Sugar Loaf, NY 10981

    Sugar Loaf University : Accreditation

Accreditation

Currently Sugar Loaf University is not accredited through any recognized authority but is working quickly to acquire appropriate accreditation. (see: Accreditation Process)

College credit may still be obtained for study in Sugar Loaf University classes by means of a wealth of outreach programs provided by colleges and universities throughout the United States and abroad.

In fact outreach programs of this type are a mainstay of educational institutions of higher learning, so Sugar Loaf teachers need not be affiliated directly with Sugar Loaf University in order to benefit from such programs.

They need only be open to the idea and responsive to the requirements.

Available Grants

The Lenny Silver $1,000.00 study grant is available for use in any of the approved for-credit Sugar Loaf classes.

Application for the grant may be made in person at the Endico Watercolor Studio.

Requirements for undergraduate College Credit classes

1) Enrollment in an accredited college or university such as SUNY Orange.

2) Approval and reference by a faculty member of that institution.

3) Earn 1 hour toward your degree doing something you love guided by the best in the field.

 

Accreditation Process

The Ph.D. Program in Studio Arts is up and running, while the movement toward accreditation for both the program and university is logged below.

10/22/16

While continuing to provide college credit courses through association with accredited outreach programs of other institutions, Sugar Loaf University is stepping toward acquiring its own independent accreditation.

Following is a dated log of the activities completed toward that end.

Currently the list of U.S. Department of Education accreditation authorities is being reviewed to select the appropriate authority from which to acquire proper accreditation in order to directly provide students college credit for class work conducted within Sugar Loaf University.

10/24/16

The Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools has been selected after review of numerous online resources.

ACICS was chosen for the following reasons.

1) ACICS  states it is one of two national accreditors recognized by both the U.S. Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.

2) The ACICS website is straight forward, self explanatory, and easily navigated providing essential information and clear explanations of their mission and process.

3) Taken from their July 1, 2016 Accreditation Criteria pdf, the portion of the ACICS mission statement copied below is a compelling match to the goals of Sugar Loaf University.

Sec 2:3 (p 13/180)

The mission of the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools is to advance educational excellence at independent, nonpublic career schools, colleges, and organizations in the United States and abroad. This is achieved through a deliberate and thorough accreditation process of quality assurance and enhancement as well as ethical business and educational practices.

10/24/16 (b)

The licensing application process to establish Sugar Loaf University as a degree-granting institution in New York State has been initiated with the New York State Department of Education. (nysed.gov)

10/25/16

The New York State Department of Education has responded (in a very timely fashion) to the Sugar Loaf University application request and advised that their procedures are currently under revision, so there will be a slight delay in completing the licensing paperwork.

Stay tuned!

10/27/16

Mary,

Now that the licensing and accreditation process has begun with a permanent record of our use of the name Sugar Loaf University on file with the New York State Department of Education, we can set policies that will enhance our application.

If you ever talk to anybody interested (not cornered but actually interested in studying) in the Ph.D. Program, make it absolutely positively clear that nobody else in Sugar Loaf is EVER allowed to charge them for classes supposedly working toward the Ph.D. (or any college credit associated with Sugar Loaf University) without prior approval from me and written documentation of the approval.

My experience has been that numerous people will try to fraudulently grab the magic once they feel its power.

Otherwise, my presence will never be required (no journalistic interviews) because I will be too busy with Ph.D. Program details.

That is your explanation (the truth) for my absence into the far foreseeable future.

I am not in hiding: I am busy.

Refer people to the website and quiz them thoroughly before even thinking of passing them on to me, and do not even mention to me your encounter with them until your rigorous screening is complete.

Of course keep attending to your collectors as usual.

REMEMBER: Nobody is allowed to represent themselves as working with SLU and charge students based on the website.

If I am not around, make sure you communicate directly with all three involved parties:

1) the credit providing college instructor
2) the student
3) the class provider in Sugar Loaf.

And be sure to follow up on the results also by direct communication with all involved.

Carefully and thoroughly document and date everything.

My work here is done.

Bob Fugett

10/27/16

Mary,

The application for licensing Sugar Loaf University with the New York State Department of Education represents a very secure permanent record for our use of the name and blocks misrepresentation and misuse of it.

