Resolution by the World Association of Online Education

The following resolution was recently passed by the World Association of Online Education Board of Directors due to constant misuse and abuse of its logo and misrepresentation as an alleged accrediting agency.

THE WAOE IS NOT AN ACCREDITING AGENCY FOR ANY INSTITUTION THAT PURPORTS TO OFFER HIGHER EDUCATION QUALIFICATIONS. ANY CLAIMS OF ACCREDITATION OR MEMBERSHIP IN THE WAOE BY A UNIVERSITY IS FRAUDULENT.

Resolution

Whereas WAOE's Bylaws, membership and affiliation policies are in public view at the http://www.waoe.org Website,

Whereas WAOE is a membership organization consisting only of individual members,

Whereas WAOE has no organizational or legal relationship with any group entities other than those specified at the above Website, which are the few and sole exceptions to the provisions herein,

Whereas WAOE does not accredit, recognize, affiliate with, evaluate the legitimacy or quality of any organization including those having to do with online learning,

Whereas the role of WAOE in international society as an academic organization where members express informed opinions may be misunderstood as legally or in any way binding either as encouragement or censure of particular practices in the online education field, therefore the purely scholarly nature of WAOE may need to be reconfirmed,

Whereas its Articles of Incorporation state that WAOE "is not organized for the private gain of any person. It is organized under the Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation Law" of the State of California,

Whereas, whether due to misunderstanding or for private gain, there have been cases where the logo and/or name of WAOE have been misused to imply accreditation or recognition by WAOE of entities purporting to provide online learning or degrees, and membership privileges of individuals joining WAOE do not extend to groups or organizations they belong to outside of WAOE, while WAOE is able neither to know and therefore pass judgement on the nature of other entities nor in some cases to stop online learning or degree providing entities from displaying WAOE's name and/or logo to imply a relationship or any form of approval where in fact there is none,

And whereas, WAOE officers are often contacted by underprivileged individuals particularly in developing countries hoping to improve their educational credentials, but who have evidently been deceived by the juxtaposition of WAOE's name and/or logo by other entities without the permission of WAOE, and given the limitations of WAOE in enforcing and publicizing the policies outlined above,

Be it resolved that WAOE Directors shall at least summarize the nature of WAOE in the above respects by way of announcements on related professional networks and as prominently as possible on WAOE Websites.

Professor Steve McCarty

President,

World Association for Online Education (WAOE) - http://www.waoe.org -