George Gollin

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George Gollin
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Born (1953-05-06) May 6, 1953 (age 71)
New York
Political party Democratic

George D. Gollin (born May 6, 1953) is an American physics professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Besides his work on particle physics and the International Linear Collider, he has since 2003 made numerous efforts in fighting institutions which are considered to be diploma mills, which has caused him to receive significant public attention. Gollin placed second in the 2014 Democratic primary for Illinois's 13th congressional district. [1]

Contents

Areas of research and teaching

Gollin has worked on particle physics experiments studying muon scattering (1975–1981, intended to test the ideas of "Quantum Chromodynamics"), neutral K meson decay parameters (1980–1993, measuring things relating to "CP violation"), and electron-positron annihilation (1993–2005, measuring production and decay properties of heavy quarks). His current research focuses on technical issues associated with the design and construction of the "International Linear Collider", a very large electron-positron colliding beams facility intended to shed light on the origins of the masses of the fundamental particles.

His teaching has spanned the entire physics curriculum, from elementary algebra-based courses for students in the life sciences to classical electrodynamics at the graduate level.

Other public service

The University of Illinois is a public university and "land grant school"; as such, Gollin's responsibilities include faculty public service in addition to his teaching and research obligations. [2] Since 2003, Gollin has been documenting the practices of alleged diploma mills, which are believed to sell meaningless academic degrees without providing education or assessment to/of their customers. [3] In this capacity, he has worked with a number of state and federal agencies, including the State of Washington Office of the Attorney General, the U.S. Dept. of Education, the U.S. Secret Service, and the Swedish National Agency for Higher Education. [3] [4] It was reported in The Chronicle of Higher Education that "Alan Contreras, administrator for the Oregon Office of Degree Authorization, called the professor's work 'superb'." [5] He has, for example, assisted with the federal investigation of the operation of an alleged diploma mill, Saint Regis University. [6] This investigation resulted in closing down the large operation and the conviction on federal criminal charges of eight individuals who were involved. [7] [8]

In 2006 he was elected to the board of directors of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation for a three-year term. He was reelected to a second term in 2009. [9] Also in 2009 Gollin was named a Guggenheim Fellow by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. George Gollin said of the fellowship, "I will use the term of the Fellowship to write a book about the nine-year trajectory and spectacular immolation of St. Regis, and the resulting increase in international attention to the problem of diploma mills." [10]

2014 U.S. House campaign

Gollin announced in July 2013 his intention to run for the Illinois 13th Congressional District. [11] He faced Ann Callis and David Green in the Democratic Party primary on March 18, 2014. Gollin was endorsed by the News-Gazette , Chicago Tribune , and the State Journal-Register . [12] According to The Hill , Gollin "isn't seen by Washington Democrats as a strong candidate." [13]

See also

Related Research Articles

Saint Regis University, sometimes styled as St. Regis University, was a diploma mill operation that was one of about 120 connected institutions operated by an American fraud ring from about 1999 until 2005, when it was shut down by U.S. government authorities. The operation was known as "Operation Gold Seal".

A diploma mill or degree mill is a business that sells illegitimate diplomas or academic degrees. The term diploma mill is also used pejoratively to describe any educational institution with low standards for admission and graduation, low career placement rate, or low average starting salaries of its graduates.

Ashwood University is a diploma mill in Pakistan. It claims to award academic degrees based on "life experience." Ashwood University is not accredited by any recognised accreditation body. As such, its degrees may not be acceptable to employers or other institutions, and use of degree titles may be restricted or illegal in some jurisdictions.

Suffield University is an unaccredited internet school specializing in what it calls Life Experience Degrees, issued upon payment, with life experience assessment based on the word of the applicant. Suffield is not accredited by any accreditation body recognized by its country. According to the US Department of Education, unaccredited degrees and credits might not be acceptable to employers or other institutions, and use of degree titles may be restricted or illegal in some jurisdictions.

Belford University was an organization that offered online unaccredited degrees for "life experience". The organization maintained a post office box in Humble, Texas, but its certificates were mailed from the United Arab Emirates. Along with many similar websites, it was owned by the Karachi-based company Axact, the main business of which, according to an investigation by The New York Times, is "to take the centuries-old scam of selling fake academic degrees and turn it into an Internet-era scheme on a global scale". In July 2018, Shoaib Ahmed Sheikh, the CEO of Axact was arrested and sentenced to prison for 20 years for his role in perpetuating this scam.

An accreditation mill is an organization that purports to award educational accreditation to higher education institutions without having government authority or recognition from mainstream academia to operate as an accreditor. Implicit in the terminology is the assumption that the "mill" has low standards for such accreditation. Accreditation mills are much like diploma mills, and in many cases are closely associated with diploma mills. The "accreditation" they supply has no legal or academic value but is used in diploma mill marketing to help attract students.

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References

  1. ↑ Cahn, Emily (2014-03-18). "Ann Callis, Rodney Davis to Face Off in Targeted Illinois District". Roll Call. Archived from the original on 2014-03-19. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
  2. ↑ q.v. A Faculty Guide for Relating Public Service to the Promotion and Tenure Review Process , University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  3. 1 2 Bogus diploma ring busted with help from U. of I. professor, By Russell Working, Chicago Tribune, August 4, 2008 Archived August 7, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ "Cracking Down on Diploma Mills," CBS News Special Report: Consumer Alert, 25 July 2003.
  5. ↑ "U. of Illinois Administrators Ask Professor to Remove Web Site About Diploma Mills", by Andrea L. Foster, The Chronicle of Higher Education , October 13, 2003(subscription required)
  6. ↑ Saint Regis University should not be confused with the legitimate, accredited Regis University of Denver, Colorado.
  7. ↑ Phillips, Stephen. "A stress-free PhD? A snip at $250", The Higher Education Supplement 25 November 2005
  8. ↑ "Diploma Mill Ringleader Gets Maximum Sentence". KXLY-TV . 2 July 2008. Archived from the original on 2012-09-09. Retrieved 22 April 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  9. ↑ CHEA Announces New and Reelected Board Members Archived 2009-08-13 at the Wayback Machine , CHEA
  10. ↑ Fellowships to Assist Research and Artistic Creation Archived 2009-06-11 at the Wayback Machine , George D. Gollin, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
  11. ↑ UI physicist joins race for 13th District, The News-Gazette (Champaign-Urbana), 23 July 2013
  12. ↑ Kacich, Tom (2014-03-16). "Many Dems rally behind Callis in congressional primary, but papers endorsing Gollin". News-Gazette. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
  13. ↑ Joseph, Cameron (2014-03-18). "Eyes on Illinois on Tuesday night". The Hill. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
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