The security measures I found embedded in the ugly headers of email coming back from the State and SUNY at New Paltz was breathtaking and comforting.

Quick final note regarding security and the outage of your landline (credit card swiper) over the last three days.

Per your necessity to get a backup credit card swiper due to the fact your outgoing Frontier landline phone went down for three days, be careful.

The idea that even the oldest of phones (iPod Touch even) are not capable of the absolutely most secure security which exists, now or in the most distant future, is total BULLSHIT ... chip or not.

Credit Card Processing Providers are just holding the issue over your head to get you to buy a new Operating System in order to make it easier to track your purchasing and sales history.

Wal-Mart wants to make sure your customers all get an endless feed of frame corner upgrade ads after they buy a watercolor.

Don't forget, tens of thousands of files on your network drive (old operating system) got hacked and locked in a matter of minutes with security that the U.S. government (actually all the world's governments) couldn't break.

Good thing I was watching, caught it, and maintain an insane level of layered backups.

Unbreakable security does not require exotic equipment and software to implement.

The size requirements for the most strongly secured code in terms of hardware and software resources is (in relative terms) far, far less than an abnormal skin cell on a sperm whale's butt (actually the entire ocean) of possibility!

The most robust security in the known universe is accomplished with a text snippet about the size of a single Tweet.

A single smiley face Emoji is massively more code.

In any case, the idea that Global Services is any less (or more) secure than any other credit card service, or that all your "data" is not already going through the very same greatly restricted bottleneck of pathways (the Internet), is just plain wrong.

As Stephen Colbert said, the greatest risk to cyber security in the United States is the fact that there is one person in every office who will click on anything!

Be careful.

Excuse me while I go work on this.
 

11/01/16

Contract negotiations are underway for design, manufacture, and erection of the first Sugar Loaf University campus signage.

The sign reads:

Sugar Loaf University
campus center

The sign will be placed on the corner of the Endico watercolor studio deck and is tentatively scheduled to be carved by Clay Boone.

We will pay for it immediately and in full.

11/01/16 (b)

Negotiations have been completed for the first Sugar Loaf University signage — strongly in favor of SLU and the PhD Program in Studio Arts.

In summary, Clay Boone tried to donate the work and materials, but I explained that our new situation moving toward licensing and accreditation disallows the vague bookkeeping that would result. Clay relented and will accept in payment  my review and publishing of his written overview of the design and manufacturing problems posed by the sign as commissioned.

Stated once again: in exchange for the work and materials completed by Clay for the sign, he is to submit a written analysis regarding the design and implementation problems, along with solutions, and that paper will be reviewed, edited, and published on the Guild website by the Ph.D. Program in exchange.

That is to say, by using the appropriate amount of whining, I talked Clay into doing twice the work for zero the payment (in dollars); plus I made him provide a signed document legitimizing the Ph.D. Program and University:

Click to read

11/01/16 (c)

Current Google returns for the Sugar Loaf University, Ph.D. Program in Studio Arts reveals that Harvard has to pay for ad space in order to best us in search engine ranking:

Click to view
top of page 1 returns

Soon after the above returns, a subsequent search found the Ph.D. Program in Studio Arts had moved up to second place in the rankings with the Sugar Loaf University being the only return which is not a paid-for ad.

Such returns imply there are a large number of people looking for a Ph.D. Program in the Arts, but numerous institutions only pay to get their name at the top of such searches in the hopes of luring students off course and into their own different type of program:

Click to view
all returns
(only 1 page of 5 is not a paid-for ad)

These Google search engine results are still dynamic and changing moment by moment, but the speed with which I got the Ph.D. Program in Studio Arts to the top of the list (less than two weeks) portends a very bright future for the program indeed.

Time to take a break and do the final paperwork ... : )

And of course there is always this.

11/02/16

My final word on this subtle kick to Harvard's pants.

Harvard has ready access to lots of smart people, so one would think that if it were possible, they would find a way to appear above Sugar Loaf University in Google returns ... always ... if it were possible.

It is not possible.

Click to view
all returns
(again only 1 page of 5 is not a paid-for ad)

Bob Fugett is unbeatable.

11/09/16

Double checking use of "university" in the name Sugar Loaf University.

