List of animals awarded human credentials

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This list of animals awarded human credentials includes nonhuman animals who have been submitted as applicants to suspected diploma mills, and have been awarded a diploma. On occasion, they have been admitted and granted a degree, as reported in reliable sources. Animals are often used as a device to clearly demonstrate the lax standards or fraudulent activities of the awarding institutions. In at least one case, a cat's degree helped lead to a successful fraud prosecution against the institution that had issued it.

Contents

On occasion, accredited institutions award mock degrees to animals for humorous purposes, e.g. UNSW awarded a "dogtorate" (not doctorate) to a dog; [1] such cases are not included below.

Cats

Colby Nolan (MBA)

Colby Nolan was a house cat who was awarded an MBA in 2004 by Trinity Southern University, a Dallas-based diploma mill, sparking a fraud lawsuit by the Pennsylvania attorney general's office. [2]

Colby Nolan lived with a deputy attorney general. In looking to expose Trinity Southern University for fraud, undercover agents had the then-six-year-old feline obtain a bachelor's degree in business administration for $299. On the animal's application, the agents claimed that the cat had previously taken courses at a community college, worked at a fast-food restaurant, babysat, and maintained a newspaper route. In response, the institution informed Colby that, due to the job experience listed on his application, he was eligible for an executive MBA which he could obtain for an additional $100. The transcript submitted by the agents claimed that Colby had a GPA of 3.5.

Upon learning that the cat received the degree, Pennsylvania attorney general Jerry Pappert filed a lawsuit against Trinity Southern University. [3] In the lawsuit, Pappert directed the diploma mill, which had used email spam to sell degrees, to provide restitution to anyone who had ordered a degree from them.

In December 2004, the Texas attorney general obtained a temporary restraining order under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act against Trinity Southern and its owners, Craig B. and Alton S. Poe. The court also ordered the school's assets frozen. [4] In March 2005, the Poes were assessed penalties of over $100,000 by the court and were ordered not to market or promote fraudulent, substandard degree programs or to represent their university as being accredited or affiliated with legitimate universities. [5] [6] It was reported that the Poes were also associated with Wesleyan International University and Prixo Southern University. [6] Trinity Southern University's website has been offline since 2005. [7]

Henrietta (Hettie, certified member of the American Association of Nutritional Consultants)

In 2007, the cat Henrietta, despite having been dead for around a year, was successfully registered as a certified member of the American Association of Nutritional Consultants by her owner Ben Goldacre, doctor and author of the Bad Science column in the Guardian newspaper and subsequent book. Goldacre registered Henrietta with AANC to showcase the complete lack of any verification for membership, beyond payment of $60, after TV nutritionist Gillian McKeith promoted her AANC membership among other unverified qualifications. [8]

George (registration for practice as a hypnotherapist)

In 2009, George, a cat owned by Chris Jackson (presenter of the BBC show Inside Out North East & Cumbria), was registered as a hypnotherapist after his owner created a fake certificate from a non-existing institution and used it to register with three professional organizations: the British Board of Neuro Linguistic Programming, the United Fellowship of Hypnotherapists, and the Professional Hypnotherapy Practitioner Association. [9]

Kitty O'Malley (high school diploma)

In 1973, the Lakeland, Florida newspaper The Ledger obtained a high school diploma from "Washington High Academy" for Kitty O'Malley, a cat also known as Spanky. While the diploma was deemed insufficient to gain Kitty admission to local colleges, the state attorney general's office planned to investigate the institution. [10]

Oliver Greenhalgh (fellowship of estate valuation professional society)

On December 10, 1967, The Times reported that Oliver Greenhalgh had been accepted as a fellow of the English Association of Estate Agents and Valuers, after a payment of eleven guineas (his two references were not verified). Oliver was a cat belonging to Michael Greenhalgh, a cameraman with Television Wales and the West, who was pursuing an investigation of bogus professional associations. [11] [12]

Oreo Collins (high school diploma)

Oreo C. Collins (born around 2007) is a tuxedo cat who gained notoriety when she received a diploma from Jefferson High School Online in 2009, although her age was misrepresented in order to qualify. [13] The sting was an investigative operation by the Better Business Bureau of Central Georgia headed by Kelvin Collins, Oreo's owner. [14]

