Persons Referred to in the Senate Certain Faculty Members of Greenwich
University
77th REPORT
June 1999
MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE
Senator Robert Ray (Chair) (Victoria)
Senator Sue Knowles (Deputy Chairman) (Western Australia)
Senator Helen Coonan (New South Wales)
Senator Alan Eggleston (Western Australia)
Senator Chris Evans (Western Australia)
Senator Marise Payne (New South Wales)
Senator the Hon. Nick Sherry (Tasmania)
The Senate
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600
Telephone: (02) 6277 3360
Facsimile: (02) 6277 3199
E-mail: Priv.sen@aph.gov.au
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Report
Appendix One - Submissions from Certain
Faculty Members of Greenwich University
REPORT
1.1 On 27
May 1999 the President of the Senate, Senator the Honourable Margaret
Reid, received a letter from Ms S. Quantrill, Registrar, Greenwich University,
forwarding letters from the following persons seeking redress under
the resolution of the Senate of 25 February 1988 relating to the protection
of persons referred to in the Senate (Privilege Resolution 5):
Dr
Claudine Jeanrenaud
Dr Carl E. Lindgren
Dr Lisa A. Mertz
Dr Daniel W. Miller
Dr Francesco Patricolo
Dr C. Norman Shealy
Dr Rick Walston
1.2 The
letters referred to statements made by Senator Kim Carr during the adjournment
debate in the Senate on 22 March 1999. The President, having
accepted the letters as submissions for the purposes of the resolution,
referred the letters to the Committee of Privileges on 27 May 1999.
Subsequently, Ms Quantrill forwarded directly to the committee a further
letter, from Dr John Walsh.
1.3 The
persons making submissions to the committee were either directly identified
in Senator Carr’s speech or regarded themselves as having been
readily identified as allowed for under Privilege Resolution 5. As indicated
by the submissions at Appendix One to this report, several have
described the disciplines in which they are involved, in response to
Senator Carr’s comments.
1.4 The
committee met in private session on 24 June 1999, pursuant to paragraph
(3) of Privilege Resolution 5, to consider the submissions. It has decided
to recommend their incorporation in Hansard without change, and
has therefore not consulted further with the persons concerned.
1.5 The
committee recommends:
Robert
Ray
Chairman
APPENDIX
ONE
Dr
Claudine Jeanrenaud
Dr Carl E. Lindgren
Dr Lisa A. Mertz
Dr Daniel W. Miller
Dr Francesco Patricolo
Dr C. Norman Shealy
Dr Rick Walston
Dr John Walsh of Brannagh
The submissions
read as follows (Hansard, 28 June 1999) -
Archetypus
Claudine
Jeanrenaud 7190676-3844
THE ASCLEPIUM
P.O. Box 19527 Colorado City 81019
To whom
this may concern:
I read the
minutes from Australia's senate meeting on March 22nd 1999, and I have
a few reactions. First, I must thank Senator Carr for indulging so brilliantly
in insults, for this frees me to be rather direct myself. Though I don
t think I'll be needing words such as shysters' to be effective.
By snickering
at the concepts of Alchemy or analysis of Fairytale, Senator Carr is
advertising his ignorance of a whole field of psychology, namely depth
Psychology. So though Carl Jung does not need defending, Senator Carr
needs informing.
The work
of Carl Jung (a Swiss Psychiatrist, 1875-1961) consists of a 20 volume
collection of his research spreading well over 50 years (1902-1960),
and continued since then by scholars all over the world. This research
includes the translation of Old Greek, Arabic and later European texts
of alchemy, fairytales and mythology dug up from the dung heap of the
past. Jung carried out a comparison of the behavioural patterns revealed
in these texts with those found in contemporary mythology and shamanic
traditions (he travelled to India, Africa and visited native American
nations to meet with medicine people in person), as well as contemporary
themes in literature, art, and films, as well as in the dreams of his
psychiatric patients.
Secondly,
his findings made Carl Jung the father of concepts such as Extroversion/Introversion,
the Collective Unconscious, and archetypal forces behind behaviour.
The Collected Works have been translated in at least seven languages.
He is being studied in Europe, England, the United States, Canada. South
Africa, South America, and is certainly known by several Australian
authors.