Good to go!

Restrictions on the name go toward making sure a business name does not misrepresent the actual service, nor pretend to give credential in select professions requiring state level licensing.

start src
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Unaccredited_institutions_of_higher_education


United States of America
Unlike in some countries, the term "college" or "university" is not legally protected in the United States on a national level; however, such terms are restricted by some states.[18][19]


per ref 18 re: New York State Department of Education

5. Education Law §224(1)(a) provides that “No individual, association, partnership or corporation not holding university, college or other degree conferring powers by special charter from the legislature of this state or from the regents, shall confer any degree or use, advertise or transact business under the name university or college, or any name, title or descriptive material indicating or tending to imply that said individual, association, partnership or corporation conducts, carries on, or is a school of law, medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, nursing, optometry, podiatry, architecture or engineering, unless the right to do so shall have been granted by the regents in writing under their seal.”

src
http://www.dos.ny.gov/corps/
restricted_words.html#N_5_



per ref 19 re: Limited Liability Corporation (L.L.C.) naming

(i) shall not contain the following terms:  “school,” “education,” “elementary,” “secondary,” “kindergarten,” “prekindergarten,” “preschool,” “nursery school,” “museum,” “history,” “historical,” “historical society,” “arboretum,” “library,” “college,” “university” or other term restricted by section two hundred twenty-four of the education law;  “conservatory,” “academy,” or “institute” or any abbreviation or derivative of such terms, shall have endorsed thereon or annexed thereto the consent of the commissioner of education. - See more at: http://codes.findlaw.com/ny/limited-liability-company-law/llc-sect-204.html#sthash.1jjdssLf.dpuf


src
http://codes.findlaw.com/ny/
limited-liability-company-law/llc-sect-204.html

 

11/10/16

The Sugar Loaf University "campus center" sign is almost complete, so the proposal for the second sign has been passed on to Clay Boone.

It is to be a one sided sculptural relief sign including a vignette of Greek philosophers (highlighting Sugar Loaf University's roots and mission) with a colloquial French title text meaning Department of Arts/Humanities:

La fac de Lettres

Size and placement to be worked out in conjunction with Clay at a later date.

src
http://french.about.com/od/vocabulary/g/fac.htm

 

11/11/16

Bob Sees the Light
photo by: Mary Endico Fugett - Nov. 8, 2016

Mary,

I decided how to describe what upset me so much about the conceptual art at the gothic cathedral.

Akin to urban decay tourism, it was an eviscerated disembodiment of tragedy held antiseptically safe in a static placeless amber.

Disgusting voyeuristic carnage porn.

In any case, here is what the local art groups seem to be hoping for Sugar Loaf:

Click for source

https://www.theguardian.com/housing-network/2016/feb/15/
ruin-porn-detroit-photography-city-homes

As a counter measure I would like to get a picture of you and Clay raising the Sugar Loaf University campus center sign like this:

Click for source

11/15/16

The campus center sign is up!

 

Sugar Loaf University first campus center sign raising - Nov. 15, 2016

Sugar Loaf University first campus center sign
on south deck of Endico Watercolor Studio - Nov. 15, 2016

Discussions were held regarding the next sign which is to be a Clay Boone extravaganza — a frieze above a new informational kiosk.

Bob gave Clay the basic idea: all the ancient Greek philosophers on the left motioning toward and discussing all the world religions on the right.

A nod to Sugar Loaf University and the Trivium (grammar, logic, rhetoric) is to go in between.

That is all the prompting Clay will need, and Bob left him in the campus center on the Endico Watercolor Studio deck pondering the project.

Bob says, "One need only choose the very best artists, give them free reign, and never micromanage."

Bob is as expectant and excited as you are to see the results.

 

11/25/16

Investigation into procuring a .edu domain is completed and the requirements are being implemented.

The Google returns for the Ph.D. Program in Studio Arts are beginning to stabilize with rankings steadily moving higher.

Also the returns are now picking up my most recently edited text.

I simplified page titles so that returns show only Sugar Loaf University : Ph.D. Program in Studio Arts instead of adding a distracting mention of Sugar Loaf Guild.

Mary showed the new Sugar Loaf University campus center sign to Barry Plaxon and Bob from the Delaware and Hudson Canvas Magazine and Barry smiled broadly!

