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[empyrean_aisles]

Here's the latest egregious cheeky misuse of the hallowed Oxbridge name:

In their "Higher, Research" section, Guardian Jobs had the following advertisement:

Lecturer Position (London)

Lecturer / PhD Holder needed to oversee academic written work marking & appraisal and quality control department ...

THE OXBRIDGE RESEARCH GROUP | £25,000 - £30,000 + Bonus

The Oxbridge Research Group, you say? That sounds strangely redolent of a certain Round Table corporation. So I clicked through to www.torg.co.uk to see what institution might be simultaneously employing lecturers and using a .co.uk address.

Their front page sounds almost legit:

The Oxbridge Research Group (TORG) is the UK's leading academic research company, contracting more than 2000 academics from Oxford University and Cambridge University.

Through our team of expert scholars, we provide a range of academic, commercial and career services for international and UK students, institutions and businesses.

This sounds all very above board. Hm, but what could these academic services possibly be?

Oxbridge Essays is the UK's largest and most trusted provider of Upper 1st Class, 1st Class and 2:1 custom essays, dissertations and coursework, custom written by Oxbridge experts.

I am shocked, shocked I tell you, to discover that somebody would misuse the Oxbridge name in order to peddle their commercial essay-writing-for-profit services ...

I remark upon this little enterprise here not because it's news that students buy essays off the internet, or because someone has to write those essays - or even that such an essay pimping company would be perfectly upfront about their perfidious activities on a website - but because the company making the whole merry-go-round turn is putting legit-looking adverts in the Guardian and calling the position a lectureship!

Lurking journalistas, especially of the THE species, this would be an interesting thing to investigate, would it not? How about applying for the job and doing an undercover expose to find out what a "lecturer" employed at this august institution is asked to do? Or even finding out whether the Guardian's job site is aware of its complicity in an activity that undermines the whole basis of university education?

Heck, I'd do it myself, only I'm too busy ... lecturing.

[secretweapon]

Wow.  Thanks for bringing this to our attention!

[frenchdoctor]

Apparently, the same thing popped up in the USA :

http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php/topic,62386.0.html

Someone in the thread launched the idea that it might be some sort of social science experiment. The whole thing seems so unbelievable that it might well be the explanation.

On the other hand, let's face it : academic standards are so low overall that such a business seems less impossible today than it was a few years ago.  Fake essays and fake dissertations, to earn fake degrees at fake universities... but who cares, as long as the money keeps rolling ? How I hate corporate academia !

One small, tiny question. If this thing is real, do you think that people who tolerate it (ie polical authorities), in case of disease or accident, would like to be operated by a surgeon who got his degrees thanks to such an innovative commercial service ?

It would be fun to experiment. "Hey, it's the Higher Education Minister, who has this problem with a slipped disk ! Don't you worry, Mr. Lammy ! We have here a splendid surgeon who got his degree thanks to Oxbridge Research Group. He attended Oxford Round Table, too. It proves how serious he is. He will take care of you. You tolerated such companies because they were good for business, now it's time to face the consequences. Do you have any last message for your family ?"

Poetic justice, it would be.

[empyrean_aisles]

It would be fun to experiment. "Hey, it's the Higher Education Minister, who has this problem with a slipped disk ! Don't you worry, Mr. Lammy ! We have here a splendid surgeon who got his degree thanks to Oxbridge Research Group. He attended Oxford Round Table, too. It proves how serious he is. He will take care of you. You tolerated such companies because they were good for business, now it's time to face the consequences. Do you have any last message for your family ?"

Poetic justice, indeed ... though what stops me revelling in the putative schadenfreude is the thought that we're all already reaping the benefits of a "slipped disk" or two in terms of the economy, and the people who should perhaps have been paying more attention in their economics and finance classes.

From the other thread that frenchdoctor linked to:

Who do they think their target market is? Besides the 20-50 pages thing, my professors know my writing style. Even if the service provided a finished produce that was impeccably written and researched, it would take my advisor all of about 30 seconds to realize it wasn't my writing. And what about quality? Even after four years of coursework and passing qualifying exams, I'm still trying to get a handle on the scholarly literature in my subfield. I don't believe for a second that some internet schmuck could do a decent job of mastering it.

