tutors and community groups to
organize some regular evening social events. An event to allow
students to mix in a non-bar scene, practice their English, and talk
with Canadians and fellow students. We are thinking of some contests,
with prizes, some tourism videos of Canada, board games like
scrabble. We are open to suggestions.
This is the information (chart format on website) to be used for the
ESL language schools. We will add comments outlining the strengths of
the schools, and the programs that offer the best value to the
students.
Registration fee Homestay fee Airport Pickup fee
#students winter #students summer %
students under 20 % age 20 - 30 % aged 30 - 40 % over 40
Teach with:
MEd TESL
MEd.
BA+ BEd + TESL
BA, BEd
BA + CELTA
BA + TESL
Academic Director
Curriculum for each level, number of levels, initial tests,level tests
Who tests and promotes students
Listening Class
Reading Class
Pronunciation
Vocabulary/idioms
Conversation
Grammar
Writing
Business/work
Toefl Toeic Cambridge
Cooperative
Free Workbooks
Lending Policy
Library books
Listening tapes Videos CALL Programs
Cafeteria, Kitchen, TV Movie Room, Handicap Facilities, Activities, Travel trips
Published Refund Policy,
Ratio Student/teach and PC/students
Modern Building
Public transportation Location
Homestay coordinator
Homestay inspections
Homestay refund policy
Notice period
Meal plans
Original Post
August 2001 ESL in Canada News
***********
ESL in Canada Blog URL
http://eslincanada.blogspot.com/
Hello Everybody Hot times in Canada this summer. The temperatures
rose to over 100 degrees in Ontario this year, the first time in many
places where temperatures have been recorded. We had been joking
about no summer this year with several cool days in July. The old
statement "Be careful what you wish for" sounds like good advice.
We have lots of changes in the ESL in Canada website this last month.
We are trying to organize all of the functions and formats we wish to
offer on the website. We will be putting some formats on the website
only and some formats in the newsletter only. The website will be
primarily organized to provide information and explain services for
ESL students and ESL teachers. The newsletter will provide additional
information promoting specials or new programs available at schools.
We will be organizing the school information into program and
facilities information summaries. The priority will be to illustrate
what the students can expect when they choose a school. We will take
the content approach rather than the image approach. We will be
promoting good curriculum, excellent teachers, efficient
administration, organized education resources and interesting student
activities.
The schools will be organized into lists of Universities, Colleges,
ESL schools, Vocational schools, IT computer schools, LINC schools,
Public Education, Private High School Education, and Summer programs.
The student information will be organized into: FAQs, Questions to
Ask, Visa information, News, Testimonials, Consumer Alerts, Overview,
How to learn English, Free English Lessons, English Tests, Books,
Videos, CDs. A new section will be Accreditation, what it is and what
to be aware of.
The services for students will be organized into : Free agency
services, consulting services, mail services, Coop & volunteer
programs, language exchange, homestay placements, private classes and
ESL activities, a new program "ESL in Canada Student Card" for
shopping discounts.
The information and services for teachers will be: Tesl training
courses information, overseas job postings, overseas resume postings,
free listings for private tutors in Canada and teacher stories.
We have many projects to work on. The ESL students in the advisor
training program and the coop/volunteer program will be touring
schools to be familiar with the facilities and also to update the
excel charts for the new program facilities formats. We will be
placing extra priorities for volunteers to assist with translations.
We have a request from a few schools, tutors and community groups to
organize some regular evening social events. An event to allow
students to mix in a non-bar scene, practice their English, and talk
with Canadians and fellow students. We are thinking of some contests,
with prizes, some tourism videos of Canada, board games like
scrabble. We are open to suggestions.
This is the information (chart format on website) to be used for the
ESL language schools. We will add comments outlining the strengths of
the schools, and the programs that offer the best value to the
students.
Registration fee Homestay fee Airport Pickup fee
#students winter #students summer %
students under 20 % age 20 - 30 % aged 30 - 40 % over 40
Teach with:
MEd TESL
MEd.
BA+ BEd + TESL
BA, BEd
BA + CELTA
BA + TESL
Academic Director
Curriculum for each level, number of levels, initial tests,level tests
Who tests and promotes students
Listening Class
Reading Class
Pronunciation
Vocabulary/idioms
Conversation
Grammar
Writing
Business/work
Toefl Toeic Cambridge
Cooperative
Free Workbooks
Lending Policy
Library books
Listening tapes Videos CALL Programs
Cafeteria, Kitchen, TV Movie Room, Handicap Facilities, Activities, Travel trips
Published Refund Policy,
Ratio Student/teach and PC/students
Modern Building
Public transportation Location
Homestay coordinator
Homestay inspections
Homestay refund policy
Notice period
Meal plans
Original Post
August 2001 ESL in Canada News
***********
ESL in Canada Blog URL
http://eslincanada.blogspot.com/
Archives July 2001 ESL in Canada News
Schools interested in having their name listed can sponsor or
advertise with our new rates. The newsletter is being expanded,
schools interested in advertising can purchase exclusive space in
this excellent format.
