I have gotten an anonymous tip that a person or persons is attempting to spread a falsehood that my PhD is completely fake and that I am not a real PhD . The tip did not say exactly who it was saying these things so I do not know for sure, but I wanted to post my input since I consider this a very serious issue. To give you an example of how I feel take for instance a political Senatorial race. It is one thing to disagree with your opponent , to poke fun at them, even to get nasty and “sling mud” at them . You would be going to an entirely other level if you made accusations that your opponent was not really a Senator and had faked his/her credentials . I believe anyone who goes to that length and acts in that manner has most definitely crossed a line of ethics and professional conduct. I further believe that anyone who would do this should they themselves fall under careful scrutiny as too their character.
To whoever may be saying these things about me if you are reading this post please see the Wikipedia article below concerning the school that I received my PhD from and please read my 2 posts of Sunday April 11( at MySpacehttp://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll ) where I had cleared this issue and set the record straight about a month ago with someone who previously questioned my credentials . In these blog posts I explain in detail what I did to earn my degree. If the doubt you have is that you feel I did not actually graduate from the University of Metaphysics/Sedona please feel very free to contact them as they have my transcript, Masters Thesis, and Doctoral Dissertation in their files. I graduated Feb. 20, 2007.
To close let me re-assure everyone that I am indeed a real,true,and legal PhD.
Thank you for your time. Please be sure to see the comment section below.
Best wishes,
Donald
P.S.: To those who may not know what New Thought encompasses it can be any or all of these subjects: Mind/Body/Spirit Healing, Philosophy, Religion, Parapsychology, Mysticism, Yoga, ESP, Dreams, Jungian Psychology, Astrology, Meditation, Self-Help Studies, Positive Thinking, Life After Death, Reincarnation, etc.
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Source : Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Metaphysics
The University website is at :http://www.metaphysics.com/prospectus/format-off-campus.htm
The University Of Metaphysics is a private, post secondary, distance learning, theological school operating under the auspices of the International Metaphysical Ministry[1][2]. IMM is a non-profit, religious exempt organization as designated by the Internal Revenue Service of the United States. The curriculum is strictly non-secular and theological in nature. Students are prepared for Ministerial and other related careers in the holistic, New Thought branch of Metaphysical Theology[3].
New Thought, as a theological movement, began in the nineteenth century. This movement was thrust forward by a number of spiritual thinkers and philosophers such as Phineas Parkhurst Quimby, Myrtle Fillmore, Charles Fillmore, William Walker Atkinson and Ernest Holmes. From its inception, independence of thought, teachings, and belief has been an important, deeply rooted characteristic[4] of the New Thought Movement. This makes it difficult for academia to categorize New Thought Churches, Ministries, and Organizations into set denominations with explicit boundaries of belief – as they do with other religious movements[5]. Nevertheless, a number of New Thought Denominations, such as Unity Church and Religious Science, have become easily recognizable by main stream society.
The University Of Metaphysics is totally focused on a New Thought Theological Curriculum and legally exists beyond the scope of the (U.S.) Higher Education Act of 1965. The University has been influenced for over fifty years by the deeply rooted tradition of independence of the New Thought Movement. The University has chosen independence rather than joining with a secular type association, organization or agency for accreditation. There is no official accrediting agency governing metaphysical education. Therefore, the IMM voluntarily maintains extensive oversight, quality control, and critical evaluation of the University’s activities, and religious curriculum. Academic standards that are at least equal to that of most secular, accredited, post secondary educational institutions within the United States are strictly maintained. This is accomplished through both exam and Thesis/Dissertation review.
The University Of Metaphysics can trace its history as a teaching institution, with its own unique philosophy over the last fifty years. This would include various educational and research facilities. The actual University Of Metaphysics, an independent entity as it exists today, was founded in 1976 by Dr. Paul Leon Masters. The University of Metaphysics applied for, and was granted, full legal right to award non-secular degrees up to Doctoral or Ph.D. levelin the various ministerial specialties.
The International Metaphysical Ministry, which operates the University Of Metaphysics, is a worldwide New Thought Metaphysical Ministry having exposure in the domestic United States along with over seventy[6] countries internationally[7]. IMM has over fifty years[8][9] of service in the private, post secondary religious field.
I hadn’t heard that anyone was spreading any vicious rumors about you, until you brought it to my attention. Henceforth, I checked your links and the University you recieved your degree from is not an accredited college, therefore,I cannot put you in the same class as say, my fammily practioner, seems to me that this since this college is a non-denominational, IRS exempt, it would be looked at as a “sham” for lack of a better word. I just can’t see how anyone can become a doctor in less than a year of study, on line. This term “New Thought” seems to be the answer to how they get around it. Since, as you say, acadamia cannot catorgorize it. Sorry I see it that way, but you brought it in the open. I will still read your blogs and enjoy them.
Dear Mr. Caswell,
Thank you for your comment and your honesty.
I can fully understand you not feeling comfortable placing my degree in the same category as you do your family practitioner. I am likewise sure that you would not feel comfortable placing someone with a PhD in Art History in the same category as your physician. They are 2 separate fields altogether. The point of my post was not to necessarily “rate” my degree as to its importance but to just show that my degree is a legitimate and legal one. As to the value a person puts on it is up to them and I fully understand that many people will not place as much value on a Religious/Spiritual school as they would a Government overseen school. Much in the same way as many people do not value a degree from Ohio State as highly as they would a degree from Harvard.
