MIT dean resigns over misrepresented credentials

[Sophia]

AP) -- To stressed-out parents and students, MIT admissions dean Marilee Jones was a rare voice of reason in the high-pressure world of college admissions. With colleges demanding kids who play sports, run student government and take the heaviest course load they can, Jones shouted back the opposite: daydream, stay healthy, and don't worry so much about building a resume just to impress an elite college.

Yet it turns out that Jones was susceptible to pressure herself. She falsely bolstered her credentials to get a job with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and over the course of her career claimed to have earned degrees from three schools. MIT officials say now they have no evidence she ever graduated from college at all.

read more here (http://www.cnn.com/2007/EDUCATION/04/26/mit.dean.ap/index.html)

I don't even know what to say. That someone with that much authority at a major university could get away with something like this for so long is astounding.

[dionysia]

I don't even know what to say. That someone with that much authority at a major university could get away with something like this for so long is astounding.

You mean like Joe Ellis? ;)

"In 2001, Mount Holyoke College suspended Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Joseph Ellis for a year without pay for falsely telling students that he had fought in the Vietnam War."

Di

[allyray231]

Yeah I work for one of the schools she said she went to :) trust me we would have know ;)

[Sophia]

Ally, yeah, I caught that. ;)

Di, I know a few people in academics lie about their credentials, but having the dean of admissions lie about not one, but three, degrees seems so much worse than your example.

[BethIrish]

"Misrepresented?" Um, how about outright LIED?

[tlew12778]

I don't know. I mean, it was wrong for her to do it in the first place, but I can also see how it would be very awkward for her to try to correct. It's really a snowball effect.

The sad thing is that I think she knew how to do her job well. And it really should not matter whether or not she has a degree, since she has the experience instead. The only reason she is resigning is bc of this 30 year old lie.

[IrishEyes]

The only reason she is resigning is bc of this 30 year old lie.

Exactly.

I do find that places are actually checking to make sure you have the degrees you claim before they hire you. For my current job, I also needed to bring in a copy of my diploma as proof, in addition to my transcript.

It turns out this former dean did have a Bachelor's Degree in biology from a small Catholic college near the other three schools she claimed to have degrees from. I guess she thought 'Union College' looked better on her resume than 'Russell Sage College'.

[phoenics]

I don't know. I mean, it was wrong for her to do it in the first place, but I can also see how it would be very awkward for her to try to correct. It's really a snowball effect.

The sad thing is that I think she knew how to do her job well. And it really should not matter whether or not she has a degree, since she has the experience instead. The only reason she is resigning is bc of this 30 year old lie.

But it would have mattered when she got the job over someone else who was actually qualified.

She has 30 years of experience NOW - after lying.

There was a professor at a college I knew of who never finished his PhD - he was ABD... well, it came out and he was let go. It's the principle of the thing. You can't have the dean of admissions revealed as a LIAR and then keep her on because now she has so much experience. That's all well and good - but she lied to get the experience right? What kind of message is that to the kids at MIT? Lie and only resign if you get caught?

It's good she resigned.

[chrisinluv]

I found this article by Barbara Ehrenreich The Higher Education Scam (http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070514/ehrenreich) at The Nation interesting.

my favorite line...
"Or maybe what attracts employers to college grads is the scent of desperation. Unless your parents are rich and doting, you will walk away from commencement with a debt averaging $20,000 and no health insurance. Employers can safely bet that you will not be a trouble-maker, a whistle-blower or any other form of non-"team-player." You will do anything. You will grovel."

I can't wait until I no longer have to grovel! Hm. Student loans will be paid off right about the time I can retire. Great.