Originally,
Jung Institutes across Europe and the USA were strictly postdoctoral
programs. Since the 1980's, more universities became interested in making
available a course of study that, up to this point, was very elitist
and hardly accessible to anyone who was not considered "analytical
material". There are now Jung Institutes in every major cities
of the United States, including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, and
they also include programs for the layman. Some universities have devoted
entire programs to the study and application as well as augmentation
of Jung's thought. The best known such university if the Pacifica Institute
in California, an accredited university which holds the library of Joseph
Campbell's original works.
Anyone who
has information about Carl Jung's work knows that, rather than "doctrinal",
it is open and expansive, and subject to continuing deeper exploration.
In fact its great beauty resides in the fact that it identified patterns
of behaviour seated deep in the unconscious that are common to all people.
This offers academics new tools with which to study human behaviour
across time and cultures. Jung's findings reveal the existence of timeless
interpretations of reality that are surprisingly close to contemporary
quantum mechanics' or new physics' discoveries. In that sense Jung was
at the vanguard of a movement towards greater unity in the world, a
braking of ethnocentric barriers that are at the source of most wars,
and a tool for communication among humans that bypasses local cultural
boundaries. It is sad to see that, once again, an effort to apply these
ideas by a brave new world (in this case, a Hawaiian university joining
with an Australian university) is being attacked by outdated ethnocentric
provincialism.
In any case,
I hope that this information will be useful in warning Senator Carr
that, next time he plans to endeavour in the smashing of an entire body
of academic studies, he better do his homework first, for surely he
didn't intend to demonstrate his ignorance to the whole world.
Sincerely,
(signed)
Claudine
Jeanrenaud, Ph.D.
Educational
Consultants of Mississippi
Est. 1981
Director:
C. E. Lindgren, EdS
Dear Sirs:
Let me say
that I am honoured that Senator Carr would have so little to do as to
reflect on my name and my achievements. I fear, however, that the Senator
was either ignorant or perhaps selective in his remarks toward me. I
felt that rather than ignore his remarks as being those of at best a
misinformed individual I should address his comments not in the ignoble
manner in which they were stated but as an educator, scholar and gentlemen.
Senator
Carr in referring to my masters felt obliged to ignore my BAE, Med,
and EdS from the University of Mississippi "The University is a
centre for Faulkner studies, offering one of the finest collections
of the Nobel Prize winners work and maintaining his Rowan Oak home as
a literary shrine. The Medical Centre surgeons performed the world's
first lung (1963) and heart (1964) transplants in man, and its physiologists
defined the role of the kidneys in controlling blood pressure. Medical
Centre faculty also have constructed the world's most comprehensive
computer model of the body, and the campus has been selected as one
of five national sites to test GE's new twin magnet MRT (magnetic resonance
therapy). Today, faculty, staff, and students are pushing forward the
frontiers of knowledge, imagination, and expertise necessary for a productive
life in an increasingly complex society and competitive world. They
play a significant role in the country's research efforts through federally
funded facilities on the Oxford campus such as the Jamie Whitten National
Centre for Physical Acoustics, the National Centre for the Development
of Natural Products, the National Food Service Management Institute,
the Marine Minerals Technology Centre, the Centre for Water and Wetlands
Resources, and the Centre for Computational Hydroscience and Engineering.
The University
also plays a crucial role in Mississippi by preparing students for leadership
in the state and nation. Distinguished law school alumni include nine
governors, seven lieutenant governors, 29 Mississippi Supreme Court
justices, 12 U.S. representatives, and four U.S. senators.
Senator
Carr also felt it necessary to ignore my FCP (eg. MPhil) from the world
famous College of Preceptors in Essex, England and my soon to be completed
(June 1999) DEd from UNISA in Pretoria.
While denouncing
some of the societies to which I am proudly associated, Mr. Carr once
again showed his true intent by not mentioning the Royal Historical
Society (London), American Academy of Religion, Medieval Academy of
America, and Orders and Medals Society of America. He also selectively
ignored my fellowship in the Royal Society of Arts, Royal Asiatic Society
and College of Preceptors.
Senator
Carr also felt obliged to make a derogative remark regarding an Orthodox
Order to which I belong. This order in fact possesses members of the
Romanoff family, Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia and is protected (patron)
by His Holiness Alexy II, Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia.