You asked how anyone can get a PhD in a year. To clarify a bit. In my study, since the school is not accredited by the Government, I only studied Metaphysical subjects. So unlike an Academic PhD I did not need to take several years of English,Social Studies,Art History, World History,etc. …My instruction focused only on subjects I would need. As to the other subjects I received a fairly good background in them already in my High School education. I graduated from one of the top 5% U.S. Academically Challenging High Schools a year early ( I completed 4 years in 3). We were all Government tested when I was in the 10th grade and in all subjects my intelligence level was above my peers. In some subjects my level of knowledge was that of a 2nd and 3rd year college student. So basically 4 or 5 years above my peers.
So to close my basic point was that I have a legal, honest and legitimate PhD from a school with a 50 year history that is respected World-wide in it’s field.
Once again thank you, Gene, for your comment and I am glad that you enjoy my blog.
Best wishes,
Donald
P.S.: To those who do not know the Government accreditation is basically just a system that keeps all of the Academic colleges on the same level so that if you transfer from one college to another your credits and knowledge level will be the same or closely compatible. In the Metaphysical/Spiritual field since there are so many schools of thought it would be virtually impossible to accredit schools of that type. So really Government accreditation does not address the value of a persons education…only that all of the educations at fairly equal.
Accreditation is supposedly voluntary and has nothing to do with legitamacy. However more emphasis is put on accreditation, which is basically a group of schools banding together to judge whether fellow members are keeping up with the approved of standards. There are several schools that aren’t accredited, usually for relligious reasons, but still good schools, not shams. Also, some schools give honorary doctorates to folks that they want to recognize. I think alot of religious leaders that are known as “Dr. ______” have these unearned degrees, (ie Mike Murdoch, Jerry Farwell,etc). Accreditation is just a way to put more American education under government control and is somewhat new. Getting a degree from an accredited school doesn’t mean you know more or better than someone who has an unaccredited degree, although it’s seen as some kind of guarantee of solid learning. The criteria for being accredited aren’t necessarily relevant to education/knowledge; my college had its accreditation once-evey-decade review while I was there and one of the criteria was something to do with the number of library books per student. Nowadays there are colleges that have no physical presence, (classrooms, dorms, library, etc.), but are accredited, and there is the whole distance ed./online ed. thing where alot of traditional measurements are no longer valid. (I read that the Dept. of Ed. might increase the face-to-face contact requirements for distance/online programs, which might make things a bit more inconvenient for the student.)
To me, the bottom line should be what one knows, not how/where one learned it. There are some fields where standards are necessary, like medicine, engineering, etc., of course, but metaphysics and religion don’t have the same basic, uniformity of say, history or chemistry, (except perhaps within a denomination). And some schools are more field focused, like an ITT/DeVry school, which is why the small print says transferring to another school may not be as easily done as between two traditional, multi-field schools.
As for duration of one’s study: Did you ever stop to realize how much actual time is put into a traditional major? A credit usually represents one 50-minute class period/week, thus 3 credits is 150 minutes in class per week. if a semester is 12 weeks, a 3 credit class is 30 hrs./semester. A traditional major is 30 credits or 900 hrs in class, spread over 4+ years. 900 hrs taken to read up to (parts of) 10 textbooks over 4 years — and often a major has nothing to do with what your career ends up being! I’ve had college classes where all the time was spent with the professor literally reading the text; I’ve had classes where all the time was spent with the professor trying to instill a Positive Mental Attittude in students who were there to get the credits, then the degree, then the job and the $$$$$ that was “assured” to follow, (they were taking classes for something to do, but since the degree was in an “in-demand” field and failing was extremely unlikely, ….). I had about 10 classes with this teacher, all of them FULL of Napoleon Hill, W. Clement Stone, Coue-isms, etc., one of them a speech class where 1/3 of the students gave at least one speech, no one failed and the school was fully and properly accreditied!
And I’ve read of people taking degrees by passing certain test, (DANTES, AP, etc.). Pass one test and the psychology major was done, pass another test and the English major was done. (The guy did take 3 classes in a classroom traditional style, got all 4.0′s — which was his entire G.P.A., since the tests were P/F. And yes, the degree college was accredited, fully approved by the U.S. Department of Education.
Accreditation is little more than a rubber-stamping simplifier for those in charge. Think of all the great minds, schooled or not, who somehow made their mark on America and History without an accredited degree — even without any degree!
Very well put…thank you for the comment
I have several accredited degrees, RN, PT, BS all through the government accredited bodies. For with these degess I an make money and have great opportunity in the “secular” market. I am very intrested in Sedona which will do nothing for any of my “secular”employment. Its a study I just want to learn and am intrested in. Even if I obtain a Ph.D it will do nothing for my professional careeer but will open my mind for an area of intrest therefore will hold value for me and that is all that really matters. If one is looking for a job in a secular area it would be a mistake. As far as value goes it is all in the eye of the beholder. With that said it is not compairable to a traditional Dr degree in the job market.
Frankly, I’m mortified by the poor spelling and tortured syntax of most of the posts above. And these posts are from “PhDs”? Or even from people with a high school education? I happen to agree with most of the ideas expressed, but the very expressions would give an objective observer great pause.
By the way, I’m planning to take the Sedona studies on up through the PhD level.