Vice Chancellor of the University of Professional Studies, Prof. Joshua Alabi has challenged assertions by some Ghanaian professors from the Valdosta State University, that his wife Dr. Goski Alabi and some lecturers at the UPSA have acquired doctorate degrees from an unaccredited University.

Valdosta University academics, Dr. Prosper Yao Tsikata and Dr. A. Kobla Dotse, listed the Swiss Management Center, where Dr. Goski Alabi and some lecturers from the UPSA got their doctorate degrees, in a list of allegedly unaccredited institutions from which some prominent Ghanaians have acquired degrees.

According to the report, which is based on the research work titled “The Accreditation Challenges in Transnational Educational Ecology: The Ghanaian Experience An Investigative Report”, the Swiss Management Centre is said to be  Unaccredited by the Swiss Accreditation Council (SAC), Accreditation Council for Business, Schools and Programs (ACBSP), not an accredited agency of OPE and  ACBSP accredited programs.

In a response to Pulse.com.gh, however, Prof. Joshua Alabi said the National Accreditations Board assured him of the accreditation status of the Swiss Management Center in 2008, backing his claim with a letter from the Board in 2008, signed by Assistant Secretary, Collette Hukpatti for the executive secretary of the NAB.

In the letter, the Accreditation Board said, “ Swiss Management Centre is a private University which runs the following BBA, MBA, Executive MBA, and DBA programmes which can be followed full-time in Switzerland, or part-time via distance learning.”

The letter continued to say, “Our investigations confirmed that SMC is a credible institution in Switzerland and we advice that you contact one of the institutions they are accredited with for verifications of their status”, the letter ended.

Prof. Alabi also attached a letter from the Swiss Embassy on the accreditation status of the Swiss Management Centre that read:

Dear Sir,

We have received your letter dated 18 April, 2008, enquiring about the credibility of the Swiss Management Centre in Switzerland.

The Swiss Management Centre is a private university which runs BBA, MBA, Executive MBA, and DBA programs which can be followed either full-time in Switzerland or part-time through distance learning.

SMC is accredited by 4 institutions, the European Council of Business Education, the Central and Eastern European Council of Business Education, the East European Management Association, the Swiss Multimedia Association and the Swiss Federation of Adult Education.

In the same letter, the Swiss Embassy said though they are of the opinion that SMC is a credible institution,  the embassy in Accra is unable to “recommend the authenticity of private institutions and advise that you(UPSA) contact one of the institutions they are accredited by for verification of their status.”

It is therefore unclear whether the accreditation status of the Swiss Management Centre has been renewed, since these verification processes were done in 2008.

Pulse.com.gh has sent a request to the  National Accreditations Board to confirm whether they indeed  gave the assurance that SMC is accredited, and what the current accreditation status of the school is.

Meanwhile, another member of academia mentioned in association with the Swiss Management Centre, Dr. John Gatsi of the University of Cape Coast, has also refuted the assertions by Dr. Yao Tsikata and his colleague Dr. A. Kobla Dotse  that he acquired his degree from the allegedly unaccredited Swiss Management Centre.

According to him, the Swiss Management Centre from which he acquired a doctorate is duly accredited by the universal Accreditation Body for Business Schools and Programs- ACBSP Accreditation.

Dr. John Gatsi said the company is duly registered with the board.

"The report is not true,” he said, adding, “SMC University has ACBSP Accreditation. ACBSP is a globally recognized Accreditation for Business Schools and Programs."SMC University is also registered with National Accreditation Board (NAB), Ghana as a foreign University since 2012. NAB has renewed SMC University's institutional Registration for another 3 years; August 2015 - July 2018”, Dr. Gatsi concluded in a correspondence with Accra-based Starr FM.