Regarding
this I think it was best summed up by a member of the Romanov family,
who recently, stated: " I have never been attacked by a member
of my own Class". . . Enough said?
Mr. Carr,
once again true to his intent ignored my association in the Brotherhood
of the Blessed Gerard which is a service branch of the Sovereign Military
Order of Malta (Catholic) and my internationally recognised Knight Commander
from the Order of Saint Ignatius of Antioch (under His Beatitude Patriarch
Mar Ignace Anthony II Hayeck, Uniate-Syrian Catholic Patriarch of Antioch).
The Vatican also recognises this order. Finally in passing, I feel it
necessary to provide once again insight into Senator Carr's lack of
knowledge concerning myself or my achievements. He felt it necessary
to mention the Order of the King's Daughters and Sons that I believe
he must have through ignorance felt was a fake chivalric order. If he
had only taken 5 minutes to either look the order up on the Internet
or in some reference he would have discovered that "The King's
Daughters and Sons was founded on January 13, 1886 by Margaret Bottome
of New York City, with a membership of ten women. It is a unit of interdenominational
Christians dedicated to the development of spiritual life and the stimulation
of Christian activities. Through a three-fold program of religion, education,
and philanthropy, the organisation trains its members as well as others
for Christian Service. Today, its thirty nine branches throughout the
United States and Canada support ministries for the aging, handicapped
and the underprivileged. The Order has an Indian department that encourages
contributions to Native Americans, supports leprosy research, and contributes
to American and Foreign Bible Societies. It owns and operates three
houses at the Chautauqua Institution in New York and provides scholarships
for over forty students for summer courses there." The society
makes NO claims to being chivalric.
Shame, Mr.
Carr, why don't you get on with running the government rather than talking
about things you know nothing about. . . .
Carl E.
Lindgren
Lisa
A Mertz, PhD
Imertz@cecomet.net
PO Box 1259
38 Vincent Avenue
Chautauqua, NY 14722
716.357.9615
April 27,
1999
To Whom
It May Concern:
It has come
to my attention that Senator Carr has voiced uncompromising criticism
of Greenwich University's graduate programs on the floor of the Australian
Senate. His critique included the program in Somatic Studies. As the
lead faculty for this program, I am writing to clarify its importance.
Greenwich
University's program in Somatic Studies is offered to bodywork and massage
therapy professionals whose intention it is to enhance the professionalisation
of touch therapies through conducting research. A distance learning
program offers these students the flexibility to integrate a variety
of resources from various universities and educational institutions.
Regarding
massage therapy, the 1993 Harvard report, "Unconventional Medicine
in the United States: Prevalence, Costs, and Patterns of Use,"
published in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that possibly
12.6 million Americans used massage therapy in 1990 making 77 million
visits to massage therapists. This survey has allowed the US medical
establishment to become aware that massage therapy is a burgeoning health
care field. As a licensed massage therapist myself, I am committed to
supporting the maturation of the profession. I am a member of the Commission
on Massage Training Accreditation and the editorial advisory board for
the Massage Therapy Journal, published by the American Massage Therapy
Association. I have been closely following developments in research,
legislation, and health care policy concerning touch therapies.
Somatic
Studies is a graduate degree title that has been established for programs
that focus on embodiment, that is, the relationships between the body
and cognition, emotion, and other dimensions of the self, exploring
the body in relationship to an individual's undivided experience. It
is entirely appropriate for practitioners of touch therapy modalities,
whether therapeutic massage, Rolfing, or the Feldenkrais Technique,
to earn degrees in Somatic Studies, to contribute to knowledge concerning
the human experience of embodiment with implications for health care.
Sincerely,
(signed)
Lisa Mertz,
PhD
Daniel
Weiss Miller, PhD
106 St.
Marks Avenue
Prospect Heights, Brooklyn
New York, NY 11217
April 6,
1999
To Whom
It May Concern,
It has been
brought to my attention that Senator Carr, speaking before the Australian
Parliament on the morning of 22nd March 1999, has brought into question
my qualifications to develop and guide a program in Consciousness Studies
at Greenwich University. In reply, I wish to challenge this assertion.
Certainly, my professional participation in the field of consciousness
has been honored by my colleagues in academia, and as the following
record of my achievements will demonstrate, I do have the curriculum
vitae to support my appointment as Chair of the Consciousness Program
at Greenwich University:
1952-Graduated
from the New School for Social Research in New York City with a BA in
Psychology.
