Colleagues,
If you're anything like me, your email box is likely flooded with all sorts of invitations to attend workshops, conferences, and other events. Many of them have the patina of academic legitimacy, but are scams. For example, there's a program called the "Oxford Round Table" that sponsors conferences that are held in rented space at Oxford University, but that are not sponsored or conducted by Oxford.
Similarly, this NAPPPA outfit crafts its messages to appear to have the imprimatur of NCSU, but they only rent space here. As Carol Aschraft has very helpfully outlined here, their programs are a scam, and are a waste of your or departmental funds.
If you get similar invitations for workshops or conferences that you don't believe pass the sniff test, please share the information with me so that we can review and vet the ideas before you commit your scarce resources.
Here's Carol's note.
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An email invitation to an academic funding strategy session at NC State in July is a scam. Please warn faculty, research staff and graduate students about this ploy. In addition, investigate any organization offering proposal strategy or funding tips here at NC State or elsewhere for a fee. See below for directions on blocking the sending email address for this particular scam.
Individuals who receive the email from the North American Program Planning and Policy Academy (NAPPPA) can unsubscribe by going to the bottom of the email message and following the "unsubscribe" directions. Those who receive forwarded solicitations can add the NAPPPA domain, @napppanet2.org , to their "blocked senders" list.
Those whose NAPPPA session registrations are in process may want to see what can be done to prevent or stop payment.
Those whose NAPPPA session registrations are in process may want to see what can be done to prevent or stop payment.
NAPPPA sends out mass emails with a university's name in the subject heading, making it appear that the event is a legitimate, university-sponsored training session. However, NAPPPA is actually simply renting space on a campus to create that illusion. The session costs nearly $400. One NC State graduate student who attended the session reported that it was "poor, disorganized and disappointing." Refunds could not be obtained. Universities throughout the nation are targeted. In California, hundreds of complaints have been filed with the Attorney General's Office.
NAPPPA has only a "shell" office, no mailing address other than a post office box, and the telephone number provided connects to an operator at a switchboard, and that's as far as a telephone call can go.
For more information, see
http://blog.dynamoo.com/2011/
For more information, see
http://blog.dynamoo.com/2011/
If you have questions about any other fee-based funding strategy or training sessions, please feel free to contact me.
--
Carol Linelle Ashcraft, Manager
Research Funding Opportunities
Research Development Office
Office of Research, Innovation and Economic
Development
North Carolina State University
20 Watauga Club Drive
C.B. 7003, Holladay Hall 206
fax 919-513-2331