Zoe D. Katze (psychotherapist and hypnotherapy certifications)

Zoe D. Katze ("Zoe the Cat" in German) was a house cat owned by psychologist Steve K. D. Eichel. Around 2001, Eichel obtained a psychotherapy certification for his cat from the American Psychotherapy Association and several hypnotherapy credentials from other organizations. [15] [9] The certification of Zoe has been cited in several books and articles on credentialing scams, and has appeared in psychology and forensic curricula. Eichel also served as the consultant to the BBC investigation that led to the certification of George the cat by several UK hypnosis associations. [9]

Dogs

Chester Ludlow (MBA)

In 2009, Chester Ludlow, a pug from Vermont, was awarded an MBA by Rochville University. His owner submitted an application and US$499 and received a "diploma, two sets of transcripts, a certificate of distinction in finance, and a certificate of membership in the student council". [16]

Lulu (college diploma)

In 2010, Mark Howard, a member of the legal team for the claimants (BSkyB) in BSkyB Ltd & Anor v HP Enterprise Services UK Ltd & Anor [2010] [17] obtained a degree for his dog Lulu from Concordia College in the US Virgin Islands. Lulu "graduated" with higher marks than the defendant's key witness, who, the judge found, had lied that he had attended classes for his Concordia MBA. [18] [19] In the legal community, the story of the witness' MBA is described as "infamous", [20] and a supervisory management cautionary tale. [21]

Maxwell Sniffingwell (theriogenology/animal reproduction degree)

In 2009, Dr. Ben Mays, a veterinarian in Clinton, Arkansas, obtained a degree in "theriogenology/animal reproduction" from Belford University on behalf of an English bulldog named Maxwell Sniffingwell. The application included his work as a reproductive specialist, noting his "natural ability in theriogenology" and "experimental work with felines" and his understanding of the merits of specialization despite a desire to "'do them all'". He obtained a diploma, transcript and letter of recommendation upon receipt of a payment of $549 to the university, but declined an offer to be made an honors graduate for an additional $75. [22]

Molly (high school diploma)

In February 2012, in a story on local diploma mills by Houston television station KHOU, the reporters got a high school diploma and official transcript from Lincoln Academy for their photographer's basset hound Molly for $300 after filling out a "laughable", "easy take-home test". [23] According to a homeschooling advocate, Lincoln Academy and other schools were improperly taking advantage of a Texas law that prohibits discrimination by public colleges and universities against homeschooled students. [23]

Ollie (associate editorship of medical journals)

In 2017, Mike Daube, a public health expert in Western Australia, reinvented his dog Ollie as Dr. Olivia Doll. He made up credentials including "past associate of the Shenton Park Institute for Canine Refuge Studies" (where she was a rescue dog) and submitted her application for posts on the editorial boards of some predatory medical journals. Several accepted her application, and the Global Journal of Addiction and Rehabilitation Medicine named her associate editor. [24]

Pete (MBA)

The American University of London offered Pete, a four-year-old male short-haired Lurcher [25] in Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, London, an MBA for £4,500 without requiring any course work. The BBC current affairs programme Newsnight reported in 2013 that the dog, named "Peter Smith" on the faked CV for a management consultant, was offered an MBA by the university's Accreditation of Previous Experiential Learning board based on his "made-up work experience and a fictitious undergraduate degree" just four days after applying for the course. [26]

Sonny (medical degree)

The May 30, 2007 episode of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation comedy show The Chaser's War on Everything documented host Chas Licciardello applying online and obtaining a medical degree for his dog Sonny from the diploma mill Ashwood University. Sonny's "work experience" included "significant proctology experience sniffing other dogs' bums". [27] [28] Ashwood University has since been listed as a Non Accredited Degree Supplier in the states of Michigan, Oregon, and Texas. [29]

Wally (associate's degrees)