1955-Graduated
from City University of New York with an MA in Psychology.
1960-1965-Chief
Psychologist, Kings Park State Hospital (position achieved by passing
a special State examination regarding knowledge about mental illness)-a
hospital run for mental patients by New York State.
1962-Licensed
as a Clinical Psychologist by the New York State Department of Education.
1965 to
Present-Private Practice in Clinical Psychology in New York.
1970 to
1978-Director of Mountaintop Farm in Livingston Manor, New York, privately
owned and run successfully as a residential treatment center for mental
patients, and continued maintaining a part-time private practice in
New York City.
1972 to
Present-Conducted workshops by invitation from privately owned psychotherapy
centers in the United States, Great Britain, France, Germany, Greece,
Canada, Egypt, Brazil; Lectured at conferences as an expert on a variety
of aspects of consciousness in the United States (including the New
York Academy of Sciences), Great Britain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Denmark,
and Brazil; invited to India to lecture in 2000.
1962 to
Present-Publication of over 60 articles in a variety of popular and
professional magazines and peer-reviewed journals. Self-published "The
Unseen Universe: Of Mind and Matter", a favorably received, profitable
first-time venture.
1987-PhD
degree in Psychology from The International Institute for Advanced Studies,
currently Greenwich University.
Honors and
Listings:
Who's Who
in the East
Who's Who in Science and Technology
Who's Who in Medicine and Healthcare
Honorary Doctorate in Sciences (Honoris Causis) from the Open University
for International Complementary Medicine, Sri Lanka, for Contributions
to Science and Humanity.
Further,
I wish to state that I understand how difficult it must be for uninformed
people to believe that the mind is relevant to and has control over
physical, no less mental, illness. Education, at least in the United
States, has moved people's awareness from the dark ages of slavery to
an imposed medical science to an enlightened understanding that health
requires the aware participation of the person being healed. This point
of view is based on a growing literature of validated scientific research
by experimentalists in neuropsychology, and theoreticians in physics
and biology, as well as in non-scientific reports from millions of recovered
ill persons.
The program
in Consciousness Studies is an invitation to the interested student
to explore contemporary philosophic, psychologic and scientific literature
on the subject of consciousness. This degree program provides the inquiring
student with competent academic guides who can, through their own knowledge
and experience, show the way to a professional approach to their careers.
My professional history demonstrates that I have acquired an adequate
level of knowledge and experience in my field to carry out my responsibilities
more than competently.
Yours truly,
Daniel W.
Miller, PhD
Francesco
Patricolo, Ph.D
P.O. BOX
82988
Portland, Oregon 97282
April 22,
1999
To Whom
it May Concern
More than
30 years ago, Marshall McLuhan coined the phrase, "Global Village"
in referring to the worldwide human community because of the growing
interdependence, rapid interchange of ideas and information, and the
common need for planetary sustainability. Now at the threshold of the
21st Century, as you know, because of travel, television, satellites,
computers and multinational corporations, a collective human awareness
is rapidly developing. Greenwich University is respected as a higher
education institutions because it can effectively address the emerging
educational needs of this global community. For that reason, I am proud
to be a member of the Greenwich University faculty.
In response
to Senator Carr who, as an opponent to our accreditation in Australia,
cited me as an example of questionable faculty credentials, thereby
casting a shadow of doubt on the whole of the University, I wish to
elaborate on my background. As a college student, I had the good fortune
to study under a number of enlightened professors who steered me to
study with great people such as Jacob Moreno, the founding father of
Psychodrama; Salvador Minuchin, founder of the family therapy model;
Jerzey Gratowski, the Polish Director of the Open Theatre; George Morrison,
the first person to codify improvisational skills as a body of knowledge
he called Theatre Games; Theo Gimbel, himself a student of Freud and
friend of Carl Jung and as a graduate of the first Waldorf School in
Germany, a student of Rudolph Steiner and the founder of Hygia Institute
for Color, Light and Sound Therapy in England. Following their mentorship,
I helped organise and found the Oregon Biofeedback Society in 1977,
as a means of building and monitoring uniform standards for the emerging
technology to monitor physical and psychological responses.