This is part of what disturbs me about the Guardian ad. They are looking for someone - preferably with a PhD and experience of teaching, assessing *and* supervising doctoral dissertations, who can do quality control to prevent this happening.

<shudder>

[frenchdoctor]

Sadly, there are so many Phd's desperate for jobs out there that they will probably find enough candidates.

The Oxbridge terms of service are hilarious.

6.1.1 - the Services that will be provided to the Client will be prepared or written or provided exclusively by present or former members of Oxford University and Cambridge University.

Sure. Highly believable. You want a freshman essay written for you by Stephen Hawking ? No problem.

6.1.2 - the Services are plagiarism-free and where relevant the work which forms part of the Services are subject to analysis by its quality control team.

Yessir ! We're crooks, but we're honest crooks !

Liability :

The Company shall be liable for death or personal injury caused by its negligence but subject thereto in no circumstances will the Company incur any liability of any kind or nature whether in contract or tort or otherwise or for any loss of profits or any other consequential loss arising out of the use of the Services by the Client or the late delivery of any of the Services or in the event that the use of the Services is in breach of the Clients' University or School regulations or the provisions governing academic work or in the event that the Client shall have referenced any substituted work to their University or School to the use of he Services or as a result of any breach of the provisions of condition 7.1.

Maybe ideagirl, our lawyer de charme, could explain this. To me, it sounds like utter gibberish. Probably because I don't have an Oxford/Cambridge degree.


 

[empyrean_aisles]

Sadly, there are so many Phd's desperate for jobs out there that they will probably find enough candidates.

That's also what troubles me. Whoever's behind this clearly knows how the market for early careers scholars (mal)functions. People are desperate, and they'll also be searching the "Lecturer" listings rather than the "Sell your soul" listings.

[larryc]

Are they incorporated in Kentucky and California?

[qrypt]

Are they incorporated in Kentucky and California?

No -- incorporated in the UK, see here.  I like it that their accounts for the last two years are overdue.

[empyrean_aisles]

Go qrypt!

Meanwhile I found this critique which is focussed on the company's business in preparing law school applications (at what seems to be £2 000 a pop). A John Foster, Head of Sales, defends his business, in impressively pompous yet somewhat grammatically tortured terms. Intriguingly, he too appears to have trouble with the meaning of the term "blog".

I expect we shall see him on this thread very shortly.

[wegie]

A search on the name of one of the directors produces the following gems from The Times for your enjoyment

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article5281860.ece
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article703120.ece

[qrypt]

Go qrypt!

Meanwhile I found this critique which is focussed on the company's business in preparing law school applications (at what seems to be £2 000 a pop). A John Foster, Head of Sales, defends his business, in impressively pompous yet somewhat grammatically tortured terms. Intriguingly, he too appears to have trouble with the meaning of the term "blog".

I expect we shall see him on this thread very shortly.

The link didn't work, but this one should.

[empyrean_aisles]

A search on the name of one of the directors produces the following gems from The Times for your enjoyment

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article5281860.ece
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article703120.ece

That Times writer got £10 to write a personal statement that the student paid £150 for?!

I didn't think it could get any worse, but that's appalling.

It's also hilarious in a depressing kind of way that neither of the two who set it up actually went to Oxbridge.

[sueenglish]

My nephew has just graduated from Cambridge (BA,, not PhD) and he and a number of his peers have been tragetted by this lot asking them if they'd like to earn money helping other students by writing essays! Although my nephew is without a job as yet he has told them to go away. As he sees it, he worked hard for his degree...and won't be 'helping' anyone else unless he becomes a school teacher.

[drspouse]

I know there are a lot of plagiarised medical school UCAS personal statements floating around, but for most other courses, they really needn't bother - we never read them.

[qrypt]

I know there are a lot of plagiarised medical school UCAS personal statements floating around, but for most other courses, they really needn't bother - we never read them.

I'd still like to see them get submitted to turnitin, though -- instant rejection if plagiarized...