Graham International University

[Tomas]

I have looked on the "accreditation agency" QAHE a bit more, and it definitely looks more fishy than initially
Probably closely related to owners of American University of Business and Social Sciences (AUBSS), which operates on domain in Poland (maybe because they could get the .edu domain there easily) managed from Hong Kong or USA, accredited in Kyrgyzstan too.
Honorary doctorates (from accreditation agency, no less), self nomination accepted, discounts available:
https://www.qahe.org/qahe-honorary-awards/
So I guess they are rather qualified to teach business....

[johnniewalkerdread]

Take Elisabetta Prencipe for example. GIU lists her as an Affiliate Professor for their university and a Lecturer at the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management.  But she isn't listed anywhere on the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management's website. Also, she holds no degrees in finance or anything even close; her LinkedIn claims she holds a doctorate in nuclear and subnuclear (?) physics. But she never got an undergraduate degree in physics. The closest she came was a diploma in English/Language Arts.

There is an Elisabetta Prencipe who is a particle physicist. And her LinkedIn page lists her presently as a member of the Belle II experimental group at the Justus Liebig University Giessen (JLU). How is a full-time research particle physicist serving as a lecturer in finance and management while, at the same time, serving as an Affiliate Professor at GIU?

IMHO you are overanalyzing a bit in this direction, she was lecturer at that uni and was listed on their website while she was lecturer, she ended last year. She didn't lecture finance there. That she didn't list her undergrad degree doesn't mean that much, there could be numerous reasons.

Re GIU all that matters are the accreditations, QAHE and IARC, worthless in most countries but probably not all.

GIU is based on slightly different founding stones than most others in same category, but I didn't study enough psychology to be sufficiently articulate on that matter.

Overanalyzing? Not sure how one does that.

I don't doubt that Prencipe exists. In fact, I found her papers on Google Scholar, although they are in experimental particle physics is which is not my bag.

QAHE lists the Asia Pacific School of Business as one of the schools it accredits. The pictures of the campus on its web page are stolen from other universities. In fact, they Photoshopped their own logo on one of the buildings. The faculty profiles feature photos stolen from other web sites. For example, Amelia Ashford, listed on its Past Presidents page as a former Vice President (https://www.apsb.edu.eu/past_presidents/), is actually Prof. Jessica Ruth Hullman of Northwestern University who told me via email that she was unaware that her likeness was being used by the school. 

So how does a legitimate accreditation agency accredit such a school? And if they are willing to accredit such a university, of what value would there accreditation be in any country?  I would love to know.

[cacoleman1983]

All of these partnerships of recognition are about establishing rapport with different institutions and accreditors internationally as a way to cross-validate one another. How they get on these lists is all about networking. Traditionally, it takes many phases and lots of money to establish strong accreditation here in the US. However, joining smaller accreditation groups that offer endorsements internationally allows for these schools to offer life-long learning courses that could eventually turn into college credit to every person that participates with internet access for pennies on the dollar compared to US tuition. International schools can give a unique boost to a CV and can also allow for multiple awards/degrees across several countries for the same level of work one US degree would get for a much larger cost.

[freeloader]

All of these partnerships of recognition are about establishing rapport with different institutions and accreditors internationally as a way to cross-validate one another.  How they get on these lists is all about networking.  Traditionally, it takes many phases and lots of money to establish strong accreditation here in the US.  However,  joining smaller accreditation groups that offer endorsements internationally allows for these schools to offer life-long learning courses that could eventually turn into college credit to every person that participates with internet access for pennies on the dollar compared to US tuition. International schools can give a unique boost to a CV and can also allow for multiple awards/degrees across several countries for the same level of work one US degree would get for a much larger cost.

I am curious about the work required of students at GIU. 

How much work do students have to complete to earn non-honorary degrees from GIU?  Is the work required commensurate with regionally accredited universities in the US or Western European equivalents?  What is expected of doctoral students at GIU in terms of capstones or dissertations?

