Fake doctorates: Swiss university has accreditation - SMC Alumni
The assertions by some Ghanaian professors from the Valdosta State University in USA, that the Swiss Management Center (SMC), a private university in Switzerland, which runs courses in Ghana as a foreign university does not have accreditation has been challenged by the Alumni of SMC.
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According to the Alumni, SMC has an international accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Business, Schools and Programs (ACBSP) and that the ACBSP was globally recognized.
A media report by the online site, Pulse.com.gh on Wednesday quoted the Ghanaian professors as having done an extensive investigation on a number of doctorate degrees acquired by some prominent Ghanaians who got their degrees from unaccredited institutions.
The professors Dr. Prosper Yao Tsikata and Dr. A. Kobla Dotse were quoted as listing the Swiss Management Center as one of the unaccredited institutions from which some prominent Ghanaians have acquired degrees and therefore drawn the attention of the Minister of Education to it arguing that, given that the individuals permeate all sectors of Ghanaian society, the effects of the influence will have dire consequences for Ghana, if their educational status was not checked and rectified.
The research work by the professors is titled “The Accreditation Challenges in Transnational Educational Ecology: The Ghanaian Experience An Investigative Report”
But in a response, Dr Maxwell Gakpo, spokesperson for the SMC Alumni Ghana in a statement noted that SMC University was an accredited university by the Ghana National Accreditation Board (NAB) and internationally to teach and award Doctoral Degrees
Below is copy of the full statement by the SMC Ghana Alumni
It has come to the notice of the alumni of SMC University that pulse.com.gh has published a report indicating SMC University is not accredited and that those who received doctorate degrees are holding fake certificates.
We want to put on record that the said publication is false, mischievous and highly defamatory. We hereby put on record that the school has an international accreditation, the ACBSP Accreditation. ACBSP is a globally recognized Accreditation for Business Schools and Programs.
The authors of the article make a claim that SMCU is not accredited by the Swiss Accreditation Council however they did not avert their mind to the fact that SAC does not monitor or accredit any private schools.
The SAC had no option for accreditation through to 2015. There is a new law that currently makes this option available in theory since 2015, but the standards are impossible to be met by the private institutions. Legally, private institutions are able to operate still in Switzerland.
Apart from the international accreditation, the School is accredited by National Accreditation Board of Ghana as a foreign University since 2012.
NAB has renewed SMC University's institutional Registration for another 3 years; August 2015 - July 2018. NAB recognized SMCU, along with many other national accreditation Boards like France, US, Canada, Brazil, China (as representative examples in each of the countries).
In these nations, SMCU graduates hold authoritative position in academic institutions as well as private institutions with ample success. A check in Ghana and across the globe will attest to that.
What is clear and the truth is that the SMC has many students and graduates working in high positions globally and within US institutions such as Dr. Bruce Stetar at Southern New Hampshire University as the Executive Director, Graduate Business Programs/Associate Vice President - Outcomes and Assessment. Many nations other nations like Canada, France, and China have SMC graduates working in academic institutions.
Any one in doubt should contact the National Accreditation Board to avoid legal consequences. The general public and the media is advised to seek clarification on matters relating to academic qualification and accreditation to be well informed to avoid deliberate truncation of the reputation of hardworking and Law abiding citizens.
Meanwhile, in a separate response to the media report on the fake doctorates, Prof. Joshua Alabi, Vice Chancellor of the University of Professional Studies (UPSA), has said the National Accreditation Board assured him of the accreditation status of the Swiss Management Center in 2008.
Prof Alabi, whose wife Dr. Goski Alabi and some lecturers at the UPSA acquired their doctorate degrees from SMC in a response to the Pulse.com,gh report backed his claim with a letter from the Board in 2008, signed by Assistant Secretary, Collette Hukpatti for the executive secretary of the NAB.
In the letter, the Accreditation Board said, “Swiss Management Centre is a private University which runs the following BBA, MBA, Executive MBA, and DBA programmes which can be followed full-time in Switzerland, or part-time via distance learning.
CLick this link to read the full response by the UPSA
In a related development, another member of academia mentioned in association with the Swiss Management Centre, Dr. John Gatsi of the University of Cape Coast, has also refuted the assertions that SMC was unaccredited.
According to him, the Swiss Management Centre from which he acquired a doctorate was duly accredited by the universal Accreditation Body for Business Schools and Programs.
"SMC University is also registered with National Accreditation Board (NAB), Ghana as a foreign University since 2012. NAB has renewed SMC University's institutional Registration for another 3 years; August 2015 - July 2018”, Dr. Gatsi insisted.
