I noticed there is not much chat about Union's PsyD Program - Does anyone know anything about it?

You can start by ready the following:

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs...S01/901190407/


Michael Secrest was ecstatic when he discovered he could stay at home, keep his job and earn an advanced biology degree so he could become a professor.


The Blanchester man submitted his application for a Ph.D. in conservation biology to the Union Institute & University in Walnut Hills and it was accepted. He enrolled in December 2002.

"It was great. I could work on the weekends and in the evening and I had the summers to work on it," Secrest said.

Secrest, 57, did the original research required for the Ph.D. - the impact of biodiversity management in three areas in Southwest Ohio - but never got the degree.

That's because, Secrest contends in a Hamilton County lawsuit, the school was never accredited to offer such a degree.

After he spent five years and $80,000 in tuition, the school informed Secrest it didn't offer a Ph.D. in conservation biology despite telling him for years it did, his lawsuit contends.

"I could not believe what I was hearing," Secrest said.

The school's lawyer and its president insist they said in 2002 he could get a Ph.D. in interdisciplinary studies, with a concentration on arts and sciences and a specialization in conservation biology.

"We have worked diligently with Mr. Secrest to address his concerns, and are willing to continue to work with him should he want to complete his degree at UI&U. However, we will not compromise our academic standards and/or violate the guidelines from our regulatory agencies," Union President Roger Sublett said in a statement.

Secrest and his Montgomery attorney, John Phillips, say they have documents that prove Secrest's case.

Secrest chose Union because it was a "distance learning" university.

The school, opened in 1964, has no classrooms, but its administrative center is in Cincinnati. It has 1,750 students from all 50 states and 20 countries who obtain their education by attending classes at other schools, online and in seminars.

Secrest sought the higher degree because he wanted to become a tenured professor and do more research. He chose Union, he said, because he could continue to work as a middle-school teacher.

He said he met with Union advisers who assured him he could get a Ph.D. in conservation biology.

He was listed in documents for incoming students as a "biology/life sciences" Ph.D. candidate, made presentations to his doctoral committee about his comprehensive program, listed the courses he would take and then wrote his dissertation - the first of three he wrote while at Union.

"They knew for four solid years that that's what I was working on," Secrest said.

That's when the school told him, Secrest said, he could get a Ph.D. from Union in the more broad interdisciplinary studies - but only if he rewrote his dissertation.

"I'm thinking, 'What is this going to do to me as a biologist?' " Secrest said.

Union asked him to "hide some of my statistics and fudge or manipulate the data" in his dissertation," he said.

Phillips, Secrest's attorney, said the school was forcing him to change the focus of his dissertation to "take the science out of it ... because they can't issue science Ph.D.s"

John Greiner, Union's attorney, insisted Secrest knew before he enrolled the school didn't offer the advanced degree he sought.

But Secrest and Phillips wonder why Union was accused of doing similar things to two other students who filed lawsuits accusing the school of misrepresenting information that prevented them from getting Ph.D.s.

They are:

Linda Hildabrand of Mechanicsburg, Pa., who sued Union in 2004. She sought a Ph.D. in clinical psychology beginning in 2001, but, 2½ years into her program, said she was told her Ph.D. would be in interdisciplinary studies. She spent more than $72,000 in tuition;

Robert Connerley of Riverside, Calif., filed a 2003 federal civil suit against Union, saying it said it could award him a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. He completed his studies and then found out Union wasn't certified to award a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. He paid more than $75,000 in tuition.

Greiner noted both Hildabrand and Connerley were allowed to sit for exams in their home states to become psychologists.

Phillips countered that happened in Connerley's case only after Union changed his transcripts two years into Connerley's lawsuit.

Union "habitually offers degrees that it is not authorized to grant," Secrest's suit alleges.

Both suits were settled with no finding or admission of liability, Greiner said, adding the settlements are confidential.

Secrest, now a part-time adjunct instructor at the University of Cincinnati's Clermont College and Southern State Community College, has an undergraduate degree from the University of Cincinnati and two master's degrees from Miami University.

He retired from his middle-school teaching job and spent his retirement savings, paying all but $20,000 of the $80,000 student loan bill for the Union tuition.

"I feel very much betrayed," Secrest said. "They covered up things that they should have very, very easily revealed to me."

The case is next in court Feb. 4 before Common Pleas Judge Ethna Cooper.

Secrest's suit seeks at least $125,000, but his attorney believes Secrest's injuries are worth far more.

"This is not a case where somebody did a crappy job and then is trying to get something because they're lazy and didn't do the work," Phillips said.

"What's five years of your life worth? I think Union needs to be sent a message."

S***est you look elsewhere to spend your education dollars. The program is not APA accredited. They say they will be. Maybe so, but still it is a risk. They also sell themselves as a generalist program--right, just so long as your population of interest involves children or couples or the abused. That is fine, but they are simply not the broad general program they claim to be. Thumbs down....

When is someone going to remove this uuuio765 spammer?

__________________
Theodore Lamar Heiks
BA, History/Political Science, Western State College of Colorado, 1984
MBA, Entrepreneurship, City University of Seattle, 1992
MBA, Marketing, City University of Seattle, 1993

Perhaps you ought to call the Dean of the program and get your facts straight. Start by asking about what the Psy.D program has done to make a name for itself in just four short years, and ask about the APA accreditation process it has been undergoing and, oh, you could ask about the faculty's research and areas of interest. There are students who are at the internship phase, with one being accepted to an APA accredited site. The program is growing by leaps and bounds and has an APA consultant walking them through the process. Do your homework and don't be so quick to judge without having the facts people.

Maybe Union should publicize their efforts a little better and inform the prospective students about the PsyD program's recent developments instead of leaving it to the student to search the Web and find all sorts of negative innuendo.