I earned
my Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology from the State University
of New York at New Paltz in 1971 and my Ph.D. in Family and Social Psychology
from the Union Institute in 1993. From 1985 through 1996, I served as
instructor and counsellor for the Mentat School. In private practice,
I have served as a consultant to firms through the program, "Spirituality
in the Workplace". I am currently Director of a theatre and music
ensemble and author of a trilogy of plays entitled, "Theatre as
Medicine". I have written and produced three compact discs of jazz
stories and comedy and an interactive psycho-poetic workbook. I have
also been facilitating a course called "Towards a Council Of All
Beings-A Global Perspective" inspired by Australian Johanna Massey.
All of my
career work has an intended therapeutic inclination and as you can determine
from my more recent work and training, I am successfully contributing
to the growth of the field of cultural psychology through development
and leadership of projects and research in the field of Psychodrama.
My work is effective as a healing art and well respected by my fellow
academics and by community workers within the localities where my work
has an impact.
Any person
wishing to contact me for further information should communicate with
the Office of the President at Greenwich University.
Sincerely,
(signed)
Francesco
Patricolo, Ph.D.
THE
SHEALY INSTITUTE
8 East Evergreen
Street
SPRINGFIELD MO 65803-4400
April 21,
1999
TO WHOM
IT MAY CONCERN:
I have been
made aware of the accusations made on the floor of the Australian Senate
by Senator Carr with regard to the worthiness and appropriateness of
a graduate program in the Science of Energy Medicine at Greenwich University.
Perhaps the esteemed Senator from Australia does not know the scientific
basis for all of Medical Science. Medicine in the last half of the twentieth
century has emphasized the principles of biochemistry and the physical
principles of surgery to assist in healing. Biochemistry is one aspect
of life energy; electricity is the other. Every cellular function is
both electrical and chemical at the same time. Neither can work alone.
The field of Energy Medicine addresses this interface, exploring the
dimensions of physiology, chemical and electrical activities, of life
and the multiple influences of external and internal control of physiology,
and therefore, of health and disease. Thus, all research done in support
of graduate degrees in Energy Medicine must withstand rigorous scientific
scrutiny and be of publishable quality, suitable for the scientific
journals and of benefit to medical science.
Science
recognizes as energy only the principles embodied in light and sound.
However, in every culture throughout history there has been a constant
that Life Energy, indeed cosmic or Divine Energy, may transcend our
fourth dimensional concepts of light and sound, electricity and electromagnetism.
Certainly bioenergy is widely discussed from a philosophical point of
view. Energy Medicine considers the very broad field from Divine Energy
and Spiritual Energy, as well as the most subtle effects of the electromagnetic
realm. Robert Becker has considered bioenergy to be bioelectromagnetic
to include all known and theoretical aspects of Life Energy. This obviously
includes the mind and all influences upon the body, mind and emotions.
In the last
20 years, the field of psychoneuroimmunology has demonstrated many of
the subtle effects of mind upon a wide variety of neurological, endocrinological,
physiological and immunological functions. During this same time, the
concept of Holistic Medicine has evolved to include complementary, alternative,
and Energy Medicine. It has now become quite clear that Energy Medicine
will expand the science of psychoneuroimmunology, effectively contributing
to one of the most important new fields in the past fifty years.
Students
interested in Energy Medicine study the broad field of energy, learn
practical and research applications of Energy Medicine, and focus intensely
on one major subdivision of Energy Medicine. The broad fields include
acupuncture, reflexology, kinesiology, homeopathy, color, sound and
aroma therapy, psychospiritual aspects of healing, chakra energy centers,
yoga, Tai Chi and physical exercise, biofeedback and autogenic training,
self-regulation and relaxation, principles of nutrition and psychoneuroendorcine
immunology, and intuition. The primary audience for the degrees in Energy
Medicine will be the allied professionals, including all licensed and
certified practitioners such as allopathic physicians, osteopathic physicians,
chiropractors, nurses, physical therapists, psychologists and counselors,
massage therapists, and spiritual healers.