The "or equivalent" statement has been removed from the Prerequisites requirement of an MFA in Fine Arts.

Tougher is better than easier in order to assure high quality applicants.

 

11/30/16

Morning logs show a NYSED (New York State Education, Albany) IP number has read all about the Ph.D. Program in Studio Arts.

Wish they talked to me directly, but they read for 13 min 40 secs — enough to get the basics: HOORAY!

This is the first indication somebody has closely looked at what I am doing who has the required background, skills, and knowledge to ratify my efforts.

Double HOORAY!!

For those in the know who are following all of this, Mary posted an update as Peg Conner on Facebook :

Thanks to whomever made sure the New York State Department of Education saw the Ph.D. Program in Studio Arts page!

B's morning logs show a NYSED (Albany) IP read all about SLU and the Ph.D. Program.

He is very excited and added a note to the Accreditation page in part saying: "This is the first indication somebody has closely looked at what I am doing who has the required background, skills, and knowledge to ratify my efforts. Double HOORAY!!"

Of course, it may have been merely the result of B's own application for licensing, but thanks to whomever helped ... just in case.

We are using the image immediately above, of the campus center sign, as a tag for Mary's readers to find updates about the Ph.D. Program in Studio Arts.

 

12/01/16

Morning logs show another NYSED (New York State Education, Albany) IP number on the Guild site and SLU PhD pages with rational reading.

Triple HOORAY!!!

12/06/16

While reviewing image Google returns for the Ph.D. Program in Studio arts, found the organizational chart below, recognized its simple elegance in describing generally accepted categories of art study programs, sent email to SCSU to see if an opportunity for Mary to take a Masters level class distance learning or online exists:

click for organizational chart

12/08/16

New York State Department of Education raises some concerns, and Bob addresses them in the following email:

Hi **** : )

Thank you, ****, (et al) for taking a serious look at the Sugar Loaf University website.

I personally and solely take full responsibility for everything published on the site, and I am pleased to discuss the particulars.

Your email confirms what I observed in my website usage logs.

Soon after my first inquiry October 25, 2016 into establishing a degree-granting institution in New York State, I saw a few readers with NYSED IP numbers arriving on the site.

I never previously observed NYSED IP numbers on any of my websites, so I rightly drew the conclusion that somebody with the correct credentials and knowledge was reviewing the situation.

In response to your request for clarification, let me address your second to the final paragraph first.

I am certain that I have not misunderstood New York State laws, and I am well within my rights, so at this point I will not be changing the website substantially but will otherwise continue working toward a closer compliance with your own view of the laws.

In furtherance of that end I will add this email to the bottom of the accreditation page for the record.

That page is a log of my activities toward acquiring licensing, and the top of that page has always included the statement: "Currently Sugar Loaf University is not accredited through any recognized authority but is working quickly to acquire appropriate accreditation."

A typical reader will understand accreditation can never happen until licensing is final.

One may rationally argue over the definition of the term "quickly" though my own belief is that the application process we are obviously following might actually seem quite long to a casual observer.

In response to your paragraphs numbered 1 and 2:

1) As we might rationally argue over the definition of the term "quickly" we can also discuss the term "formal", and I would contend the mere fact that someone with authority and skill has read, responded, and (more importantly) established a permanent record of the review of Sugar Loaf University as it exists today, does in itself significantly establish an application.

2) As for New York State Education Law 224, I believe that I am in full compliance with the letter and spirit of that law; I have never taken funds based on Sugar Loaf University being authorized by the State of New York, nor will I ever accept funds based on its licensing and accreditation until that fact is permanently ensconced into the appropriate documentation, whatever that happens to become as the State finishes revamping its application process.

All appropriate fees will of course be paid in full.

In summary, I thank you again for giving this matter the seriousness it deserves, for responding appropriately, and for helping me ward off those who would seek to steal the Sugar Loaf University name, pretend to be me, and take advantage of the public.

I cannot overstate how comfortable I am in knowing that you are staying on top of this.

Do not let up.

