Talk:Megatrend University

Template

• {{User Megatrend University}} - template for user pages of students and graduates of Megatrend University.

MUThis user attends or attended
Megatrend University

--Comparativist1 (talk) 22:44, 29 May 2012 (UTC)

Untitled

This looks like a marketing page. For instance, there is the line that includes "- members of our university" rather than 'the' university. Dougweller 17:54, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

This is 100% marketing page —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.175.67.186 (talk) 21:16, 1 August 2009 (UTC)

I can't find any sources that would help, can you? Dougweller (talk) 21:27, 1 August 2009 (UTC)

Copyvio

I don't know how dare you to act like this? There are so many REAL copyvio on other pages about universities and you are removing MY text just because it is look like text on Megatrend University's website. Also you are not the only one admin on whole Wikipedia so I want second opinion, since I see that you have something against this article and you are not objective.

My advice to you is to look around on another pages (about Universities) and compare some texts with source and you will find a lot of copyvio. But NOOO you are to lazy for that and have to act like a j*rk on this page. Best regards, --S T E V A N ^(talk) 03:33, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

Also I have to say this: If you are true contributor and good administrator to Wikipedia you would be constructive NOT destructive. You would edit this text and make it better, you would not delete it. --S T E V A N ^(talk) 03:53, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

Per other stuff exists, concentrate on what you are doing against policy and not what else has been done elsewhere. Please read up on the WP:COPYRIGHT policies as suggested. Heiro 03:55, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

And knock off the personal attacks,( calling people jerks), or you will be taken to WP:ANI for your disruptive behavior. Please see WP:NPA. Heiro 03:57, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

I have to ask you something:

• In January 2003 Megatrend University became a member of the Universities’ Community of Serbia. - Sentence written on Megatrend University's Website
• In January 2003 Universities Community of Serbia accepted Megatrend University as a full member. - Sentence written here by ME.

For example is this COPYVIO? Please answer now!

I'm sure you reverted my edit now and not previously compare text to source! --S T E V A N (talk) 04:03, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

P.S. I haven't said that he is j*rk. I said that he act like one. And I really had no intention to insult him. --S T E V A N ^(talk) 04:06, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

To quote your statement above "But NOOO you are to lazy for that and have to act like a j*rk on this page" would be considered a personal attack here, so I advise you to read the link I provided about such issues. As for the copyvio that Dougweller removed, I've seen him deal with alot of copyvio and paraphrase issues, he's particularly knowledgeable about the subject, if he says its too close I'd take his word for it and keep working on rewording the material. Heiro 04:18, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

I asked you for YOUR opinion? Now tell me objectively is this copivio? --S T E V A N ^(talk) 04:21, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

Yes, I'd agree it is too close of a paraphrase. Maybe something like "Megatrend University be came a full member of the Universities Community of Serbia in January of 2003". I'd still run it by Doug tho. Heiro 04:24, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

And please, stop bolding words, it's considered SHOUTING here and is rather impolite. Heiro 04:25, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

Bolding? --S T E V A N ^(talk) 15:29, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

Let's compare:

Website text:

"In the autumn of 1999 Megatrend University became a full member of the NEWS (North-East-West-South) global university network which comprises member universities from the whole world. All institutions of Megatrend University are also members of EAMSA (Euro-Asia Management Studies Association), the only world association of management atudies. "

Article text:

"n autumn 1999, Megatrend University of Applied Sciences has become a valid member of global university network NEWS (North-East-West-South), whose members are the universities from all over the world. Also, all institutes of Megatrend University are the members of EAMSA (Euro-Asia Management Studies Association), the sole international association for management studies." What I see are two paragraphs which differ only in a few words (and please don't link years, we don't do that anymore except in rare instances).

The next paragraph on the website is: "In January 2003 Megatrend University became a member of the Universities’ Community of Serbia. " and in the article:

"In January 2003 Universities Community of Serbia accepted Megatrend University as a full member." Then skipping one paragraph, the website:

"Megatrend University is the winner of many prestigeous domestic and international awards among which is the quality award by American Quality Association – AQA, as well as European Quality Award, both awarded in 2008. In March 2010 Megatrend University was also awarded the prestigeous ’Vuk Karadzic“ Award for its lasting contribution to science, education and culture in Serbia.

