Rutherford University, also known as Senior University International and Stratford International University, was an

unaccredited Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

private institution that offered

degree Degree may refer to: As a unit of measurement * Degree (angle), a unit of angle measurement ** Degree of geographical latitude ** Degree of geographical longitude * Degree symbol (°), a notation used in science, engineering, and mathemati ...

s online. It operated from 1993 through 2009 and offered the following degrees:

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. ...

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast ...

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accou ...

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

Doctor of Business Administration The Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) is either a professional doctorate or a research doctorate, depending on the granting university, awarded on the basis of advanced study, examinations, project work, and research in business administr ...

. The

Oregon Office of Degree Authorization The Oregon Office of Degree Authorization (ODA) is a unit of the Office of Student Access and Completion, with responsibilities related to maintaining high standards in private higher education institutions in Oregon. ODA administers laws and prov ...

had labeled Rutherford University a

degree mill A diploma mill (also known as a degree mill) is a company or organization that claims to be a higher education institution but provides illegitimate academic degrees and diplomas for a fee. The degrees can be fabricated (made-up), falsified (fake ...

.Unaccredited colleges
,

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idah ...

Recognition

On its website Rutherford claimed to be accredited by the

International States Parliament The International (States) Parliament for Safety and Peace (IPSP or ISPSP; it, Parlamento Mondiale (degli Stati) per la Sicurezza e la Pace), sometimes written along with New Society of Nations, is a private organization based in Italy whose state ...

, an organization based in

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The city is noted for it ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

. Rutherford also claimed to be recognized by the government of the African nation of

Swaziland Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...

, but this was denied by the nation's minister of education and other education officials in early 2008. Subsequently, the claim of recognition by Swaziland was removed from the university website and returned. The

stated that Rutherford University had "no authority to issue degrees." The

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

government believed that the school was operating unlawfully from British Columbia.

History

Rutherford was established in 1993 as Senior University International in

Evanston, Wyoming Evanston is a city in and the county seat of Uinta County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 12,359 at the 2010 census. It is located near the border with Utah. History Evanston was named after James A. Evans, a civil engineer for th ...

. Its owner or co-owner was Lester Carr, who was also a co-owner of

Columbia Pacific University Columbia Pacific University (CPU) was a non-traditional distance learning school in California. It was founded in 1978 by Richard Crews and Lester Carr, a former president of Lewis University, and operated with state approval. Distance learning ...

and had served as president of Columbia Commonwealth UniversityBear J and Bear MP: Bears' Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance. Ten Speed Press, 2003, page 215. in

Rock Springs, Wyoming Rock Springs is a city in Sweetwater County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 23,036 at the 2010 census, making it the fifth most populated city in the state of Wyoming, and the most populous city in Sweetwater County. Rock Springs is ...

. Senior University International was not allowed to continue its operations from

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the sou ...

after it did not meet the requirements of the Wyoming government.Millar R
"B.C. government to review private school regulation."
''Macleans.ca'' 2007-06-26. Accessed 2008-04-10. Subsequently, the school officially operated from

. According to Hoovers it had annual sales of 600,000 dollars with seven employees in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

, but other reports stated that it operated from

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a ...

. Richmond was the place of residence of Rutherford senior Abdul Sultan Hassam,

was the residence of Leslie Carr. In March 2006 Rutherford was instructed to stop enrolling students from British Columbia. In 2003, a "Rutherford University" was identified as planning to develop a new campus in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. In 2005 the Dutch foundation "Counselling Netherlands" in

Heteren Heteren is a village in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is located in the municipality of Overbetuwe, about 12 km southwest of Arnhem on the south bank of the Rhine. Heteren was a separate municipality until 2001, when it became a part o ...

started a Bachelor of Arts in Multidisciplinary Counselling program for 10.000 euro over four years through Rutherford University. However, in 2008 it was discovered that the school was not accredited as Counselling Netherlands had claimed. In 2007 the university claimed to have its headquarters in

Mbabane Mbabane (; ss, ÉMbábáne, ) is a city in Eswatini (previously called Swaziland), and is one of the two capitals (along with Lobamba), serving as the executive capital. With an estimated population of 94,874 (2010), it is located on the Mbab ...

, However, its corporate headquarters remained in Evanston, Wyoming.Rutherford University :: Contact info
Accessed 2008-04-10. As of mid-2008, only an address in Swaziland was provided by the institution. A telephone number in Swaziland was removed from the website after the operator had stated not to know Rutherford University. The Oregon Office of Degree Authorization reports listed Wyoming, British Columbia, Swaziland,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

, and China as geographic locations with which Rutherford University has been associated. In June 2009, all the information on the sub-pages was no longer available from the organization's website. The website of "Rutherford University Mexico" was accessible after being temporarily unavailable, but by September 2009 the domain was no longer connected.

References

External links

* {{cite web, archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20050808002817/http://www.rutherford.edu/documents/RU_Catalog_v52r.pdf , url=http://www.rutherford.edu/documents/RU_Catalog_v52r.pdf , title=Rutherford University Catalog , archivedate=August 8, 2005
Rutherford University (Senior University Inc.) in British Columbia: Inspection under the Degree Authorization Act (DAA)

Unaccredited institutions of higher learning in the United States Distance education institutions based in the United States Defunct companies based in Wyoming Educational institutions established in 1993 1993 establishments in Wyoming Distance education institutions based in Canada

Recognition

History

See also

References

External links