Best,
Bob


-----Original Message-----
From: nysed.gov
To: Bob
Cc: 2 other people
Sent: Thu, Dec 8, 2016 2:19 pm
Subject: RE: Seeking to establish a degree-granting institution

Dear Mr. Fugett,

Your recent inquiry into establishing a degree-granting institution in New York State has brought the following web-site to our attention: http://www.sugarloafguild.org/SLU/index.aspx?frm=emiB_back_frm_NYSED_copy. A review of this site has revealed a few issues that are essential to clarify, so that your current activities can better conform to the applicable laws in New York State about advertising and/or operating as a degree-granting institution.

1. You have indicated on your web-site that your organization has begun the formal process of being "licensed" in New York State and that you have established a permanent record of your use of the name Sugar Loaf University. NYSED’s response of October 25, 2016, to your email inquiry of October 24, 2016, does not constitute beginning an application process for degree authority and does not authorize you to advertise or transact business as Sugarloaf University in New York State.

2. On your web-site, you have cited New York State Education Law 224, however your web-presence indicates a misunderstanding of its implications and effect. It is important to note that your organization has not been authorized by the New York State Board of Regents to advertise or transact business as a college or university in New York State, nor has it begun the process. As a result, your web-presence, which advertises Sugarloaf University and which offers a Ph.D. program is in violation of that law.

We presume this was a misunderstanding on your part and respectfully request that you cease and desist advertising as Sugarloaf University, offering a Ph.D. program, and/or any other instruction for which you purport to award college credit.

As NYSED has stated in its October 25, 2016, response to your initial email inquiry, the Department will include your email in any mass communications that are sent out when NYSED begins accepting applications for new degree authority.

Best,
****

****, Supervisor, Higher Education Programs
Office of College and University Evaluation
New York State Education Department
89 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12234
(***) ***-****

12/10/16

Police protection near Sugar Loaf University campus center

Morning logs show another NYSED IP plus one other that seems associated due to the browsing pattern.

Mary asked why I was so excited about getting a letter from the State which many might see as an intrusion.

I said, "You don't get it. That letter was absolutely perfectly correct. It shows they carefully read what I have written. The concerns raised were exactly the ones that should have been raised. Given the current rush to online education and the manner in which it has been abused, it is heartening to see somebody is watching. Also it shows my website is presented strongly enough to scare the bejesus out of the Government.

"In any case, around the world there are thousands of people who thought they were studying for an actual degree but found it worthless after completion. Some of those people's studies were done with so-called schools which disappeared just before they finished ... thousands of dollars and productive hours lost like a Madoff investment. Some of those schools had been around for years and were widely publicized.

"I had promised myself that I was done writing on the Guild website, but when I saw the effort the Supervisor of Higher Education Programs at the State level put into his questions about Sugar Loaf University, I was happy to respond in kind, making the same effort. It was only fair, especially since my inquiry and presentation had jumped me to the head of the line of applicants.

"Who knew the New York State Department of Education would even care about my de minimis nonsense which most people take as a joke?

"Posting that letter from the State was like welcoming the cop who routinely sits in the front parking lot of the Endico studio picking off speeders. They are not here specifically to watch out for us, but the umbrella of their presence protects us.

"The fellow from NYSED who wrote the letter immediately above probably has no idea how solidly and deeply it is appreciated, nor how significantly it is providing us protection from local trolls and false news stories."
 

police protection near Sugar Loaf University campus center

12/12/16

Morning logs show that all NYSED IP numbers are now gone, but then not everybody is 24/7/365 like me, so it could be just the weekend.

In any case, it appears my response to the query from New York State Education Department provided enough for them, and the case is closed.

It occurs to me that part of their concern may have been that once an application is received a time constraint is triggered which would force them to make a determination in a given amount of time, so they had to have something in writing confirming I was not expecting a time is of the essence situation.

When I was a member of the Town of Chester Planning Board (8 years), I recall that once triggered the SEQRA process had to be completed within 45 days, which could mean some very complicated matters relevant to health, safety, and welfare issues associated with any given project might be overlooked due to the rush to completion of  approval/denial in the legal timeframe.

Therefore we had a pre-application process which allowed applicants to submit questions in a formalized manner, and that allowed the Planning Board to make sure projects were up to snuff before triggering the time constraint.

Worked good for us and for the applicants despite some projects taking years to reach approval.

