Universidad Empresarial de Costa Rica

[devilsadvocate]

Dear Gus,

I am attaching a notarized letter in Spanish regarding the law. I am hoping you will allow it.

Regards,

Harley

[jstrazzeri@live.com]

Dear Mr. Harley,

Thank you very much for your great support in this matter. I do appreciate it.

Article 8 of Costa Rican Law 6693-81

Article 8 of the Costa Rican law 6693-81 establishes that "once its operation has been authorized, any private university
shall enjoy total liberty to develop its academic activities and curriculum as well as its study plans and the establishment of degree programs" (Conesup decree No. 270-98; official English translation issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
of the Republic of Costa Rica). Appearance of a degree on the "Carreras Aprobadas" ("Approved Careers") list published by the consejo Nacional de Educacion Superior (Conesup) does only indicate that a given degree is recognized as entrance qualifications to a specific professional career. This however does not diminish the validity of any degree, awarded by a fully accredited private university, which does not appear on the list.

This law was certified and notarized by Rafael Esquivel Gutierrez/ Public Notary and Lawyer of Costa Rica.
June 18, 2009
San José, Costa Rica

[Gus Sainz]

Thank you for posting that.

Now, here’s what it is and what it isn’t.

This is just an affidavit from Rafael Esquivel Gutirrez, a lawyer in Costa Rica, affirming that Articles 8 and 9 of the law created by Consejo Nacional de Enseñanza Superior Universitaria Privada (CONESUP), Law No. 66993 dated November 27, 1981 which was later amended by Law No. 8194 of December 18, 2001 states as follows:

Article 8
Once authorized to function, the private university shall have the freedom to carry out its academic activities and programs as well as develop its lesson plans and study programs. The institution must begin teaching these programs in the academic session of the year AUTHORIZATION IS GRANTED, or in the academic session immediately following. [emphasis added]

Article 9
Within the statutes of this law, private universities, as institutions of higher learning, shall enjoy freedom of teaching methodology, scientific inquiry, and dissemination of culture. (Private universities) should contribute to the study and solutions of national problems, for which they will establish obligatory communal work or social service programs, equivalent to, or similar to, those that exist at the state universities.

THAT IS ALL

(notarization legalize ommited)

[Gus Sainz]

Dear Mr. Harley,

Thank you very much for your great support in this matter. I do appreciate it.

I'm not sure thanks are in order. He may appear to be supporting you, but the facts do not.

Article 8 of Costa Rican Law 6693-81

Article 8 of the Costa Rican law 6693-81 establishes that "once its operation has been authorized, any private university shall enjoy total liberty to develop its academic activities and curriculum as well as its study plans and the establishment of degree programs"

Indeed. Except, of course, you somehow managed to leave out the part about the curriculum and programs of study requiring AUTHORIZATION by CONESUP, and that once authorization is granted the institution must start teaching these programs right away. It is risible that you (and others) are attempting to state or imply, both through commission and omission, that the wording of this law grants private universities in Costa Rica the right to issue any degree they wish without prior formal approval from CONESUP, when clearly the opposite is true.

Appearance of a degree on the "Carreras Aprobadas" ("Approved Careers") list published by the consejo Nacional de Educacion Superior (Conesup) does only indicate that a given degree is recognized as entrance qualifications to a specific professional career.

That’s simply not true. As someone who is a professor of Spanish, you know very well that in an academic context “carreras” means a major or a program of study, and NOT “career.” Shame on you.

Therefore you must also know that the appearance of a degree on the "Carreras Aprobadas" list published by CONESUP, means exactly that—Approved Degree Programs. You should know this because that’s exactly what CONESUP does—approve the individual degrees, majors, and programs of study of the private universities in Costa Rica.

Without approval from CONESUP, a private Costa Rican university cannot legally issue a degree, and in the case of Universidad Empresarial De Costa Rica this means it can only issue a B.A. in Business, a B.A. in Accounting, and a M.B.A..

This however does not diminish the validity of any degree, awarded by a fully accredited private university, which does not appear on the list.

What part of NOT LEGALLY AUTHORIZED do you not understand? A degree that is not legally issued is, by its very nature, NOT valid. Can a degree be legitimate if it isn’t even legal?

Mr. Strazzeri, you keep employing terms like “accredited” and even “regionally accredited” when such terms are almost exclusive to the United States. That’s simply disingenuous. In Costa Rica, private universities are approved to function, and then each and every degree program and major must be authorized by CONESUP. A private university in Costa Rica cannot legally issue a degree that has not been approved by CONESUP.

