MDS CareerEducation

Welcome!

Hello, MDS CareerEducation, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few links to pages you might find helpful:

• Introduction and Getting started
• Contributing to Wikipedia
• The five pillars of Wikipedia
• How to edit a page and How to develop articles
• How to create your first article
• Simplified Manual of Style

Please remember to sign your messages on talk pages by typing four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically insert your username and the date. If you need help, check out Wikipedia:Questions, ask me on my talk page, or click here to ask for help here on your talk page and a volunteer will visit you here shortly. Again, welcome! BracketBot (talk) 15:40, 23 October 2014 (UTC)

October 2014

Hello, I'm BracketBot. I have automatically detected that your edit to Brooks Institute may have broken the syntax by modifying 1 "[]"s. If you have, don't worry: just edit the page again to fix it. If I misunderstood what happened, or if you have any questions, you can leave a message on my operator's talk page.

List of unpaired brackets remaining on the page:

• education institution centered on the visual arts based in [[Santa Barbara, California]] and [[Ventura, California]. Formally known as '''Brooks Institute of Photography''', Brooks Institute
• *Marty Thomas, Feature film director (director of LIONSGATE thriller "Killer Holiday", for wide release early 2013, music video director

It's OK to remove this message. Also, to stop receiving these messages, follow these opt-out instructions. Thanks, BracketBot (talk) 15:40, 23 October 2014 (UTC)

January 2015

Welcome to Wikipedia. I noticed that your username, "MDS CareerEducation", may not comply with our username policy. Please note that you may not use a username that represents the name of a company, group, organization, product, or website. Examples of usernames that are not allowed include "XYZ Company", "MyWidgetsUSA.com", and "Trammel Museum of Art". However, you are invited to use a username that contains such a name if it identifies you personally, such as "Mark at WidgetsUSA", "Jack Smith at the XY Foundation", and "WidgetFan87".

Please also note that Wikipedia does not allow accounts to be shared by multiple people, and that you may not advocate for or promote any company, group, organization, product, or website, regardless of your username. Moreover, I recommend that you read our conflict of interest guideline. If you are a single individual and are willing to contribute to Wikipedia in an unbiased manner, please create a new account or request a username change that complies with our username policy. If you believe that your username does not violate our policy, please leave a note here explaining why. Thank you. ElKevbo (talk) 16:10, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

Thanks, ElKevbo. I'm Mark Spencer, Director of Corporate Communications for Career Education. My username attempts to be transparent about edits coming from the organization. Given that, do you recommend that I change by username to something else, or is it appropriate? — Preceding unsigned comment added by MDS CareerEducation (talk • contribs) 11:20, January 23, 2015‎

No, on second thought I think you're right that it's better to be transparent with your username. However, I strongly caution you against making significant edits to articles associated with your employer. Our conflict of interest policy has some good recommendations and information that should be helpful. ElKevbo (talk) 17:45, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

ElKevbo, would you be able to provide guidance then on my options for dealing with the person who repeatedly is making edits to our page with the goal of defaming the organization. I've made edits when he has repeatedly placed things inappropriately with the summary/opening paragraph at the top, when he's expressed opinion through his posts and when his facts are just simply wrong. Those were the sorts of edits I made today. All I'm asking for his fairness here, but the page is under attack by this person with an agenda. Does the COI policy apply to him as an issue advocate, as well? MDS CareerEducation — Preceding unsigned comment added by MDS CareerEducation (talk • contribs) 15:05:10

The first step would be to try to address the issue with the person in question. You can try that either on their User Talk page or you can open a discussion in the article's Talk page (but drop him or a note so he or she knows about the new discussion). Posting on the article's Talk page would have the advantage of also alerting any other editors who are watching the article. If that doesn't work then you'll need to get other editors involved somehow because we generally operate on a consensus model. If the issue doesn't require immediate attention then you could drop a line here where some editors who have a specific interest in college and university articles will read it.

With respect to conflicts of interest, we usually draw the line at employment or paid advocacy. It's not always a clear line but that seems to be the primary question in which many editors are most interested. However, we also have a core policy that requires articles to be written in a neutral manner and that may be more salient in the case of a volunteer or amateur who is practicing advocacy in ways that violate our policies and community norms. Editors who have a particular interest in helping others determine if that policy is being upheld hang out here.

Start by talking and raise your concerns in the article's Talk page. Most editors are reasonable and willing to listen and help if you let them know that there may be a problem. ElKevbo (talk) 21:53, 23 January 2015 (UTC)