During this
last decade it has become increasingly obvious that scientific medicine
with its emphasis upon drugs and surgery has failed to address spirituality,
as well as the specific needs of individuals with chronic disease, which
often do not respond adequately to drugs or surgery. Several surveys
in the United States and one in Canada indicate that a significant percentage
of patients in any given year seek therapy from alternative medical
practitioners. Techniques that such individuals choose range from acupuncture
to relaxation therapy, nutritional counseling and supplements, manipulative
therapy, homeopathy and all of the other therapies that make up the
complete field of Energy Medicine. There are no medical schools or other
known clinical training programs that provide a foundation for those
interested in practical applications of Energy Medicine. The post-graduate
degrees in Energy Medicine are designed to fill that need.
The energy
Medicine Program at Greenwich University provides the core competencies,
skills and knowledge required of the mid-career professional. Functional
skills developed enable students to understand and make use of techniques
such as: acupuncture, kinesiology, homeopathy, and biofeedback, and
spiritual healing, color, sound, aroma, psychospiritual and relaxation
therapies, therapeutic physical exercise for general health, nutritional
principles for diagnosis and therapy, postural effects upon health,
application of modern electrotherapy, diagnostic and therapeutic application
of medical intuition for the improvement of the quality of life, and
clearing the blocks that interfere with vision, creativity and intuition.
Greenwich graduates will have the broad knowledge necessary to understand
when specific tools should be applied, when referrals should be made
to conventional physicians and practitioners, and they will have mastered
one of the major fields of energy medicine in a way that they can apply
it within their own profession.
I trust
this discussion has clarified for you the importance of energy medicine
as an essential field of study at the university level.
Sincerely
(signed)
C. Norman
Shealy, M.D., Ph.D
Columbia
Evangelical Seminary
March 31,
1999
To the August
Body of the Australian Senate
Regarding
comments made by Senator Carr with regard to Greenwich University in
general and Dr. Rick Walston in particular.
It is with
deep disappointment that I note that the good Senator does not investigate
into matters worthy of being presented to the Australian Senate I note
with sadness that when he speaks of me, his only evidence is what he
"has been told by another," as he indicates. Did Senator Carr
speak to me personally? Did he communicate with me by phone, mail, fax,
or email? Did he investigate the level of academic quality that our
school requires? No, no and no.
Without
so much as checking to see if those things said were true, he stood
before your great body and told you that I was the president of a degree
mill. I would think that such a charge should be made only after careful
investigation and the accumulation of corroborating evidence. Senator
Carr did no such investigation nor gained any such "evidence":
a charge that I shall prove later in this letter.
Presently,
I shall point out one of our more recent doctoral graduates for evidence
to the contrary: James R. White earned his Master of Theology and Doctor
of Theology degrees from our school. Dr. White is the author of The
King James Only Controversy (which was his Master's thesis for his master's
degree with our school) and The Forgotten Trinity (which was his doctoral
dissertation with our school). Dr. White's academic works with our school
have been published by Bethany Publishing House, a national publisher,
and his books (including at least four more than the two mentioned)
are being used in other, accredited, schools as text books. Now I ask
you, is it common for diploma mills to require such academic work that
rises to the top of the publishing world and becomes text books for
other, fully accredited schools? Obviously not.
And, then
our most recent graduate is a woman named Elyn Schwartz. After transferring
her credits to our school from other accredited universities, she had
32 credits remaining to earn her Bachelor of Religion with our school.
She enrolled on May 25, 1995. She completed her 32 semester hours with
our school on March 30, 1999. So, let me ask you another question, is
it common for diploma mills to require such hard work as to lead a person
through nearly four years of arduous study to complete 32 semester credits?
Obviously not.
Let me now
shift to our faculty and mention that the idea that our school is a
diploma mill would come as quite a shock to our faculty member R. Brinley
Jones, the President of the National Library of Wales, and Chairman
of the Cathedrals and Churches Commission of Wales, and who holds his
D.Phil. from Oxford University, U.K. His honorary degrees include the
D.Litt. from Potchefstroom University, South Africa. And, it would also
come as a shock to these other distinguished faculty members:
Samuel G.
Andreasen, Ed.D. from Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
Rodney J. Crowell, D.Min. from Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas,
TX.
Larry V. Crutchfield, Ph.D. from Drew University, Madison, NJ.
Carl Judson Davis, Ph.D. from the University of Sheffield U.K.
Richard Brian Davis, Ph.D. from the University of Toronto.
Oliver Rice, Ph.D. from Trinity Theological College, Bristol, England.
Joel Berry Robertson, Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles,
CA.