Graduate School for Business in Zajecar of Megatrend University was selected among the top 500 business schools in the world by the International Scientific Committee of the ED UNIVERSAL OFFICIAL SELECTION SYSTEM in November 2009. EDUNIVERSAL is an organization that provides global accreditation to high education institutions in the world."

the article: "Megatrend University has domestic and international awards among which is the quality award by AQA - American Quality Association, as well as European Quality Award, both awarded in 2008. Megatrend University was also awarded the prestigious domestic Vuk Karadzic Award, in March 2010, for its lasting contribution to science, education and culture. In November 2009 Faculty of Management of Megatrend University in Zajecar was selected among the top 500 business schools in the world by the International Scientific Committee of the ED Universal Official Selection System. Eduniversal is a consulting company and a rating agency which is providing information on the best Business Schools, located in the 5 continents"

Here I'll note that the University can call an award prestigious, but we can't without a reliable source - not the University's website. In fact, we should have sources for those claims from outside the university.

The structure of that section of the article and the website is exactly the same, and the wording isn't changed much. We consider this sort of thing copyvio, and if you find it elsewhere, you are free to deal with it. We are aware that there is a lot of copyvio on Wikipedia and a lot of effort goes into dealing with it, but we can't keep up, so your help is welcome. And I shall delete this section once you've read and commented on it, leaving our comments. Dougweller (talk) 06:20, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

Ok maybe I was overreacting about this. But that's because there is so many copyvio on Wikipedia (copy-paste) and you stick to this few paragraphs which are notably different then original text and because you insulted accused me using minor edit check box to hide something. As I said I wasn't about to hide my edits, I was just checking it automatically, because these days I was doing just minor edits on Serbian Wikipedia. I'm contributing Wikipedia since 2006 and I have never done something like that (trying to hide edit by checking minor edit).

I will prepare new version of this text and ask you for opinion before I place it in this article. Is that all right?

Regards, --S T E V A N ^(talk) 15:01, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

• About "prestigious awards":

I removed word "prestigious" in the beginning of this paragraph as you see. Prestigious remarks only Vuk Karadzic Award which is really one of most respectable domestic awards and everyone who is from Serbia know that. It would be superfluous to provide reference for that.

P.S. Thank you for this info about years linking. I did not know that new rule. --S T E V A N ^(talk) 15:01, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

Ok, why are you linking to a fairytale writer above - is the award named after him? What you need a reference for is the claim that the university was given the reward - there must be a reference for it which isn't the University. And yes, a new version which doesn't look like the website in wording or structure. Dougweller (talk) 15:37, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

Yes, award is named after him. And calling him just a fairy tale writer may be considered insulting. He is major reformer of the Serbian language and creator of modern Serbian Cyrillic alphabet. Here is the reference for Megatrend: [2] - Google translate to English: [3]* It will be included in new text. Google translate (Vuk's Award - Vuk Karadžić Award) Vukova nagrada = Wolves Award, because Vuk in Serbian mean is Wolf. --S T E V A N ^(talk) 16:12, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

I must say that I don't feel comfortable for this strict verification measurements while other people are writing a tons of text without any reference on other articles. --S T E V A N ^(talk) 16:12, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

I didn't mean to insult him, it's the only word I recalled after using popups to view the first line of his article. Sure, there's a lot of bad stuff around, and there are far too many university articles that read like advertising brochures - this isn't the only one where I've removed copyvio and stuff that is inappropriate. I do what I can on a variety of types of articles, but with 3 million articles.... And I spent a lot of time finding sources myself. I looked for these awards, for instance, but couldn't find them - probably a language problem. Dougweller (talk) 16:39, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

References

Diploma mill?

Given all the controversy about the sources used in describing the institution, it sounds like it might really be a diploma mill that grants degrees that are not generally recognized by other universities and legitimate institutions of higher education. If it is not a diploma mill, getting these issues squared away should be a priority. 66.234.204.13 (talk) 05:18, 21 October 2011 (UTC)

They gave Gaddafi a honorary doctorate. They must be a diploma mill. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.33.158.121 (talk) 14:12, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

Yes, but that honorary doctorate was in the field of dictatorial fashion. No one can deny the fashion-sense of the late Libyan leader. 38.115.185.13 (talk) 19:58, 22 October 2011 (UTC)Flossie

Not a diploma mill as I think of it - paying someone for a degree without attending classes or doing work - but some people have a more expansive definition of diploma mill, like a university that produces degrees nobody respects. "Nobody" is doing a lot of work there especially if the place is accredited by the right people.

