A spokesman for an Idaho-based online college some West Middlesex teachers have taken courses through denied Tuesday the institution is a diploma mill.

“We’re a good college and we’ve never sold a diploma for cash,” said Phil Braun, director of administrator services at Canyon College.

The online college operating in Caldwell, Idaho, has come under fire from West Middlesex school directors after teachers were reimbursed for taking its classes.

Canyon isn’t permitted to grant degrees in Pennsylvania, the state Department of Education said. It is accredited by two private agencies not recognized by the federal government.

The institution opened in 1998 and has about 3,000 people currently taking classes, said Braun, who wouldn’t give his last name when The Herald contacted him for a previous story.

Teachers learned of Canyon after colleagues Mark D. Hogue, a math teacher, and Dr. Joseph W. Pasquerilla, a former social studies teacher, passed out fliers encouraging the coursework, board President Thomas Hubert said.

The fliers identify the men as Canyon College employees. Pasquerilla is listed as program director and Hogue as curriculum coordinator.

Canyon’s Web site also has Pasquerilla and Hogue listed as instructors for 23 and 13 courses, respectively, with its education department.

Braun said the men “provide services” for the institution.

“I wouldn’t use the word employed,” he said. “That’s a word we have to be careful about.”

Braun wouldn’t comment when asked if Pasquerilla and Hogue were paid for recruiting students. He said the work doesn’t interfere with their full-time jobs elsewhere.

“They work with us as needed for the students,” Braun said, adding he couldn’t estimate the hours each spends mentoring Canyon’s students.

Another Web site away from Canyon’s domain last modified in 2004 outlines faculty opportunities with Canyon.

Faculty are compensated in the amount of $175 per student and considered independent contractors, it says. Those interested in writing or teaching courses can call Dr. Dale Mueller, dean of health services administration degree programs, at a number with a southern California area code.

Pasquerilla, whose father is Brookfield school board President Joseph Pasquerilla, left West Middlesex this summer to take a principal’s position with North Hills School District, Ross Township, Pa.