Megatrend University

Megatrend University (Serbian: Универзитет Мегатренд, romanized: Univerzitet Megatrend) is a private university located in New Belgrade, the city of Belgrade, Serbia. It was founded in 1989 as the Megatrend Business School, which later became Megatrend University.[4] In 2015, the Council of Megatrend University changed the name of the institution to University John Naisbitt. The name was changed back to Megatrend University in 2017.

Megatrend University
Универзитет Мегатренд
Univerzitet Megatrend
Main building in New Belgrade
TypePrivate
Established1989 (1989)
RectorMića Jovanović[1]
Academic staff
186 (2018–19)[2]
Students3,526 (2018–19)[3]
Undergraduates3,210 (2018–19)[2]
Postgraduates187 (2018–19)[2]
129 (2018–19)[2]
Location
Belgrade
,
Serbia

44°49′52.6″N 20°24′56.3″E
Websitewww.megatrend.edu.rs

With around 3,500 enrolled students as of 2018–19 school year, it is the fourth largest private university in Serbia. The university has a negative reputation in Serbia for series of controversies and claims that its study programs offer "express acquisition of worthless diploma"; also there are numerous claims that its international universities network is nonexistent and that the list of its lecturers is false.[5][6][7][8]

History

Belgrade's Megatrend Business School, which was established in 1989 was the predecessor of all institutions which comprise the present Megatrend University.

During 1991, Megatrend Business School, together with the Technical Faculty of Bor introduced a management graduate studies introduction course. This project, which was the first one of this type in Southeast Europe, was financially supported by the European Union TEMPUS Fund which was specifically intended for the development of business education. Later the Faculty of Geo-economy was the first institute of its kind in the region.

In June 2000 the Serbian Ministry of Higher Education approved the formation of the Megatrend University of Applied Sciences in Belgrade.[9] Similar agreements were made with Seconda Università degli Studi di Napoli from Italy, with Berlin University of Applied Sciences from Germany, and later with Yanbian University of Science and Technology from China, Bournemouth University from the United Kingdom, Academy Eliteâ from Moscow, European School of Business, Rome, Italy and Faculty of Economics, Donetsk National University, Ukraine.

In 2008, Megatrend University claimed to have 26,000 enrolled students, making it by far the most popular private university in Serbia.[10]

In 2011 Megatrend purchased the operations of the failed International University Vienna, creating Megatrend International University Vienna which did not achieve accreditation before insolvency in 2013.[11][12][13]

Megatrend University is a member of the Euro-Asia Management Studies Association (EAMSA), which runs annual conferences in Europe and Asia to discuss economic and management issues as well as promoting research and publishing.

In 2015, the Council of Megatrend University changed the name of the institution to University John Naisbitt[14] after controversies arose surrounding Megatrend University.[15] The name was changed back to Megatrend University in 2017.[16]

As of 2019, Megatrend University has 3,526 enrolled students which makes it the fourth largest private university in Serbia.[3] In November 2019, Megatrend's founder and owner Mića Jovanović revealed that the university was sold, allegedly for 56.1 million euros to Dejan Đorđević, who leads the undisclosed German fund consortium, for which Jovanović said that he is not sure if it exists.[17][18]

Organization

These are the 11 institutions in 6 cities:

Notable alumni

Controversies

The university is said to have a relatively low reputation in the eyes of the Serbian public due to its allegedly dubious programs and low standards,[19] as well as due to its perceived mutually beneficial connections with politicians and government officials who have been awarded Megatrend diplomas. Those connections supposedly ensured its accreditation, which helped the University to somewhat silence its critics who have been accusing it of being a diploma mill. According to Megatrend's representatives, such criticism can not apply to a "University where the prime minister of Serbia had given four lectures in one year, and two ministers of education are employed at it."[20] In an opinion piece in Al Jazeera about problems in Serbian higher education, Zorana Suvakovic described Megatrend as "essentially a degree mill where diplomas can be obtained for cash."[21]

Megatrend University has awarded an honorary doctorate to Muammar Gaddafi, the former leader of Libya, in 2007.[22] When asked to comment on this subject, the deputy minister of education, prof. Srbijanka Turajlić said that "this is not a deed on which any University should be proud of, but taking into account the quality of the university, it is not surprising that the doctorate was awarded to the dictator."[23][24]

In 2010, the magazine Marianne, commenting on the Bogdanov affair, showed that the Bogdanoff brothers were employed at the Megatrend University as professors cathedra of cosmology, and that they used this to increase their credibility with the French public. The magazine commented that this was a mutually beneficial deal between rector Jovanović and the Bogdanoffs: the brothers gained the titles of professors; and Megatrend two foreign professors on the staff.[25] Alain Riazuelo, an astrophysicist at the Institut d'astrophysique de Paris, has shown that Megatrend does not have cathedra of Cosmology, because the main focus of the University is on economics and management studies.[26] There is no trace of the Bogdanoffs' courses or lecturing scripts. Rector Jovanovic (owner of Megatrend) published their pseudoscientific book and wrote the foreword for it, which gave him a kind of prestige in the eyes of the general public in Serbia.[25]