There seems to be a consensus that it isn't a very good university and that there's been corruption, but crappiness shouldn't be synonymous with "diploma mill" as students are probably putting in an effort despite the institution. I wouldn't even call unrecognized education a diploma mill - some unrecognized institutions can provide some value - but it's certainly an unwise thing to pursue if you're not careful. None of this is to discount the opinions of others, just trying to advance an idea.142.232.98.47 (talk) 20:33, 8 April 2015 (UTC)

I largely agree with 142.232.98.47. I dont have enough information myself about Megatrend to know if they are a diploma mill or not, but it seems as if we have enough ifnormation to state that they are at least a bad university, and possibly even a diploma mill. I think the way this is currently presented in the article is quite good and objective, and every reader can make up his or her own mind about it. SchnitteUK (talk) 10:16, 5 May 2016 (UTC)

Ownership?

Who owns Megatrend? It started as Emberstar[4] which became Megatrend International Expert Consortium Limited (Megatrend IEC)[5]. Dougweller (talk) 14:00, 13 November 2012 (UTC)

Hit Piece

The author agtx clearly appears to be writing a hit piece against the University. He's acts like he's on someone's payroll. Every tome someone else adds info he deletes and reposts his own clearly biased version You don't begin an article with a the personal negative opinion of a random journalist who can't back it up, for example/ — Preceding unsigned comment added by Balancerx (talk • contribs) 03:15, 4 May 2015 (UTC)

I've got no axe to grind, as I've said. I don't know if the piece is biased or not. Here's the content that Balancerx has repeatedly removed from the piece:

In an opinion piece in Al Jazeera about problems in Serbian higher education, Zorana Suvakovic described Megatrend as "essentially a degree mill where diplomas can be obtained for cash."

and

The university has a relatively low reputation in the eyes of the Serbian public due to its allegedly dubious programs and low standards, as well as due to its perceived mutually beneficial connections with politicians and government officials who were awarded Megatrend diplomas. Those connections have supposedly ensured its accreditation, which helped the University to somewhat silence its critics who have been accusing it of being a diploma mill. According to Megatrend's representatives, such criticism can not apply to a "University where the prime minister of Serbia had given four lectures in one year, and two ministers of education are employed at it".

Megatrend University has awarded an honorary doctorate to Muammar Gaddafi, the former leader of Libya. When asked to comment on this subject, the deputy Minister of education, prof. Srbijanka Turajlić just said that "this is not a deed on which any University should be proud of, but taking into account the quality of the university, it is not surprising that the doctorate was awarded to the dictator".

On June 1, 2014, a group of Serbian academics based in the UK published an article claiming that parts of the Minister of Internal Affairs of Serbia Nebojša Stefanović's doctoral dissertation were plagiarized. The controversy escalated even further when other academics raised serious doubts that Megatrend's rector and Stefanović's mentor Mića Jovanović was never awarded a doctorate himself. Jovanović's alleged mentor Stephen Wood of the University of Leicester denounced him claiming his thesis failed and was not resubmitted.

On June 12, 2014, Serbian Ministry of Education confirmed Megatrend's rector had forged his PhD at LSE. In the wake of these findings, ministry of education called on rector Jovanović to resign. He also called on relevant authorities to determine whether there were elements of criminal offense. Jovanovic resigned the following day. More recently, he declared to have quit Serbia.

I'll let the folks who know more about this handle the content discussion, but I don't think that removing a large chunk of the article is the right way to have this debate. Agtx (talk) 03:29, 4 May 2015 (UTC)

In response to agtx, half the links he provided are dead. The assertion that Mica Jovanovic's phd is a lie was never confirmed. Some individuals independently investigated the matter, in a fashion that was far from comprehensive couldn't verify the existence of his phd, which doesn't meet it doesn't exist. Mica Jovanovic asserts he did finish it, showing the actual document on television and asserts this is a conerted attack on him and the university. Both points of view should be shown in an unbiased manner. The fact that the university ha articulation agreements and is recognized internationally, a fact the author deleted in previous posts, lends credence that it is more that a diploma mill, not to mention it's been endorsed by esteemed individuals, such as John Naisbitt himself, who carries far more weight than some journalist with a chip on her shoulder. People who are constantly trash talking the university, have never been there or attended it. It's unfair to the students who worked hard to complete their education. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Balancerx (talk • contribs) 03:47, 4 May 2015 (UTC)