In 2004, the Albany, New York television station WRGB ran a report in which reporter Peter Brancato applied to and received an associate degree from Almeda University on behalf of his dog, Wally. [30] [31] On the application, Brancato listed, "Plays with the kids every day ... teaches them to interact better with each other ... Teaches them responsibilities like feeding the dog." Almeda University granted Wally a "life experience" associate degree in "Childhood Development". After the report aired, Almeda University protested that Brancato perjured himself by creating a false identity using a fabricated name and date of birth. In a public statement, an Almeda University representative wrote, "He completed an application that included a background of the following: Eight-years tutoring pre-K children, curriculum design and development, teaching coping skills, and volunteer coaching". [32] In March 2008, Wally was featured in a Lake Geneva, Wisconsin mayoral campaign political cartoon, with a dialogue bubble reading, "I graduated with Bill Chesen", referring to candidate Chesen's Almeda University bachelor's degree. [33]

Other

Algernon (goldfish)

In 2021, environmentalist George Monbiot registered his childhood goldfish as a registered waste disposer in the UK. [34] [35]

See also

Related Research Articles

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Bronte International University is an unaccredited post-secondary educational institution formerly in South Dakota. It is widely considered to be a diploma mill, operated from an unknown location. Its website offers "fast" degrees for "life experience."

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Goldacre</span> British physician, academic and science writer (born 1974)

Ben Michael Goldacre is a British physician, academic and science writer. He is the first Bennett Professor of Evidence-Based Medicine and director of the Bennett Institute for Applied Data Science at the University of Oxford. He is a founder of the AllTrials campaign and OpenTrials, aiming to require open science practices in clinical trials.

The McCombs School of Business is a business school at The University of Texas at Austin, a public research university in Austin, Texas. In addition to the main campus in Downtown Austin, McCombs offers classes outside Central Texas in Dallas, and Houston. The McCombs School of Business offers undergraduate, master's, and doctoral programs for their average 13,000 students each year, adding to its 98,648 member alumni base from a variety of business fields. In addition to traditional classroom degree programs, McCombs is home to 14 collaborative research centers, the international business plan competition: Venture Labs Investment Competition, and executive education programs.

Breyer State University, also called Breyer State University-Alabama, is an unaccredited distance education, for profit, private university that formerly operated in the U.S. states of Idaho and Alabama and now reports a location in Panama. It has been described by The New Republic magazine as a diploma mill that "claimed official-sounding accreditation to attract hundreds of people to obtain degrees". Breyer State University disputes this categorization.

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.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rochville University</span>

Rochville University was an online diploma mill offering a "Life Experience Degree, and Certificate Program" without coursework or prior transcript evaluation. The State of Texas classified it as an "illegal supplier of educational credentials" whose degrees may not be used in Texas. The Oregon Office of Degree Authorization lists it as "fake". Its operation is believed to be centered in Pakistan, and its diplomas and degree certificates have been mailed from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Along with many similar enterprises, it is owned by the Karachi based company, Axact, whose main business, according to a New York Times investigation, is "to take the centuries-old scam of selling fake academic degrees and turn it into an Internet-era scheme on a global scale".

Concordia College and University is an entity with a primary mailing address in Delaware that represents itself as a real life institution that awards associate, bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees based solely on the purchaser's work and life experience, with some credits transferred in. Although the name is similar, Concordia College and University is not in any way affiliated with any of the regionally accredited institutions within the six-member Concordia University System.

Almeda University was an unaccredited for-profit online university registered on the Caribbean island of Nevis. It offered illegitimate degrees including online certificate programs, general "Life Experience Degrees", and doctorates in religion and theology. Almeda was accredited by the Council for Distance Education Accreditation, the Interfaith Education Ministries (IEM), and the Association for Online Academic Excellence (AOAEX), none of which were recognized by the United States Department of Education or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. Almeda University is widely regarded as a diploma mill. It was owned and operated by Pakistani software company Axact.

Thomas James Kirk II operated several fraudulent higher education organizations, including LaSalle University in Mandeville, Louisiana, the University of San Gabriel Valley, and Bienville University. Kirk's "LaSalle University" was shut down in 1996 following a raid by the FBI. Kirk was indicted for tax fraud in 1996 and, after a plea agreement, was sentenced to five years in U.S. federal prison. Kirk later died in January 2008.

