| California Miramar University | |
|---|---|
Seal of California Miramar University |
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| Motto | Scientia Potentia Est |
| Motto in English | "Knowledge is Power" |
| Type | Private |
| President | Dr. Dominic Mwenja |
| Dean | Dr. Bijan Massrour |
| Location | San Diego, CA, USA |
| Campus | Urban |
| Colors | Dark Red Blue Gold |
| Website | http://www.calmu.edu |
California Miramar University (CMU), is a nationally accredited private proprietary institution of higher learning and is recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation [1][2] and the United States Department of Education.[3] CMU offers a wide range of degree and certificate programs through online/E-learning delivery, distance education deliver, a combination on-line and classroom (hybrid) delivery and through traditional classroom delivery. The university is based in San Diego, California. The school was named Pacific Western University and was located in Los Angeles, California from 1977 to 2005.[4]
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California Miramar University was established as Pacific Western University in February 1977.[5] Pacific Western University operated in the Brentwood, California suburb of Los Angeles for its first twenty years, and then moved to the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, where it remained until relocating to San Diego, California in January 2006. The name change to California Miramar University happened in approximately March or April 2007.
According to Inside Higher Education, the school changed its name because it was under new ownership and management, had changed location and wanted to emphasize that the new ownership no longer had any connection with PWU Hawaii.[6] The article said that the school wanted to distance itself from past controversies and that it had filed for national accreditation.[6] The university also made reference to a change in ownership and management on its website in 2007.[5]
The California Post-Secondary Education Commission lists CMU's date of establishment as 2005 [4] and the Distance Education and Training Counsel likewise lists CMU's date of foundation as 2005.[7]
On June 6, 2009, California Miramar received accreditation by the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC),[7] and on December 18, 2009, CMU was awarded a second accreditation from the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS).[8] Both DETC and ACICS are recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and the United States Department of Education as official accrediting bodies.
Prior to 2007 CMU received approval to operate from the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education (BPPVE).[4] With the passage of new California Private Postsecondary Act of 2009[9] California Miramar University is approved to operate under the newly formed Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education (BPPE)[10][11] through December 2013.
On August 22, 2011 California Miramar University's MBA Program was named as one of the top ten MBA programs in San Diego by the San Diego Business Journal. [12] According to a Yahoo! News Article "Topping the list was National University (#1) and San Diego State University (#2). One notable difference between the schools listed is the cost of tuition. California Miramar University stands out amongst all those included in the list for having the most affordable tuition, just $5,752 per year. California Miramar University’s MBA program is offered via MBA Hybrid or 100% online. ... The faculty members at CMU drive the University's innovative capacity as experts in their fields because of their combined academic and professional knowledge and expertise. At California Miramar University, faculty members are chosen not only based upon their academic qualifications, but for their desire to teach and share their first hand professional experience." [13]
California Miramar University offers the following degree programs and certificate programs in English as a Second Language (ESL) and Hospitality Management. The undergraduate level degrees includes separate majors in the Business Administration degree program. The graduate level degrees include six separate majors in the Masters of Business Administration degree program and four separate majors in the Doctor of Business Administration degree program.
School of Business and Management
School of Business and Management
CMU is DANTES/VA DSST approved and offers several special programs for members of the United States Military, enabling members of the armed forces to continue their education through both distance, hybrid and classroom based learning, even while on active duty. In some cases, military experience and coursework may be accepted as transferable units.
CMU is also a member of the following organizations:
Pacific Western University, prior to an ownership change, changing its name and becoming accredited, was the subject of criticism concerning its unaccredited nature and quality of its programs.
In May 2004 the US Government Accountability Office presented the results of an eight-month examination titled "Diploma Mills: Federal Employees Have Obtained Degrees from Diploma Mills and Other Unaccredited Schools, Some at Government Expense" to the U.S. Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs.[14] According to the report the investigation was conducted to determine whether the federal government had paid for, or governmental officials possessed, degrees from unaccredited schools. After the passage of the Homeland Security Act, Section 4107 of tile 5, U.S. Code was amended. After this act became law in 2002, the federal government could pay for the cost of academic degree training for federal employees only if the college or university providing that training was accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting body. As the basis of the report, the GAO searched the Internet for nontraditional, unaccredited post-secondary schools that offered degrees that met their search criteria. Pacific Western University in Los Angeles was one of the unaccredited schools on which the GAO found online and mentioned in the report. Of these schools mentioned in the report, California Coast University and Pacific Western University - California, were California State Approved institutions[15][16] at the time this report was presented. Although unaccredited at the time, both of these Universities have gone on to gain national accreditation[17] since the report was originally submitted.
Later that year, investigative reporters from television station KVOA of Tucson, Arizona, stated that PWU was one of seven schools identified as diploma mills by the GAO report.[18][19] The station reported that Pima Community College in Tucson had reduced the salaries of two faculty members who previously had been paid at the Ph.D level based on their degrees from PWU.[18] In a subsequent clarification of the original article KVOA reported that one of the two professors contacted the station and disagreed that PWU was a diploma mill. The professor did not feel misled by Pacific Western, as the station reported, because the professor said it was approved by the California Department of Education to be an educational institution and to award degrees.[19]
Internationally, the media responded similarly to Pacific Western University and the GAO Report.[14][20][21] It was reported in the Irish Independent on 9 October 2005 that the Chief Science Advisor to the government of Ireland, Barry McSweeney, had been found to have advanced his career using a degree obtained from Pacific Western University.[22][23] The newspaper report stated that McSweeney had obtained his Ph.D. in biotechnology and biochemistry from PWU in 1994 after just 12 months of study. The article went on to say "There is no question that Mr McSweeney has anything other than a distinguished track record in business. He has a degree in biochemistry from UCC and a Masters degree in clinical biochemistry from TCD. He was also in charge of the Marie Curie Fellowships, an EU-wide programme which has been credited with helping more than 35,000 scientists develop their careers. Mr McSweeney has been widely praised for his role in expanding this programme." It further described PWU as having "no merit or standing in the academic world" and having been "the subject of numerous official investigations, state bans and media exposés" during its 28 years of operation.[22] McSweeney was forced to resign his position as a result although the article stated that McSweeney had made no attempt to conceal the details of his education and that he was "proud" of his doctorate and "stood over it" and that he considered PWU California to be a "respected" and recognized body." Mr McSweeny's spokesperson went on to add: "Barry stands over his doctorate.... He has a degree from UCC, significant life experience, and was the director-general of the Joint Research Institute. I can't believe you're writing this." [24] In Australia, a lecturer at the University of Southern Queensland was banned from using the title of "Doctor" after it was discovered that his Ph.D. had been obtained from Pacific Western University. This article also noted that PWU was listed as approved on two California state websites.[25]