I could
go on but, let me ask, is it normal for degree mills to employ such
fine academicians as faculty? Again, obviously not.
Let me point
out the quality of recommendations that our school has gotten. Obviously
Mr. Carr has his source, and I happen to know who is source is, and
I also happen to know that his source is in the minority when it comes
to issues academic. However, Dr. John Bear is the undisputed expert
in non-traditional education. Dr. Bear's guide on distance learning
education (Bears' Guide to Earning College Degrees Non-traditionally)
has sold more than 300,000 copies. He also served as the diploma mill
consultant to the FBI from 1979 to 1992. When the FBI brought diploma
mill operators to justice in Federal Court, Dr. Bear appeared as the
expert witness for the FBl. He has also worked with or been on the news
shows 60 Minutes, 20/20, American Journal, and Inside Edition helping
them in their efforts to expose diploma mills.
With that
background, please read the letter of recommendation that Dr. Bear wrote
for placement on our web page:
To whom
it may concern:
My books
on non-traditional higher education have sold more than 300,000 copies,
and are widely regarded as the standard reference works in this field.
For more than twenty years, I have been researching and writing about
degree granting institutions, both accredited and unaccredited.
Some people
argue, in effect, that if a school is not accredited, then it is a
degree mill. This is nonsense. For one thing, every school is unaccredited
when it begins. For another thing, there are schools which, by their
very nature, are academically sound, legitimately and sincerely run,
appropriately licensed, but unlikely ever to gain "traditional"
accreditation because of the innovative or experimental or non-traditional
nature of their programs. Some such schools succumb to the lure of
the many unrecognised (and thus useless) accrediting associations
(some of which will accredit anyone who pays the fee), and, thankfully,
some like Columbia Evangelical Seminary do not succumb.
In evaluating
an unaccredited school, the two crucial questions that must be asked
are these: who are the people behind it (and what are their credentials),
and what is the quality of work being asked of, and done by, the students.
On both of these criteria, in my opinion, Columbia Evangelical Seminary
looks good. Fortunately, this is something that can be independently
verified. Look at the credentials of Dr. Walston and his colleagues.
And look at the work of the students. If this is done fairly, I think
most people would agree that Columbia Evangelical Seminary is true
to its mission statement, and offers its students both an education
and a credential of which they can be justly proud.
- John
B. Bear, Ph.D. (Michigan State University, 1966).
Oh, by the
way, it might also be of special interest to you that Dr. Bear is a
contributor to the guide Country Education Profiles of the Australian
National Office on Overseas Skills (NOOSR). Dr. John Bear wrote 15 of
those 87 profiles, including the United States profile.
Yes, it
is beginning to appear that the one who has "sneaked up on unsuspecting
people" is Senator Carr. All of the information that I have given
you above is public record.
Now concerning
me in particular, Senator Carr notes that my Ph.D. comes from Greenwich
University. This is true. I earned my Ph.D. with Greenwich University
under the mentorship of Stanley M. Horton, Th.D., renowned Assemblies
of God theologian and author of about thirteen books. However, what
Mr. Carr failed to mention is that I also hold a Bachelor of Arts degree,
a Master of Religion degree, and a Doctor of Ministry degree all from
accredited institutions here in America. Also, I am presently a Ph.D.
student with Potchefstroom University of South Africa (a significant
school founded in 1896).
My last
point is to prove my charge above that " Senator Carr did no such
investigation nor gained any such `evidence.'"
How can
I possibly prove that Mr. Carr simply repeated information "told"
to him and that he did not investigate the charges himself? Simple:
the name of our school has not been Faraston Theological Seminary for
well over a year. For more than one full year, on all of our literature,
on our web site, and in our advertisements, the name of our school has
been Columbia Evangelical Seminary (Faraston being our former name).
A very simple phone call to this office would have turned up such "deeply
hidden" information. A quick stop at our world wide web page would
have yielded this obvious information. If Mr. Carr had taken the time
within the last 15 months to contact me, or even one of our faculty
members, or just one of our students, he would have known better than
to refer to our old, out-of-date name.
In conclusion,
I cannot vouch for any other person that Mr. Carr so demonises in his
speech; however, if he did comparable "research" on the others
he mentioned, then I would certainly caution anyone from simply accepting
his charges at face value.
Thank you
for this opportunity to respond.