For years this has been acknowledged (in a roundabout way) by UNEM supporters who continually claim that Universidad Empresarial De Costa Rica only issues degrees without CONESUP authorization outside of Costa Rica and with some kind of “International Agreement” with other universities. When questioned, however, no one can ever name a single legitimate university that oversees these programs or issues the degrees. In fact, Mr. Strazzeri, just like you, everyone who received a degree not authorized by CONESUP from UNEM says that the name on the diploma is Universidad Empresarial De Costa Rica.

CONESUP may not be able to exert much control over what Universidad Empresarial De Costa Rica does outside of Costa Rica, but it certainly has had quite a few problems with the institution in the past (including, according to Costa Rican news reports, criminal charges). I don’t expect, however, for CONESUP to do much about these shenanigans anytime soon.

This law was certified and notarized by Rafael Esquivel Gutierrez/ Public Notary and Lawyer of Costa Rica.
June 18, 2009
San José, Costa Rica

I’m sorry, but no.

The LAW wasn’t certified and notarized by Rafael Esquivel Gutierrez. What was notarized was his affidavit stating what he claims are the wording of two of the articles of a Costa Rican law, and that his omissions in no way materially affect his claims.

One has to wonder why such an affidavit is even necessary. What is the purpose of this document? Why has this document been edited and the name of the person who paid Rafael Esquivel Gutierrez to create it blanked out? Who paid Rafael Esquivel Gutierrez to create it?

I'm sure it is different in Costa Rica, but here in the United States, "there is no greater breach of the Notary’s requisite role as impartial witness than 'notarizing' one’s own signature." (see The Notary Public Code of Professional Responsibility)

[Hungry Ghost]

Here's something interesting out of Costa Rica.

It's the National Higher Education System (Spanish acronym SINAES).

This institution tells us that it was founded by Legislative act in May 2002, in Law 8256. It's a "public and autonomous organization" tasked with evaluating and accrediting both public and private university programs in Costa Rica.

http://www.sinaes.ac.cr/riacesen/index. ... Itemid=179

They have a directory that says this:

Authorized Universities

The online directory lists universities authorized to operate in Costa Rica.

Universities that belong to SINAES are those that meet the minimum legal requirements (authorization to operate) and voluntarily operate with the quality standards governing SINAES, Costa Rica’s official accreditation organization. The universities listed below that do not belong to SINAES have been authorized to operate; however, their degrees will not be officially accredited until the institution joins the SINAES system.

http://www.sinaes.ac.cr/riacesen/index. ... &Itemid=52

And not really surprisingly, Universidad Empresarial does not belong to SINAES.

http://www.sinaes.ac.cr/riacesen/index. ... cle&id=129

So it appears that Costa Rica reorganized their national accreditation system 8 years ago, with responsibility for both public and private university accreditation being handed off to a new quasi-autonomous American-style accreditor.

For more details on what SINAES is up to, see this article:

http://www.wes.org/ewenr/07mar/costarica.htm

Apparently CONESUP still gives private universities their initial authorizations to operate. (Like California's BPPE, I guess.) It isn't clear to me whether that's Latin-American program-by-program authorization or general institutional authorization. I'm guessing that it's program-by-program, judging from Universidad Empresarial's willingness to only offer a handful of programs to students inside Costa Rica, while doing just about anything that it pleases outside the country.

But even if by some odd chance Universidad Empresarial's authorization does allow it offer any program that it wants to offer inside the country, it's still pretty clear that it doesn't have accreditation under the new Costa Rican system.

[devilsadvocate]

Dear Hungry Ghost,

I have reviewed the last three links you posted and Empresarial is listed at the bottom of the list of universities accredited by SINAES http://www.sinaes.ac.cr/riacesen/index. ... cle&id=129. Thanks for the information.

Regards,

Harley

[lukeness]

The list is titled: "UNIVERSIDADES PRIVADAS NO ADHERENTES AL SINAES"

It would seem it was a list of universities NOT accredited by them rather than the opposite.

[jstrazzeri@live.com]

EMPRESARIAL UNIVERSITY OF COSTA RICA

Dear Mr. Sainz:

I found this document, please read.

Circular CONESUP: On April 28, 1998, No. 270-98-CONESUP, is sent to all rectors to the delivery of legal advice from the Ministry of Education No. 167-CONESUP ATJ, referring to the capabilities of private universities to establish inter-agency agreements, which houses the Council, and which reads: "For cases where the academic offer is conducted outside the national territory, the CONESUP no jurisdiction, the powers of Article 3 of Act of creation and those conferred by Article 79 Constitutional constrain the activity of private university education that occurs within our borders. But worth mentioning that, if the supply takes place outside the diploma which certifies the degree academic question is not susceptible of endorsement by the CONESUP. In effect, for starters, the national private university that seeks to expand outside of our country, must undergo the procedures involved in the legal order that sustains them, compared to CONESUP which has no relationship nor any interference. " With this pronouncement, it is clear that the universities can operate abroad without any problems, except that the titles issued are not subject to endorsement by CONESUP.

