L'il Rascal
Like a lot of women, UD has always been attracted to men who are rascals. I have no idea why, in evolutionary terms, nature wants females to be attracted to rascally males. Perhaps a scientist among my readers can explain it to me.
Rascally males are particularly rife among the owners and administrators of diploma mills. UD continues to derive a peculiar pleasure from reading what they say about what they do when they are cornered. Their shamelessness thrills her.
Here's one. He has a legitimate job as a school principal, and an illegitimate one as "vice president of the International Graduate Center, a postsecondary degree institution based in St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands."
In January, the school's accreditation was revoked by the Virgin Islands' new governor, less than two months after it was granted by the territory's acting commissioner of education. [It's unusual for a Caribbean island to deny accreditation to anything.]
Published reports in the Virgin Islands have accused Knisley and officials of the International Graduate Center of running a diploma mill – institutions of higher education that provide degrees for few credit hours and at higher-than-usual tuition.
In 2003, the same year Knisley was hired in Rutland City, he was asked to join the International Graduate Center by the school's president David Gibson of Stowe. The two had worked together at Berne University, a postsecondary school based in St. Kitts in the British Virgin Islands that has since closed. [My man is a veteran diploma mill administrator.]
Berne University was denied recertification by the U.S. Department of Education Federal Student Aid in 2003 because it lacked a physical campus in St. Kitts, the school's courses did not require enough hours to warrant a graduate degree, and there was no state or territory accreditation, according to a letter to the school's president.
[Okay, so far so good... Aside from the odd fact that this man is also an intermediate school principal -- setting high ethical standards for the kids and all -- this is a pretty routine story. But listen to him talk! This is what I'm getting at!]
"The Berne University that I worked for was never a diploma mill," said Knisley who earned a doctorate from the University of Vermont. "I can't explain what happened with Berne University. I can say I left because I was not philosophically aligned with what was going on." [Knisley's philosophy was out of alignment. This is a fantasic locution.]
Knisley defends his role as vice president of the International Graduate Center. [On to the next diploma mill.]
"I'm proud of what I do here in Rutland. I'm proud of what I've been able to do with the International Graduate Center," said Knisley who has been an employee and officer of the school since 2003. "I've been an advocate for non-traditional students." [Non-traditional! cries Tevye. Leave us alone! We are simple people!]
... "We had the accreditation for 30 to 45 days before the government decided it didn't count," said Knisley. "We don't really know, at this point, who really does do accreditation on the island." [Yes, this is most confusing, since we chose the island in the first place because of its willingness to accredit anything that moves...]
... "We really thought we'd done everything right," said Knisley. "In Vermont you'd never have that happen." [But unfortunately we couldn't go to Vermont, since they have accreditation standards.]
... "To me this whole thing is about a transition of government," he said. "And possibly some other pieces of politics that are going on that are beyond our control." [Dark forces, including a possible new interest in stemming corruption, are conspiring against us.]
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