[johnniewalkerdread]

All of these partnerships of recognition are about establishing rapport with different institutions and accreditors internationally as a way to cross-validate one another.  How they get on these lists is all about networking.  Traditionally, it takes many phases and lots of money to establish strong accreditation here in the US.  However,  joining smaller accreditation groups that offer endorsements internationally allows for these schools to offer life-long learning courses that could eventually turn into college credit to every person that participates with internet access for pennies on the dollar compared to US tuition. International schools can give a unique boost to a CV and can also allow for multiple awards/degrees across several countries for the same level of work one US degree would get for a much larger cost.

In the end, all that matters is the level of quality control that these accreditation agencies employ. After all, accreditation IS quality control. If all they are doing is collecting a membership fee and perusing the university web site, then that is not enough. I want the accreditation agency to have reviewed the course offerings, ensured that the courses have a curriculum, and are taught by professionals who invest a reasonable level of effort in teaching the content.

A three-member team of full-time faculty cannot sustain a PhD program, let alone 36 PhD programs, and I don't care what gimmicks the school provided the accreditation agency. If you don't have the courses and you don't have the personnel and your university does not expend the effort, you're not accredited.

[johnniewalkerdread]

By the way, American Imperial University is accredited by QAHE. The university's web page lists its address as 2100 S Hiawassee Rd, Orlando, FL.

https://americanimperialuniversity.com/

Note the .com domain.

Google Maps indicates that the university is located in the middle of a golf course. I'm not sure how I can teach a class when I have to duck every time someone yells "Four!"

[bjcheung77]

For those .com institutions, they're most likely starting out of nowhere and almost all are going to be unaccredited. It's how they actually strive to getting candidacy to accreditation and/or programmatic, secondary, accreditation that matters, as all schools start off without any accreditation until they've gone through numerous evaluations and reviews.

Readers recommendation: I would put them in a list to review, such as possible future accreditation list, or unaccredited but interesting list, something that you can look back at when you want to review them if you ever wanted to. Some remain religious exempt, state approved, unaccredited, or in the process of getting NA, RA, etc. Be diligent, do your research.

And, It's actually "Fore!", same pronunciation but different meaning and spelling altogether...

[Tomas]

QAHE also accredited ACLAS here known for the "degree in a weekend" and consumer alert from The Georgia Nonpublic Postsecondary Education Commission: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...even-legal
MBA $89, DBA $199.

Institutional evaluation report for GIU: https://www.qahe.org.uk/wp-content/uploa...rt-GIU.pdf

Extract from 6 pages long doc:
2. Quality Assurance Mechanisms
a. Internal Quality Assurance
Key components include:
1. Work Schedule Adherence: Employees must be aware of their schedules, and any
changes must be approved in advance.
....
b. Quality Enhancement Initiatives
2. Collaboration with Grammarly
....
5. Areas for Improvement
While GIU demonstrates a strong commitment to its mission and goals, several areas
warrant attention:
1. Enrollment Strategies:
• Broaden Marketing Efforts
....
Recommendations
1. Enhance Recruitment Strategies: Develop targeted marketing campaigns and
partnerships to attract diverse student populations.
...
This comprehensive evaluation report serves as a critical assessment of Graham
International University, providing insights and actionable recommendations to support the
institution's ongoing improvement and alignment with QAHE accreditation standards.

So, no. 1 recommendation from QAHE to be in alignment with QAHE standards is to improve marketing...

[johnniewalkerdread]

Reading that evaluation report brought out the giggles. I love how it confuses marketing speak with factual claims.

"The leadership is headed by Frankie Lee Graham Jr., whose vision and direction are pivotal in steering the institution towards its mission..." 

Oh, really? According to whom?

I suspect that the evaluation report was written by Frankie:

"This evaluation report assesses Graham International University (GIU) based on its self-evaluation submission..."

Good catch on the "Four!"  Egg on my face.

[FakePhDInvestigator]

You guys talking about the low low standards of QAHE reminds me of the time when even QAHE strongly disavowed any association with Rashad Richey's fake university. https://www.qahe.org/qahe-refutes-claims...niversity/