[Hungry Ghost]

I have reviewed the last three links you posted and Empresarial is listed at the bottom of the list of universities accredited by SINAES http://www.sinaes.ac.cr/riacesen/index. ... cle&id=129. Thanks for the information.

As Lukeness correctly points out, Universidad Empresarial's name occurs on the list of authorized Costa Rican private universities that are NOT members of SINAES and for that reason apparently don't offer programs that are considered accredited in that country.

SINAES maintains separate list of private universities that are SINAES members.

http://www.sinaes.ac.cr/riacesen/index. ... cle&id=126

This is why I posted the text that explained the difference between "ADHERENTES AL SINAES" and "NO ADHERENTES AL SINAES".

The online directory lists universities authorized to operate in Costa Rica.

Universities that belong to SINAES are those that meet the minimum legal requirements (authorization to operate) and voluntarily operate with the quality standards governing SINAES, Costa Rica's official accreditation organization. The universities listed below that do not belong to SINAES have been authorized to operate; however, their degrees will not be officially accredited until the institution joins the SINAES system.

[Hungry Ghost]

With this pronouncement, it is clear that the universities can operate abroad without any problems, except that the titles issued are not subject to endorsement by CONESUP.

Which implies that all of the incessant talk about Universidad Empresarial's recognitions by the Costa Rican authorities doesn't extend to and has no relevance for the school's off-shore doctoral programs and 'validation' arrangements.

[Gus Sainz]

EMPRESARIAL UNIVERSITY OF COSTA RICA

Dear Mr. Sainz:

I found this document, please read.

You FOUND a document?

I will be glad to read this document if you would be so kind as to provide a copy of the original or a link to where it can be found on the Internet.

Circular CONESUP: On April 28, 1998, No. 270-98-CONESUP, is sent to all rectors to the delivery of legal advice from the Ministry of Education No. 167-CONESUP ATJ, referring to the capabilities of private universities to establish inter-agency agreements, which houses the Council, and which reads: "For cases where the academic offer is conducted outside the national territory, the CONESUP no jurisdiction, the powers of Article 3 of Act of creation and those conferred by Article 79 Constitutional constrain the activity of private university education that occurs within our borders. But worth mentioning that, if the supply takes place outside the diploma which certifies the degree academic question is not susceptible of endorsement by the CONESUP. In effect, for starters, the national private university that seeks to expand outside of our country, must undergo the procedures involved in the legal order that sustains them, compared to CONESUP which has no relationship nor any interference. "

I’m sorry, Mr. Strazzeri, but without a copy of this alleged document, there’s nothing here to discuss. So far, your “translations” have been, at best, incompetent, at worst, self-servingly disingenuous.

With this pronouncement, it is clear that the universities can operate abroad without any problems, except that the titles issued are not subject to endorsement by CONESUP.

Interesting conclusion, Mr. Strazzeri, but isn’t that what I have been saying all along?

CONESUP has no control or jurisdiction over what a Costa Rican entity does overseas. All CONESUP does is clearly state what degrees a private university in Costa Rica is legally authorized to issue. If a private Costa Rican university issues any other degrees, they are not legally valid. You might as well print your own diploma; you have as much legal authority to do so as Universidad Empresarial de Costa Rica has to issue a degree that isn’t a B.A. in Business, a B.A. in Accounting, or a M.B.A..

[jstrazzeri@live.com]

To Mr. Sainz:

You've been distorting all the information that I have provided to you in good faith.
I think it's part of your work, I recommend you not to be too offensive.

Farewell

[Gus Sainz]

To Mr. Sainz:

You've been distorting all the information that I have provided to you in good faith.
I think it's part of your work, I recommend you not to be too offensive.

Farewell

The problem, Mr. Strazzeri, is that you haven't really answered any questions, and the "information" you have provided is nothing more than the same tired uncorroborated claims that have been made for years concerning UNEM.

It seems nothing at all has changed with Universidad Empresarial de Costa Rica; it continues to engage in the same practices that even the current owner described as fraudulent and dangerous. No amount of subterfuge, edited documents, or "doctored" transalations changes this fact.

[Hungry Ghost]

You FOUND a document?

How did an official letter that was supposedly distributed to Costa Rican university rectors find its way into Mr. Strazzeri's possession in New Jersey?

[jstrazzeri@live.com]

Dr. William Zamora send me a copy to explain me about the business. I ask him about UNEM accreditation and he told me about it. For international degrees Conesup do not sign it. But private universities are authorized to do business outside Costa Rica only, to grant Bachelors, Masters and Doctorates, and that is legal.
According to my knowledge they are fine, I have been working hard for many years to get it.
Have a nice day!

JS.