Does Helena Guergis really have an MBA from University of Alberta?

[daleo]

This point seems to be in dispute. Her office claims she got the (executive) MBA in 2009. It's a simple matter to produce your parchment if in doubt. She ought to go ahead and do this.

Failing that, some humble researcher could check the U of A webcasts of the 2008 and 2009 convocation ceremonies. They are on-line. She ought to show up there, or at least her name ought to be called. Investigative journalists, have at it.

[tuvor]

1. Apparently, yes.

I googled Helena Guergis "university of alberta" and found a link to this (immediately underneath a link to this very thread):

A quick call to the University of Alberta confirms that Ms. Guergis is indeed the proud possessor of an MBA degree from that august institution - Class of 2009.

http://blog.canoe.ca/thehill/2010/03/16/helena_guergis_mba

[daleo]

2. That's just hearsay

A quick call to whom? A reporter gives a nameless source? Come on - that's not evidence. Journalism 101. Sources have names.

This isn't espionage, just simple fact checking of public sources.

[tuvor]

3. Sorry, just trying to help.

I thought Sun Media would be a credible enough source, named source or not.

[daleo]

4. I suppose I have gotten pretty cynical about the media. n/t

[tuvor]

5. Well, you have a point.

The report would have better served its readers if a source had been named.

[iverglas]

6. forgive me for dredging this up

... but I hadn't heard anything about this before (it's fed govt year-end and I'm worked off my feet) and I'm finding it curious.

An "executive MBA" is NOT an MBA. It is a piece of paper that some people pay lots of money for, that they get after attending some weekend seminars and getting a lot of credit for work experience. Forgive my cynicism. It's a money-making degree mill for universities.


This writer seems to have got it wrong:

http://bcinto.blogspot.com/2010/03/helana-guergis-earns-mba-while-serving.html

The question has been raised of whether Guergis has an undergraduate degree, and he reasons backwards, saying that if she has an MBA then she must have an undergrad degree:

And indeed, a check of the admissions page for the University of Alberta's MBA program indicates a four-year undergrad degree is a pre-requisite ...

Problem is, he links to the UAlberta page for the MBA program
http://www.business.ualberta.ca/Programs/TheAlbertaMBA/Admissions/EntranceRequirements.aspx
But this is the link for the Executive MBA program:
http://www.business.ualberta.ca/Programs/ExecutiveMBA.aspx

How in hell would someone have completed degree work for a real master's program in Alberta while sitting in Parliament and Cabinet in Ottawa? Give me a break.

There is no record of any thesis produced by Guergis at UAlberta, according to another report. Well, the EMBA degree doesn't require one.

There doesn't seem to be any indication that Guergis has an udnergraduate degree. Well, the EMBA degree doesn't require one:

http://www.business.ualberta.ca/Programs/ExecutiveMBA/AdmissionFees/EntranceRequirements.aspx#Undergraduate%20Degree

Undergraduate Degree

Applicants should hold a four-year undergraduate degree from a recognized institution with a minimum GPA of 3.0/4.0. Students from all disciplines are accepted as diversity is valued. Unfortunately, applied undergraduate degrees do not meet graduate admission requirements.

Candidates who do not hold an undergraduate degree but have considerable professional experience may also be admissible. Individuals who feel that this situation applies to them are encouraged to contact the admissions office to discuss their status.

I would bet a lot of money that Guergis does not have an MBA degree. She very possibly has an EMBA.

And if that is the case, I think this is a pretty egregious bit of lying.

Anybody know anything more recent?

[daleo]

7. I agree about MBA vs EMBA

And I haven't heard anything more on the subject. If she had an actual MBA, I think both she and the university would make that clear. There is a lot of tuition money tied up in EMBA programs around the country. I can't imagine many people being flunked out after forking over the money that EMBA programs can cost.

[IntravenousDemilo]

8. If so, it's more proof that an MBA has about as much value as the toilet paper it's printed on.

Absolutely worthless degree.

[CHIMO]

9. Is It

A university in Alberta or the U of A?
I know your intro has it as U of A but you don't have a reference to her office statement.

[daleo]

10. It's the U of A

The big one in Edmonton.

http://blog.canoe.ca/thehill/2010/03/16/helena_guergis_mba

http://www.helenaguergis.ca/EN/helena's_bio/

[CHIMO]

11. Well It's

On her web site. So it seems she has an MBA.

Looking at the time required for the course I don't know how she did it?

Even the executive course is essentially 1 day a week for twenty months.

I initially thought that there may have been some funny play with words about U of A and A U. Wonder who paid for her airplane flights.

Funny though. Ventriloquists and super woman. Just wondering...

[kato6503]

12. Guergis Executive MBA 2009

There appears to be some question whether Helena Guergis really has an MBA. It has been reported that her MBA is really an Executive MBA and it is from the University of Alberta's class of 2009. As well, it has been reported by Sun Media that a call was made to the U of A and they confirmed that she received an MBA.

If Guergis did convocate in 2009, she would have completed her studies in May 2009, with the International trip. She would have started her studies in the fall of 2007. I am sure that it can be researched whether she was in Edmonton during the class time....or if she was elsewhere on Government busienss. The last I heard, you actually have to show up for class to earn credits.

Having said that, if she did convocate in 2009, I imagine that her photo might appear in the convocation photos posted by the U of A. Here is the web-page with the graduating class photos: http://apps.business.ualberta.ca/photogallery/currentstudents/embaconvocation2009/

You will note that this indicates that this is the "first" Edmonton cohort. I believe this means there are no previous graduating classes. I might be blind but I cannot see Guergis in the photos. In addition, the University kindly put the names of the graduates in the photos. If an intrepid reporter wants to check....perhaps a phone call to these classmates can confirm/deny whether Guergis was in their class.

Given her lack of ethics and judgement regarding her husband's use of Government resources, I think a bit of investigation into this degree would shed light on her character.

Calling all reporters....make these calls to the EMBA 2009 students.

[daleo]

13. Convocation webcasts are also on the U of A website

I didn't have the time to check them, but she ought to show up for her degree in one of them.

My hunch is that she hasn't actually convocated, but has met degree requirements, whaterver those may be for an Executive MBA.

[daleo]

14. I think that's Jaffer in the top right hand corner of the first cohort

I don't see Helena.