On June 1, 2014, a group of Serbian academics based in the UK published an article claiming that parts of the Minister of Internal Affairs of Serbia Nebojša Stefanović's doctoral dissertation were plagiarized.[27] The controversy escalated further when other academics raised serious doubts as to whether Megatrend's rector and Stefanović's mentor Mića Jovanović was ever awarded a doctorate himself.[28][29] The original story in the Serbian media reported a statement by him that he had obtained his doctorate studying under the "famous professor Stephen Wood of the London School of Economics."[30] Wood confirmed that a dissertation had been submitted but that it had been rejected.[31]

On June 12, 2014, the Serbian Ministry of Education confirmed that Megatrend's rector had forged his PhD at LSE. In the wake of these findings the ministry called on rector Jovanović to resign.[30][32] It also called on relevant authorities to determine whether there were elements of criminal offense.[29][33] Jovanovic resigned the following day.[34] More recently, he has been reported to have left Serbia.[35][36]

See also

References
  1. "Kadrovske promene na Megatrend univerzitetu, Mića Jovanović novi rektor". Danas. 27 May 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  2. "Високо образовање 2018/2019" (PDF). stat.gov.rs (in Serbian). Statistical Office of Serbia. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  3. "Уписани студенти, 2018/2019. школска година" (PDF). stat.gov.rs (in Serbian). Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia. 25 June 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-11-18. Retrieved 2012-11-08.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. Brownell, Ginnane (13 December 2013). "A Testing Time for Private Schools in Eastern Europe". nytimes.com. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  6. Miletić, Natalija (13 June 2014). "Megatrendovi Potemkinovi univerziteti". dw.com (in Serbian). Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  7. Miletić, Natalija (24 September 2019). "Megatrendova perionica diploma". dw.com (in Serbian). Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  8. Santovac, Adam (26 November 2019). "Stefanović studirao "na fakultetu bez profesora", Megatrend mu priznao diplomu". n1info.com (in Serbian). Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  9. Radikic, Vasilije (2010). "A New Page in the History of Higher Education in Serbia" (PDF). Megatrend Review. 7 (2): 345–350.
  10. Gligorijević, Jovana; Jorgačević, Jelena (8 October 2009). "Od Surčina do "Singidunuma"". vreme.com (in Serbian). Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  11. "International University Vienna". Internet Archive. Archived from the original on July 19, 2011. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  12. "Jahresbericht 2013" (PDF). Wien: Die Agentur für Qualitätssicherung und Akkreditierung Austria (AQ Austria). May 2014. Retrieved April 8, 2015. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  13. "Megatrend International University Vienna". Internet Archive. Archived from the original on June 13, 2013. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  14. "Мегатренд променио име у Универзитет Џон Незбит". Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  15. "Megatrend promenio ime u "Univerzitet Džon Nezbit"". 25 November 2015. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  16. ""Megatrend" opet postaje Megatrend". Danas. 17 October 2017. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  17. "Prodat Megatrend, Mića Jovanović odlazi iz Srbije". 021.rs (in Serbian). 28 November 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  18. "N1: Mića Jovanović kazao da nije siguran da li kupci univerziteta Megatrend postoje". danas.rs (in Serbian). Beta. 29 November 2019. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  19. "A Testing Time for Private Schools in Eastern Europe". The New York Times. 16 December 2013. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  20. Гуцијан, Сандра. ""Мегатрендуше" са црвеног универзитета". Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  21. "Serbia's degree mills: A recent scandal over plagiarism involving PhD theses of top politicians has exposed a collapsing education system." Zorana Suvakovic, Al Jazeera: 25 July 2014.
  22. Gaddafi awarded an honorary doctorate of Megatrend University Archived 2012-01-18 at the Wayback Machine megatrend-edu.net
  23. "Njujork tajms: "Megatrenduše" opšte prakse". Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  24. "Njujork Tajms o privatnim fakultetima". Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  25. Оташевић, Ана. "Како је Мића ректор постао космолог". Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  26. "Des scientifiques réfutent leurs thèses". 7 December 2016. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  27. "Getting a PhD in Serbia has Never Been Easier: The Case of Minister of Internal Affairs Nebojša Stefanović – Balkanist". June 2014. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  28. "Rektor Mića, Baron Minhauzen, ili kako je ministrov mentor zagubio doktorat". 2014-06-07. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  29. "Megatrend rector Mica Jovanovic does not have London PhD – Minister – InSerbia News". 9 September 2014. Archived from the original on 9 September 2014. Retrieved 7 December 2016.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  30. Grusic, Ugljesa; Milanovic, Marko. "The fight for academic integrity in Serbia". University of Nottingham/Newsroom. University of Nottingham. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  31. Stefanović, Nebojša (9 June 2014). "Serbia: A plagiarism case for satire". Die Presse. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  32. Robinson, Matt (23 June 2014). "The minister, his mentor and the fight against a suspect system in Serbia". Reuters. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  33. "Serbia heading toward opening three new chapters next week - - on B92.net". Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  34. "Mica Jovanovic resigns over fake PhD claim". Archived from the original on 2014-09-09. Retrieved 2014-09-23.
  35. "Mića: Napustio sam SPS i Srbiju!". Archived from the original on 14 February 2015. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  36. "e-novine.com". Archived from the original on 20 March 2015. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
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