Friday, April 21, 2006

Frank Andrews Shimkus: His master's degree is from an unaccredited school


There's no personal animus with this guy. Really. But the greasy way he lied about his name, worked as news director while talking about running and continues to consult while running rubbed us the wrong way.

So we checked around.

And it turns out that Frank's masters degree is from Antiedam Bible College/Biblical Seminary and Graduate School in Hagerstown, Maryland. The school, which has a .org Web address, is not accredited by any agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Repeat: The master's degree Frank Andrews Shimkus has on his resume -- and teaches at the University of Scranton with -- is from a school so low you can't get a federal student loan to go there.

Antiedam notes on its Web site, www.antietambiblecollege.org, that it is accredited by the "Transworld Accrediting Commission," which has a Web site of www.traccom.org and sounds official enough. Problem is, Transworld is not recognized by the U.S. Department of Education or by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, an oversight organization that operates with the blessing of the federal education department. Transworld might as well be five guys at Gonda's in Wilkes-Barre.

Now, this is not the same as a diploma mill. But the school is unwilling or unable to meet the minimum standards set by nationally known and accepted accrediting agencies. And Frank Andrews is bragging about having a master's degree from the joint. Just the guy I'd want leading my news operation.

Search the Council for Higher Education Accreditation database:
http://www.chea.org/search/search.asp

Search the U.S. Department of Education database:
http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/Search.asp

See where AndrewsShimkus says he has the degree:
http://local.wnep.com/10years/v2/bios/andrews.html

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

No surprise here. I'm not shocked at all. Somehow, the stench associated with FA's graduate "diploma" is about on par with the content of the crash-and-burn TV "news" program he was associated with. Of particular note: The so-called news breaks during prime time programming. I'd be happier with them if they were labeled for what they really are: clumsy in-house ads with about as much news value to the viewer as a chunk of Pottsville conglomerate picked up from a strip pit.

Anonymous said...

So where is his PhD from? Any idea?

NEPAmedia said...

No idea where the doctoral degree is from. Smart money says the same operation in Hagerstown where the master's degree came from.

Those are nice degrees for impressing potential congregations in Binghamton, but not for running for office in a place famous for its ugly politics.

To the first poster: You referred to news breaking during prime-time programming. What are you talking about? I'm missing something. Loved the Pottsville line, though.

Tom Carten said...

9:09 probably is referring to the news break promos for the upcoming news shows. More like teasers than actual headlines:

"Stay inside if you live in the city; you're in immediate danger. We'll tell you why at 11:00.

"We've got news about a new CBS program you won't want to miss.

"And the weather may turn dangerous, or it may not. Will tonight's storm wipe out too many roads?"

Anonymous said...

The news break:
The perky anchor who hawks her own CDs during news programming comes on between network shows and says something like, "We'll have the complete story about the fire that blah, blah, blah ... Be sure and tune in at 11."
Git it?

NEPAmedia said...

A-ha. I see. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

There are a lot of rumors - which are just that - floating that he was in the drunk tank on more than one occassion and left his ex-wife in a pretty dispicable manner.

Any knowledge on these topics.