The accusation that parts of the Minister of Interior's doctoral dissertation were plagiarized, is unverified. In addition, there is an implication that because the university granted an Honorary doctorate to Gaddafi, that somehow shows though guilt by association that the university is corrupt is skewed by political beliefs. Gaddafi was the internationally recognized head of state of Libya at the time. It is customary to award such honorary degrees to such individuals. Simply because he was designated an enemy of the United States does not make him a criminal in retrograde. He was welcomed by the Serbian Government as well. To that effect, there is the implication, without sources, that Megatrend has some political ties, that;s why it can get away with it's "corrupt" practices, when the opposite can be strongly argued. That is, in a country rated high in corruption by the U.N, a private university such as Megatrend is taking market share from student tuition away from the state who is competing for the same customer base, along with other private universities. This angle should also have airtime if one is going to accuse the university of corruption. Many in the country also have the opinion that there is a concerted effort to discredit the university and while public opinion is divided the Rector has also gained wide support as well. Both sides should be shown or none at all with regard to the issue of corruption. To begin the section stating the overwhelming majority of the public has a negative view of the university without a source indicates its merely the authors opinion. I ask would an entry in a professional encyclopedia be so derogatory in tone?

http://www.vestinet.rs/u-fokusu/mica-jovanovic-aferu-doktorat-izmislili-jer-im-nisam-platio-stratesko-partnerstvo http//www.telegraf.rs/vesti/1114933-mica-pokazao-doktorat-koji-je-pronasao-u-londonu-i-najavio-mogucu-prodaju-megatrenda http://www.blic.rs/Vesti/Politika/470338/Megatrend-Apsolutno-autentican-rad-ministra-Stefanovica — Preceding unsigned comment added by Balancerx (talk • contribs) 04:29, 4 May 2015 (UTC)

I meant "retroactively" — Preceding unsigned comment added by Balancerx (talk • contribs) 04:31, 4 May 2015 (UTC)

Wow, it's so obvious the editor agtx has an agenda. I hope many editors contribute information in the future without it being deleted by this individual in an underhanded way — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.145.137.152 (talk) 02:44, 5 May 2015 (UTC)

Jovanovic should feel free to submit his Ph.D. thesis to the London School of Economics library if indeed he did it. The library is online and he can show it to the world if he likes. Meanwhile the Times Education supplement - out of the UK where libel laws are extraordinarily strong and lucrative if Jovanovic has a case - repeats what everybody knows: Mica Jovanovic lied and has no Ph.D. from the LSE. The point is not in dispute.

It should probably be noted in the article that Jovanovic co-authored work with the Bogdanov brothers, also noted charlatans. The brothers remain as professors at Megatrend.142.232.98.47 (talk) 00:38, 13 May 2015 (UTC)

Terribly sorry to interrupt, but evidently there's some fire in all of this, because only contribution from user Balancerx (or IP 184.145.137.152) is removing of those two paragraphs critical to the institution. To my personal opinion, user Balancerx (or IP 184.145.137.152) is biased on topic of the Megatrend, either because he is employed at it, or ( I don't want to accuse without evidence, this is only my personal view from his posts at the beginning of this section), he obtained degree from given institution and now he is not secure about future of his title. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.200.23.190 (talk) 10:50, 28 May 2015 (UTC)

References

Disputed Neutrality of the Article

I can see box containing message that there is a dispute in neutrality of this article, linking to the talk page.

About doubts in neutrality, I can see only one user which contends it, and only contribution of this user on Wikipedia is constant deleting of material critical to the Megatrend and replacing it with promotion material from University's web site. My opinion is (and by no means I want to accuse without evidence) that user Balancerx (or IP 184.145.137.152) is someone closely connected with Megatrend University or with its owner and former rector M. Jovanovic, and that user's opinion and accusations are biased as a result.

From my point of view, dialog box about disputed neutrality should be removed, not only because three months without any contribution on a talk page, but also because above mentioned activity of the disputing person. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.200.23.190 (talk) 10:07, 28 August 2015 (UTC)

External links modified

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There's a discussion directly relevant to this article at Talk:Mića Jovanović

Mića Jovanović is a new article and sources used in this article are being discussed there. Doug Weller talk 08:00, 8 September 2016 (UTC)

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Name

I really don't understand what's going on. Vanjagenije are you sure? Both names are here:[6] And on the page about the university[7] it clearly refers to itself numerous times as John Naisbit university. And if you are interested, there are now two sections at WP:BLPN involving the controversy over Mića Jovanović who I see is back, although the article says the opposite. Doug Weller talk 13:42, 1 June 2019 (UTC)

@Doug Weller: Their web site is probably not updated. Danas is pretty reliable source, and it says that "Megatrend became Megatrend again" in 2017. And, yes, Jovanović became the rector once again few days ago (see [8]). Vanjagenije (talk) 17:06, 1 June 2019 (UTC)

@Vanjagenije: that makes sense. I wonder what the story is behind his becoming rector again. I really would like your input at WP:BLPN#Possible defamation of academics and the next section. I doubt anyone else is going to wade through that and be able to understand it. Doug Weller talk 17:43, 1 June 2019 (UTC)