The American Association of Nutritional Consultants (AANC) is an organization based in Warsaw, Indiana, for nutritional and dietary consultants. It does not restrict its membership to those who have any verifiable credentials.

The World Online Education Accrediting Commission (WOEAC) is an entity with no identified geographic location that represents itself as an accrediting organization for online degree providers. It is not recognized as a higher education accreditor by either the United States Department of Education (USDE) or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).

Unaccredited institutions of higher education are colleges, trade schools, seminaries, and universities which do not have formal educational accreditation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lansbridge University</span> Private university in New Brunswick, Canada

Lansbridge University was an accredited private, for-profit distance education university with offices in Fredericton, New Brunswick, and formerly in British Columbia. Lansbridge University was a degree granting research university in Canada that offered doctoral degrees (doctorate) e.g. Doctor of Business Administration (DBA), Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Master of Business Administration (MBA), master's degrees and undergraduate degrees by distance learning and on-campus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diploma mills in the United States</span>

Diploma mills in the United States are organizations that award academic degrees and diplomas with substandard or no academic study and without academic approval by officially recognized educational accrediting bodies or qualified government agencies. The purchaser can then claim to hold an academic degree, and the organization is motivated by making a profit. These degrees are often awarded based on vaguely construed life experience. Some organizations claim accreditation by non-recognized/unapproved accrediting bodies set up for the purposes of providing a veneer of authenticity.

American City University (ACU) is a private unaccredited distance education university headquartered in Pasadena, California. The school currently offers an online MBA program.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Axact</span> Degree mill

Axact is a Pakistan software company that runs numerous websites selling fraudulent academic degrees for fictional universities. The company used to own the media company BOL Network.

