Does anyone know of persons who completed their MBA at University of South Wales through the UNICAF scholarship?

I think the only UNICAF graduate on this site is: https://find-mba.com/about/Leaves_Eclipse

I think the only UNICAF graduate on this site is: https://find-mba.com/about/Leaves_Eclipse

[Edited by Zorro Rojo on Jan 10, 2022]

You will see that I speak in very similar terms about schools that lack triple crown or US regional accreditation, and in particular, those which don't even issue state degrees.  There's nothing special about UNICAF in that respect. 

Every school is accredited by someone. Because people on this website are often looking for an MBA to help them make a major career progression, it's appropriate to point out that [a] UNICAF markets using low-quality western universities, but many programmes lead to its own degrees, not theirs and even their Western partners are very poor universities, among the worst in their country. BAC is not a higher education specialist and does not grant the right to issue degrees. 

You will see that I speak in very similar terms about schools that lack triple crown or US regional accreditation, and in particular, those which don't even issue state degrees.  There's nothing special about UNICAF in that respect. 

Every school is accredited by someone. Because people on this website are often looking for an MBA to help them make a major career progression, it's appropriate to point out that [a] UNICAF markets using low-quality western universities, but many programmes lead to its own degrees, not theirs and even their Western partners are very poor universities, among the worst in their country. BAC is not a higher education specialist and does not grant the right to issue degrees. 

[Edited by Zorro Rojo on Jan 10, 2022]

Firstly, I don't understand why you would want to ignore the most respected rankings, especially since The Times and Guardian rankings are so widely respected in the UK. 

Secondly, is its ABSOLUTELY the case that every British university meets QAA standards. There is no question that USW is a real British university that meets the country's minimum expectations. However, there's a big difference between saying that the university is good enough to stay open and saying that it's of average or above-average quality.

However, USW is currently ranked 111th out of 121 UK universities for business: https://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings/business-and-management-studies with the third-lowest score for research (among schools with data sufficiency). and the 8th-lowest score for graduate prospects. 

PS In the UK's three-layer (Gold/Silver/Bronze) scheme for teaching excellence (TEF), USW doesn't even qualify for bronze when every other university in Wales is Silver or Gold: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/teaching/tef-outcomes/#/tefoutcomes/   

[Edited by Duncan on Jan 10, 2022]

Firstly, I don't understand why you would want to ignore the most respected rankings, especially since The Times and Guardian rankings are so widely respected in the UK. 

Secondly, is its ABSOLUTELY the case that every British university meets QAA standards. There is no question that USW is a real British university that meets the country's minimum expectations. However, there's a big difference between saying that the university is good enough to stay open and saying that it's of average or above-average quality.

However, USW is currently ranked 111th out of 121 UK universities for business: https://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings/business-and-management-studies with the third-lowest score for research (among schools with data sufficiency). and the 8th-lowest score for graduate prospects. 

PS In the UK's three-layer (Gold/Silver/Bronze) scheme for teaching excellence (TEF), USW doesn't even qualify for bronze when every other university in Wales is Silver or Gold: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/teaching/tef-outcomes/#/tefoutcomes/   

[Edited by Zorro Rojo on Jan 10, 2022]

I don't know anyone who thinks that rankings are the sole criterion for school collection. I don't think that, and it's silly that you attribute that view to me. 

Just to be clear to readers, what Zorro is going here is a distraction. Zorro asked me to give evidence that USW is of low quality. More or less any quality measure ranked USW poorly, and so I offered some. Zorro's response is to disagree with something I didn't say and don't believe. 

I don't disagree that not every person needs an MBA from a top school and, indeed, not everyone needs a degree. However, my points are that there are better options available than USW and that many people come to Unicaf because of its arrangement with USW but then end up enrolling in courses that lead to Unicaf's private Malawian degrees rather than those from USW. 

Just to be clear to readers, what Zorro is going here is a distraction. Zorro asked me to give evidence that USW is of low quality. More or less any quality measure ranked USW poorly, and so I offered some. Zorro's response is to disagree with something I didn't say and don't believe.

I don't know anyone who thinks that rankings are the sole criterion for school collection. I don't think that, and it's silly that you attribute that view to me. 