All projects were therefore absolutely correct when they were approved ... no questions asked.

Maybe the NYSED will implement a similar process as they restructure their application process.

I will mention it to them if they ever swing back around.

Aside from the timeframe issue, they also might have been nervous because Ph.D. level and University programs are really geared to what I call the brain surgery baseline which I always use for assessing every action I take.

Upper level educational programs are really meant to give certification allowing somebody to crack open other people's skulls and noodle around in their brain, in other words a James Bond 007 license to kill.

During one of the times I was acting chairperson for the Town of Chester Planning Board, one of my neighbors approached me with a project they were working on, and I agreed everything they were doing was absolutely correct, but when they said, "All I need is your signature ... right here," I snapped to attention saying, "No way. My signature only goes on something that has gone through process before the full Planning Board. I agree full heartedly with what you are doing, but I hope you didn't think I get to ok things on my own."

And that was just for a deck on their house, so think how careful people overseeing programs to allow brain surgery must feel about maintaining the sanctity of process.

It is not surprising the State would need the clarification that I was happy to provide.

Otherwise, it looks like my work here is done, and I can move on to other matters.

No need to send an email and start up a different thread with NYSED at this point; I am sure we both have better things to do, and they have certainly already considered implementing a pre-application process on their own ... despite the fact I am likely the only person in 40 years to have actually pursued an application for establishing a degree-granting institution.

Who else would have ever thought of starting a whole new university, especially if they truly considered the implications?

 

12/16/16 EXPLICIT

I do not like doing this, but I have to rush this summary overview before my one and only remaining reader decides nothing more is being written here, stops coming, and misses the grand finale.

My plan was to do this wrap-up in another few weeks, assuming no more NYSED IP# arrivals were observed, but another round of oversight inspections is unlikely, and I am seeing that only one person has continued reading this page.

If you have been here a couple of times and are wondering if it is you that I am talking about, rest assured you are the one because I have an explicit proprietary means of tracking activity on my websites, and you are the only one who has been here (aside from the few NYSED IP#'s here in the last few weeks).

Quite frankly, I was astonished the Department of Education bothered to take a look and comment though I had this page ready for them just in case.

Your ROAD-RUNNER-1 static IP#, dear reader, has been logged and tracked.

In fact you are the only person ever to have seen the Sound of One Hand Writing.

Numerous times in the past I have established other forums and web pages that have been strongly read, so I understand website shelf lives are never infinite.

Real readers are hard to come by, and harder to track, so I am rushing this overview summary while one person is still likely to read it.

In any case, it is unlikely the New York State Department of Education will ever be back here (until I contact them again) because they just needed to confirm the veracity and correctness of my actions, make a log of it, and move on to true problems.

I told them what they needed to know, so now this page is done and unlikely to be read again while I turn all my attention toward putting together the final documentation the State will need in order to license Sugar Loaf University and set us on the path toward acquiring accreditation.

Thanks again for reading despite my having no idea who you are, why you were reading, nor what your true interest was ... not that we need to engage in a conversation about it.

I am just happy knowing a few people (some with significant credentials in the matter) gave Sugar Loaf University and the Ph.D. Program in Studio Arts the serious attention it deserves.

Thanks again for reading.

Bob Fugett

 

01/01/17

In January of 2017 the Sugar Loaf University, Ph.D. Program in Studio Arts
was immortalized in an article by The Delaware and Hudson Canvas (p. 10)

 

01/15/17

Morning logs showed another reader with local interest viewing this page; and, given their navigation browsing footprint on the other pages that brought them here, I am fairly certain I know who it is ... which reminded me to do a quick review.

The New York State Department of Education has completed their own review of the site and confirmed my application for licensing is correct at this point, so I can let this page stand on its own while I work on finalizing the significant documentation they need.

I ramped up automation on my proprietary tracking systems and streamlined all my websites in order to allow more time to work on the licensing and accreditation of Sugar Loaf University with the Ph.D. Program in Studio Arts.

Mary reports our last $800.00 donated to community projects has been much appreciated (even by the Chamber of Commerce); plus the start of 2017 already shows strong painting sales.

Things are pretty sweet!

Probably I will not need to add to this page again for some time, nor to the Forum.