References

  1. ↑ "UNSW". www.facebook.com. Archived from the original on February 26, 2022. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  2. ↑ "Cat Gets MBA Degree—Kitty Also Had A 3.5 GPA". NBC10.com Money. NBC10. December 6, 2004. Archived from the original on October 26, 2007. Retrieved March 31, 2010.
  3. ↑ AP (December 6, 2004). "School that awarded MBA to cat sued". NBC News. Archived from the original on October 5, 2013. Retrieved March 31, 2010.
  4. ↑ "Texas Freezes Assets of Online University". Consumer Affairs. December 18, 2004. Archived from the original on January 15, 2010. Retrieved March 31, 2010.
  5. ↑ "Internet 'university' that gave cat a diploma is fined". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Texas. March 18, 2005. p. 6B. Archived from the original on October 24, 2012. Retrieved October 14, 2010.(subscription required)
  6. 1 2 "Diploma Mill Operators Hit With Court Judgments". Consumer Affairs. March 18, 2005. Archived from the original on January 15, 2010. Retrieved March 31, 2010.
  7. ↑ Trinity Southern University website history at Web Archive , showing it offline as of 2005, and the domain for sale since 2006. Retrieved April 7, 2010
  8. ↑ Goldacre, Ben (September 30, 2004). "Dr Gillian McKeith (PhD) continued". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  9. 1 2 3 "Cat registered as hypnotherapist". BBC . October 12, 2009. Archived from the original on November 20, 2020. Retrieved November 6, 2009.
  10. ↑ Erlick, June (November 1, 1973). "No College Wants Kitty". The Ledger . Retrieved June 5, 2022.
  11. ↑ "Cat becomes an estate agent". The Times. London. December 10, 1967. p. 3.
  12. ↑ Jackson, J. A. (2010). Professions and Professionalization: Volume 3, Sociological Studies. Cambridge University Press. p. 12 (Footnote 4). ISBN   978-0-521-13647-1.
  13. ↑ Collette, Christopher (August 13, 2009). "Georgia cat gets GED". WTSP, courtesy WMAZ. Archived from the original on October 28, 2011. Retrieved June 2, 2013.
  14. ↑ Popkin, Helen A.S. (August 14, 2009). "Clever cat earns 'high school diploma' online". Today Money. MSNBC. Archived from the original on August 17, 2009. Retrieved August 21, 2009.
  15. ↑ Cosgrove-Mather, Bootie (January 16, 2004). "Is Your Psychotherapist Qualified?". Jim Acosta Reports. CBS News. Archived from the original on December 5, 2009. Retrieved December 4, 2009.
  16. ↑ "Pug Dog Earns Online MBA in Rochville University Scam | GetEducated". www.geteducated.com. Archived from the original on February 3, 2019. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
  17. ↑ "2010 EWHC 86 (TCC)". British and Irish Legal Information Institute. January 26, 2010. Archived from the original on July 26, 2013. Retrieved February 1, 2010.
  18. ↑ Spence, Alex (January 27, 2010). "EDS employee lied to win £50m BSkyB contract". The Times . London. Archived from the original on July 19, 2012. Retrieved June 2, 2013.
  19. ↑ Young, Tom (January 29, 2010). "Key EDS witness bought internet degree". iTnews. Haymarket Media. Archived from the original on February 10, 2010. Retrieved March 31, 2010.
  20. ↑ Jones, Simon (June 7, 2010). "United Kingdom: How The Dog With The Degree Led To A Contract Without A Cap" Archived April 3, 2012, at the Wayback Machine . (Barlow Lyde & Gilbert LLP.) Mondaq Ltd.
  21. ↑ Buyers, John; Choe, Caroline (March 3, 2010). "United Kingdom: BSkyB v EDS: Avoiding "Joe Galloway" Syndrome". (Stephenson Harwood). Mondaq Ltd. (registration required) Archived September 5, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  22. ↑ Brantley, Max. "Another proud Belford U. doctor". Arkansas Times. Archived from the original on March 29, 2018. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
  23. 1 2 Rogalski, Jeremy (February 8, 2012). "Dog gets high school diploma as so-called 'degree mills' flourish under Texas law". KHOU TV. Archived from the original on February 10, 2012.
  24. ↑ O'Leary, Cathy (May 21, 2017). "The Perth dog that's probably smarter than you". PerthNow. Seven West Media. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  25. ↑ "Pete the Lurcher becomes the first Battersea dog to earn a Master's degree". Battersea Dogs & Cats Home. October 24, 2013. Archived from the original on October 27, 2013. Retrieved October 24, 2013.
  26. ↑ Reed, Jim; Deri Smith, Mike (October 23, 2013). "American University of London sells study-free MBA". BBC Newsnight. BBC. Archived from the original on October 24, 2013. Retrieved October 24, 2013.
  27. ↑ Brazao, Dale (August 31, 2008). "Big Promises, Broken Dreams". Toronto Star . Archived from the original on December 30, 2010. Retrieved May 29, 2010.
  28. ↑ "The Chasers War". The Chaser's War on Everything. Series 2. Episode 10. May 30, 2007. Event occurs at 3:26. Archived from the original on September 5, 2012. Retrieved June 13, 2010.
  29. ↑ "Ashwood University Accreditation Scam | Diploma Mill Police | GetEducated.com". www.geteducated.com. Archived from the original on March 31, 2016. Retrieved March 20, 2016.
  30. ↑ "Degrees for Sale (transcript)". I-Team. WRGB. February 19, 2004. Archived from the original on March 6, 2012.
  31. ↑ Schultheis, Emily (January 30, 2010). "Degrees of doubt: PUC hire has unaccredited sheepskins". Philadelphia Daily News . Archived from the original on February 2, 2010. Retrieved June 2, 2013. Alt URL (subscription required) Archived April 2, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  32. ↑ "Perjury to Prove a Point?" (Press release). Almeda University. February 8, 2006. Archived from the original on November 8, 2006. Retrieved March 27, 2010.
  33. ↑ Bunge, Kayla (September 19, 2008). "No charges in Lake Geneva election flap". Janesville Gazette. GazetteXtra. Archived from the original on July 11, 2011. Retrieved October 17, 2010.
  34. ↑ Monbiot, George (December 24, 2021). "Britain through the looking glass: my dead goldfish is now a registered waste disposer". The Guardian. Retrieved December 24, 2021.
  35. ↑ "Registration CBDU414534 – Algernon Goldfish". Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs . Retrieved December 24, 2021.
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