Please help keep us current with your facilities and program
information.
School Information
Full time hours ______ Full time price ______
Part time hours ______ Part time price ______
Registration Fee ______ Homestay reg. Fee ______
Airport pick-up fee ______
Refund policy ______ Books inc in price ______
Total students ______ % age<20>40 ______
Total teachers ______ % MEd. BEd. TESL, 0 ______
# of classrooms ______ Ratio:students/class ______
Internet PCs ______ Ratio: Students/PC ______
Academic Director ______ Program or curriculum ______
Levels taught ______
Pronunciation Class ______ Conversation ______
Debate/Discussion ______ Idioms/vocabulary ______
Business english ______ TOEFL/TOEIC/CAE/CFC ______
Grammar ______ Writing ______
Reading ______ Listening ______ Volunteer/coop
______
Activities coordinater ______ Activities/month ______
Field trips/week ______
Kitchen/lunch room ______ TV/movie room ______ Student
lounge ______ Handicap facilities ______
# Movies ______ #Call programs ______ # books in
library ______ Lending Policy ______
Initial tests for level ______ English only policy ______
Behaviour policy ______
Type of Building ______ Location ______ City Size
______
School A1
Located in a modern downtown office building, the class rooms are
bright and offer some of the best views in Toronto. The best feature
is the calm professional environment, warm caring teachers and staff.
Cambridge pass results are the best in Toronto, excellent Toefl test
preparation program. Teachers are dedicated, many have taught in the
same location for several years, all are experienced and qualified.
Good programs for homestay, activities and educational resources.
Discounts for long stay students. Excellent programs for executives
aged 35 and up. Part of a large international chain with 30 years of
operational experience.
School A2
This school is 3 years old, started by a teacher. The prices are
reasonable for the programs offered. They have some excellent
teachers, those classes offer excellent value. The school tries to
provide good value for their students. This is an aveage school with
some programs better than average. This is a single location school.
Their summer program for teens is excellent.
Original Post July 22, 2001 ESL in Canada Directory
***********
ESL in Canada Blog URL
http://eslincanada.blogspot.com/
advertise with our new rates. The newsletter is being expanded,
schools interested in advertising can purchase exclusive space in
this excellent format.
Please help keep us current with your facilities and program
information.
School Information
Full time hours ______ Full time price ______
Part time hours ______ Part time price ______
Registration Fee ______ Homestay reg. Fee ______
Airport pick-up fee ______
Refund policy ______ Books inc in price ______
Total students ______ % age<20>40 ______
Total teachers ______ % MEd. BEd. TESL, 0 ______
# of classrooms ______ Ratio:students/class ______
Internet PCs ______ Ratio: Students/PC ______
Academic Director ______ Program or curriculum ______
Levels taught ______
Pronunciation Class ______ Conversation ______
Debate/Discussion ______ Idioms/vocabulary ______
Business english ______ TOEFL/TOEIC/CAE/CFC ______
Grammar ______ Writing ______
Reading ______ Listening ______ Volunteer/coop
______
Activities coordinater ______ Activities/month ______
Field trips/week ______
Kitchen/lunch room ______ TV/movie room ______ Student
lounge ______ Handicap facilities ______
# Movies ______ #Call programs ______ # books in
library ______ Lending Policy ______
Initial tests for level ______ English only policy ______
Behaviour policy ______
Type of Building ______ Location ______ City Size
______
School A1
Located in a modern downtown office building, the class rooms are
bright and offer some of the best views in Toronto. The best feature
is the calm professional environment, warm caring teachers and staff.
Cambridge pass results are the best in Toronto, excellent Toefl test
preparation program. Teachers are dedicated, many have taught in the
same location for several years, all are experienced and qualified.
Good programs for homestay, activities and educational resources.
Discounts for long stay students. Excellent programs for executives
aged 35 and up. Part of a large international chain with 30 years of
operational experience.
School A2
This school is 3 years old, started by a teacher. The prices are
reasonable for the programs offered. They have some excellent
teachers, those classes offer excellent value. The school tries to
provide good value for their students. This is an aveage school with
some programs better than average. This is a single location school.
Their summer program for teens is excellent.
Original Post July 22, 2001 ESL in Canada Directory
***********
ESL in Canada Blog URL
http://eslincanada.blogspot.com/
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