Just to be clear to readers, what Zorro is going here is a distraction. Zorro asked me to give evidence that USW is of low quality. More or less any quality measure ranked USW poorly, and so I offered some. Zorro's response is to disagree with something I didn't say and don't believe. 

I don't disagree that not every person needs an MBA from a top school and, indeed, not everyone needs a degree. However, my points are that there are better options available than USW and that many people come to Unicaf because of its arrangement with USW but then end up enrolling in courses that lead to Unicaf's private Malawian degrees rather than those from USW. 

I've read in some threads that Robert Gordon is a good university. But looking at the rankings, The Guardian and THE, RGU is on the place as USW. That said, is it fair to conclude that USW is a poor university?

Also, I think it is not good to discredit a university simply because they are at the bottom of the rankings. Should we say all universities below USW are poor? It is quite a lot if that is the case. And if they are all considered as poor universities, then should we say that the UK government has a "poor" minimum educational standard? In the US, there are a lot of good school, both regionally and programmatically accredited which did not make it into the rankings. But USW and other universities on the same boat made it. It is sad that for this website, the only criteria to determine if a school is good is if it is a holder of one major international accreditation as the people are saying here. Not to mention that "international" accreditation is technically not a correct term. In the US, programmatic accreditation is being used by most academics as they say that there's no such thing as "international".

[Edited by Kristara on Jan 11, 2022]

There is so much wrong with this post, it would take too long to start. The UK university ranking include ALL the UK universities. Being 111th out of 121 isn't great. It's not a matter of 'making the boat': the only way to avoid these rankings is to close. 

Programmatic accreditation is not specific to the US. It when the body accredits specific programmes (as AMBA and FIBAA do) rather than whole departments (as AACSB does). 

PS If you can point to a ranking that has RGU on the same level as USW, let us know. 

The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/education/ng-interactive/2021/sep/11/the-best-uk-universities-2022-rankings

Times https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2022/world-ranking#!/page/0/length/25/sort_by/rank/sort_order/asc/cols/stats
USW is even 1 place better in the Guardian.

There is so much wrong with this post, it would take too long to start. The UK university ranking include ALL the UK universities. Being 111th out of 121 isn't great. It's not a matter of 'making the boat': the only way to avoid these rankings is to close. 
 

Can you name an above-average US university that did not make the THES ranking?

I don't see the point of this question. Above average on the basis of what? I can say hundreds and one can simply make again a remark that they are poor.

I was asked to provide a ranking with USW and RGU on the same level and I did. So I'm expecting an argument on how RGU is considered a good university while USW is not based on the ranking. 

My point is one cannot simply say that a UK university is a poor or low quality university considering the standard being implemented in the UK. There is no harm in saying one is great but there is harm in saying one is low quality.

If you find any references to support your claims then let us know. I believe you are mistaken.  

But you don't provide either with yours. Claiming some UK universities being poor or low  quality without references.

[Edited by Kristara on Jan 12, 2022]

You are mistaken. Scroll up to my post on the 10th where I provided links. I referred to the government's Teaching Excellence Framework, and pointed out that USW is the only Welsh university to fail to gain Gold, Silver or Bronze status. I also referred to USW's research rating, which is shown in the Complete University Guide I linked to. That reflects the government's Research Excellent Framework, in which USW is one of the four weakest UK universities in business and management. USW reported just three scholars engaged in business research. UWS and Sunderland produced the two lowest-quality research, with 60% or more of their research outputs scoring 0 or 1 out of five. https://results.ref.ac.uk/(S(j0cvf15sa3mktgf0mbbcxpjh))/Results/ByUoa/19 

I know you don't like rankings, but these are objective measures produced by the government to assess teaching and research excellence. 

With that Guardian ranking, I point you to their 2022 ranking for business: https://www.theguardian.com/education/ng-interactive/2021/sep/11/the-best-uk-universities-2022-rankings and make sure "Pick a subject area" is set to business. You'll see RGU at 44th and USW at 70th. Even so, the Guardian's rankings are geared heavily around value added, which favours schools that recruit less able students. If you compare the student quality, for example, the entry tariff at RGU is one third higher (155 points at A level and at USW it's 115).