Sincerely,
(signed)
Rick Walston,
B.A., M.Rel., Ph.D., D.Min
President of Columbia Evangelical Seminary
SOME
RESPONSES TO SENATOR CARR
Greenwich
University adopted the name Greenwich in 1989 as it desired a shorter
name which was unique and had not been used before. Nearly 4 years later
(when Greenwich University and its School of Theology had achieved a
high level of recognition in the United Kingdom) the Thames Polytechnic
in Woolwich petitioned the Privy Council to allow itself to be known
as Greenwich University. It was refused as there was already a respected
Greenwich University (albeit American). It was allowed to rename itself
as the University of Greenwich to avoid confusion with the established
Greenwich University.
Greenwich
was established in 1972 and was originally known as the International
Institute for Advanced Studies. Since its founding the name International
Institute has been adopted in various guises by a number of schools
around the world.
The International
Institute for Advanced Studies still exists as a division of Greenwich
and is still in good standing in the State of Missouri. Its headquarters
are now on Norfolk Island.
The State
of Missouri does not accredit schools or universities (including its
own state university).
The State
of Hawaii does not accredit schools or universities (including its own
state university).
Accreditation
in the U.S.A. is quite different from that in Australia. In the U.S.
accreditation is a voluntary process undertaken after a university has
been operating and awarding degrees for a number of years. It enables
universities to receive federal funding. Greenwich does not receive
government funding: it never has; it never will: it would return it
if it was ever sent. Greenwich has been properly established in the
U.S.A. since 1972. It has an excellent reputation.
There has
never been any irregularity in any state or country.
It is no
more a mail order school than the Australian National University in
Canberra (which sent a Postgraduate Diploma in Law in the mail to the
Chancellor of Greenwich University last year) or the University of Melbourne
which also mails out degrees. (Both of these, like Greenwich, require
that the students complete the course requirements beforehand.)
Greenwich
has not been refused, nor did it apply, in Victoria. It has had a representative
office in Victoria since 1990. Its registration was renewed for a further
three years by the Victorian Government earlier this year.
Prior to
the Greenwich University Act being passed the university requested both
the Higher Education Division of DEETYA and the AQF (MCEETYA) if its
courses and curriculum could be submitted for evaluation and accreditation
so it could have an external and independent assessment of its programmes.
It was told quite clearly and firmly that the AQF and MCEETYA did not
accredit courses or universities, and that the other universities resisted
any form of external accreditation.
(These facts
are known by Senator Carr, who has been supplied with documentation
to that effect and whose own electorate office is nearby to the AQF
and MCEETYA).Greenwich was told by DEETYA and the AQF that it would
be self-accrediting and that there was no procedure for it to have its
courses evaluated by the AQF or anyone else.
The Chancellor
received all his degrees at accredited or state approved universities.
He has never met a Shoshone Indian. The American schools from which
he graduated were in California and Pennsylvania-not Nevada.
Its legislative
establishment by way of a company and subsequent legislation is the
same process as that used by Bond University. The Greenwich University
Act is similar to that establishing Bond and Notre Dame.
There is
no Brimeyer organization.
Prince Alexis
(who died in January 1995) was the hereditary Head of the House of Anjou.
He was a client of the Chancellor (a barrister at law) who acted for
Prince Alexis and his family for a number of years.
The Chancellor
is not an academic (although he has done some teaching many years ago,
and has teaching qualifications including being a registered teacher
in the State of Victoria). He does not teach nor instruct nor write
curriculum at Greenwich University. He does not run Greenwich University.
Greenwich is a community of scholars run by the President, the Vice-President,
the deans, the faculty and the graduates. The Chancellors position is
an honorary one, and always has been. (Though one must say that if the
Labour Opposition continues to use parliamentary privilege to defame
in a cowardly and deceitful fashion university chancellors there will
be very few people willing to accept such roles.)
If Senator
Carr really believes what he said under parliamentary privilege then
he should repeat his statements outside the Senate and in a public forum.
This would then allow the university, its staff, its faculty, its students
and its graduates take both individual and collective legal action in
the courts of Australia, the United States of America and in the other
countries of the world where the university community is situated.
Dr John Walsh of Brannagh
Greenwich University
Taylors Road
Norfolk Island
South Pacific 2899
Australia
Fax Number (6723) 23547
Telephone (6723) 22834