Credit to ST - Cassandra Chew

I have never been an advocate of degrees or graduates. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t doubt or dismiss their ability or intelligence. Rather, I feel that the existence of a degree should not be the basis on which a person’s ability and proficiency should be solely judged on.

Indeed, the feedback that I get from some entrepreneurs and business people I spoke to is that they prefer to employ people who are diploma holders with more internship/ work experience and who tend to be more humble, more open to learning and proactive in finding solutions. In other words, they tend to have a higher EQ and possess more street smarts. Graduates, especially fresh graduates, tend to be cocky, unwilling to ‘get their hands dirty’ and have a know-it-all attitude. Again, this is their observation of common traits and not a prejudiced stereotyping.

I am not a graduate (yet), but I’ve been told by people from all walks of life including recently, a senior reporter, that I ‘write very well’. This is not to toot my own trumpet. It is to say that I believe a person is more driven by his or her interest and passion to excellence than a piece of paper who merely says that you have spent a certain amount of classroom hours. I have also met many people who are not graduates but you don’t mess with them because they definitely knew their stuff - I have personally seen a few ‘old gingers’ taking quite a few pegs off some young ‘hot shots’.

There are professions of course, like law, medicine, accountancy etc, where the clients need the reassurance of that paper (though I personally wouldn’t give a rat’s ass if David Marshall had a degree or not, he was that good), but I think you might agree with me that fields like music, art, writing, social work, advertising, PR etc call for a natural talent and passion more than a mere piece of paper.

Why then do I want to pursue a honors program reading English? The reason is achingly simple. This country is obsessed with degrees to the point of ostracizing people who do not have that piece of paper, regardless of their ability or experience. Essentially, a potential employer can look at all my work (here and here), the articles I did for government agencies like NCSS, newsletters, agencies, magazines etc but it will only be magically deemed good work if I simultaneously produce that piece of paper. Of course, I am referring to big players and not dodgy agencies or websites who don’t mind paying peanuts bananas for monkeys.

And so, you will have people who are willing to go through the wayang process of getting that paper, and those who just, well, want to take a short cut.

What I found extremely amusing was that one of our dear MPs actually agreed to be the guest of honor for the ceremony of an unaccredited university (aka degree mill) and even gave speeches in English and Mandarin. He said that he had not been given any information about it and that ‘if [his] presence there had given the university credibility, that was not [his] intention,’

And therein lies my dislike of the spoon-feeding habit in our culture. “Nobody told me”, “nobody showed me” and “I didn’t know” are all catch phrases of the spoon-feeding culture that is so prevalent in our society that the MP is not exempted.

After all, he had once ingeniously said, “What can I do? I’m only an MP!” So I guess now he will also be famous for “that was not my intention”.

(Article archived in case the above link does not work anymore)

*UPDATE: The MP Chan Soo Sen had written to ST

I REFER to Wednesday’s report, ‘Fancy setting, worthless degrees’.

I was invited to the ceremony through one of my grassroots leaders who was a graduand. I checked the website of a West Coast University, an institution based in Los Angeles accredited for health-care subjects. I subsequently received an invitation printed on a West Coast University letterhead with a Los Angeles address. I have thus been misled into attending the ceremony on Monday.

I have not been associated with the West Coast University mentioned in the report. Nor was it my intention to lend credibility to its courses and degrees.

Chan Soo Sen
Member of Parliament
Joo Chiat Constituency

*****

Worthless degrees
By Sandra Davie and Cassandra Chew

Students of the unaccredited West Coast University, garbed in full academic regalia, celebrating after their graduation ceremony at Old Parliament house on Monday, which even came with an inspiring speech from the university’s honorary president. — ST PHOTO: CASSANDRA CHEW
THE ceremony in the Old Parliament House had all the pomp and circumstance associated with any graduation.

The professors and graduands were in full academic regalia. Speeches flowed in English and Mandarin. And afterwards, a gala dinner at a hotel.

Cash for paper in some cases
THE term ‘degree mill’ is used widely to refer to institutions that offer degrees to students who do not have to do much work to graduate.

Some operate with no more than a mailing address to which people send money in exchange for a piece of paper that looks like a degree. Others require some nominal work to be done but do not require college-level coursework.
… more
At the ceremony, the university’s honorary president, a Professor Bernard Cadet, delivered an inspiring speech, urging graduands to transform the world.

‘Believe nothing is impossible. West Coast University (WCU) will be proud of you in the future,’ he told the 76 graduands from Singapore, Indonesia and China, before handing them their doctorates, master’s and bachelor’s degrees.

But this was a ceremony for an unaccredited university based in Panama, not Los Angeles, as its school in Singapore had claimed.

The Asia-Australia School of Management (AASM), a Case-certified school in Middle Road, offers West Coast University programmes here with a related company, Huanyu Training Expert.

At least two American states have outlawed degrees from WCU, describing it as a ‘degree supplier’ that offers ‘fraudulent or substandard degrees’.

The Texas State Higher Education Coordinating Board warns on its website that WCU ‘is used by multiple unaccredited entities. The extent to which they are related is unknown, but more than one operator is suspected.’

In some parts of the United States, it is a criminal offence to use degrees from unaccredited institutions.

‘Dr’ John Huang, one of the owners of AASM and Huanyu, insisted that the university is based in Los Angeles and faxed The Straits Times documents showing West Coast University International registered as a business in California.

But he confirmed that it was not the California-based West Coast University reputed for nursing and health science-related degrees. He admitted that WCU was unaccredited, but said his students had been given the facts.

His doctorate is from Ashwood University, the same degree mill that granted this reporter’s pet dog a doctorate for US$599 (S$886) just two months ago.

The guest of honour at Monday’s ceremony was MP for Joo Chiat Chan Soo Sen, who delivered a speech in Mandarin and English.

Contacted afterwards, he said he had been invited by a grassroots leader and accepted as he wanted to encourage the habit of life-long learning.

Told that WCU was unaccredited, he said he had not been given any information about it. ‘If my presence there had given the university credibility, that was not my intention,’ he said.

Several graduates interviewed after Monday’s ceremony believed the university was based in Los Angeles and that it was a proper institution.

They had paid between $13,000 and $19,000 in fees to take up bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate courses lasting one year to 15 months.

Those who took up the doctorate programme said they attended classes two days a month, from 9am to 5pm.

Several said they did not know a university can be registered and yet have no academic accreditation, where it is subject to quality checks by an independent body. It also means employers may not recognise the degrees.

An electronics factory quality controller who paid $13,000 in fees for her bachelor’s degree said: ‘I was hoping to get a better job in logistics with this degree, but now it may not be possible.’

Ms Ho Fee Men, director of a Chinese medical hall, said she had heard rumours that the university was unaccredited, but continued with her PhD programme anyway. To get her doctorate, she paid $19,000 in fees, attended classes twice a month over 15 months and wrote a 50,000-word thesis.

Two businessmen said they knew their doctorates were worthless but took up the programme to learn about business management.

Mr Chang Chia Sheng, 55, managing director of X.L. Handle, which makes industrial fasteners, said he gained from discussions with other businessmen.

At least 218 people here have been found with degrees from dubious universities such as Preston, Wisconsin International and Kennedy-Western.

Business owners make up one of three groups here who have degrees from unaccredited institutions and degree mills. For many of them, an honorary PhD has become a must-have symbol of success.

Another group comprises consultants and private school lecturers who may have a first degree and some expertise in a particular area, but seek a master’s degree or doctorate to bolster their credentials.

And lastly, there are those who pay for undergraduate degrees and transcripts - usually non-graduates who want qualifications to gain jobs or promotions.