Use of Madam - Madam Bones

[scoutmom21113]

No: HPFGUIDX 87100

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Nora Renka" <nrenka at y...> 
wrote:

> > bboy_mn wrote:
> 
> > JAfteral there is no real overseeing authority that validates
> > muggle Bachelor, Master, PHD degrees in the muggle world. The 
only
> > thing that gives value to a degree from Harvard is the 
reputation of
> > the school. So the Harvard review commitees have the sole and 
full
> > authority to set any standard and give out degrees to anyone they
> > want, and we have no choice but to accept their word for it.

Nora wrote:
> To go slightly off-topic, that's actually not true: there's an 
> independent board which accredits American universities, and they 
> *do* put people on probation pretty quickly for violations.  This 
> deals somewhat with administrative issues, but also with 
curriculum, 
> and things like what you have to do for the degree requirements--
> qualifiers and all of those fun things.  There's also the 
phenomenon 
> of peer review; there are departments that one knows a student 
coming 
> out of is not going to be as good as others.  Long point short, 
it's 
> really not so arbitrary, especially once you get into a 
specialized 
> field.

Bookworm:
To add to what Nora wrote, the process is a bit more involved than 
just administrative.  Anyone who has ever been involved with the 
accreditation process knows that it is a major event - every 
department in the college is inspected - student records, teacher 
credentials, curriculum, etc.  And if a school loses its 
accreditation, it loses its federal funds, including student loans.  
The process may be "voluntary" but all reputable schools go through 
it - including Harvard.

Ravenclaw Bookworm