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Author Topic: Acting Academic Manager has an MA from a degree mill  (Read 5978 times)
linguist2000
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« on: April 15, 2009, 12:49:35 PM »

Dear all,

I need advice. I am currently working for a language school and they recently recruited an Academic Manager who has an MA from a degree mill.

Now, had she been professional, I would not have said anything but she is unqualified and unprofessional.

What can be done ? Do these things happen in the US as well? What is the normal procedure to be followed? What can I do to rectify the situation ?

Yours,

« Last Edit: April 21, 2009, 06:01:45 AM by moderator » Logged
madhatter
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« Reply #1 on: April 15, 2009, 02:50:21 PM »

By "degree mill" (the usual term is "diploma mill", fyi), do you mean a school that is neither accredited (by an accreditor recognized by either CHEA or the U.S. Dept. of Education) nor licensed to grant degrees by a U.S. state? That's specifically what a diploma mill is, although some stretch the term to include for-profit schools, online schools, or just any ol' school they happen not to like.

Having a fake degree from an unlicensed institution might well be grounds for termination. Having a degree from a licensed and/or accredited institution, regardless of its provenance or quality, is not.
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"I may be an evil scientist, but it doesn't take a degree purchased from the Internet with your ex-wife's money to know how special and important you are to me." -- Dr. Doofenschmirtz
linguist2000
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« Reply #2 on: April 15, 2009, 03:09:29 PM »

Yes, I meant diploma mill. Those that have an office in Romania, or Latvia, and you would receive a 'degree' after a month after they received the money from you.

Is that common in the US too? I got to know about it when that manager had to post her CV online. The HR doesn't do anything here.

What can I do about it? Should I inform the top management? What is the correct procedure ?
« Last Edit: April 21, 2009, 05:32:34 AM by moderator » Logged
kamiakin
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« Reply #3 on: April 15, 2009, 04:09:14 PM »

I am afraid that the correct procedure is probably to STFU and start looking for another job. But let's see if one of the forumites with experience in your part of the world weighs in.
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linguist2000
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« Reply #4 on: April 17, 2009, 10:07:01 AM »

Whats does STFU stand for ?
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helpful
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« Reply #5 on: April 17, 2009, 10:10:44 AM »

Don't open your mouth=STFU.
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sibyl
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« Reply #6 on: April 17, 2009, 01:06:43 PM »

I have no experience in any country other than the US, so treat this advice accordingly.

If you were in the US and you were in this situation, my first advice would be to hunker down and try to wait out the "acting manager."  You don't know whether the person will stay, and faculty generally have better staying power.

It is hard to get managers or faculty dismissed for reasons of bullying or nonfeasance.  You need actual malfeasance or misfeasance.  You would need to demonstrate that the favoritism has cost the institution money or reputation.

In the US, forged academic credentials are a very big deal.  Depending on your position, you might try a frontal assault -- walk up to the dean or the appropriate higher administrator and say, this person has no credentials and this will reflect badly on us -- or a covert operation -- say, leaking information to the campus newspaper, which will then do the confrontational part.

Good luck.
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"I do not pretend to set people right, but I do see that they are often wrong." -- Jane Austen, Mansfield Park
helpful
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« Reply #7 on: April 17, 2009, 04:53:34 PM »

Does the position require a graduate degree? If it doesn't, there is no problem. If it does, 'houston, you have a problem'.
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linguist2000
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« Reply #8 on: April 18, 2009, 11:31:09 AM »

Thank you all for your help.

Helpful: The position requires a doctorate or at least, an MA! The person is lying about her MA.

Unfortunately, the HR here does very little to check the authenticity of certificates of applicants. In the two cases I know of where people have been exposed, it has always been through colleagues who realised the fraud and alerted the university authorities about it.

I’ll follow the advice of Sibyl, and will inform you all what happened.

« Last Edit: April 21, 2009, 05:33:07 AM by moderator » Logged
linguist2000
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« Reply #9 on: April 21, 2009, 04:17:12 AM »

Done !
« Last Edit: April 21, 2009, 04:18:31 AM by linguist2000 » Logged
kamiakin
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« Reply #10 on: April 21, 2009, 08:21:36 AM »

Done !

I suspect that you are.
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drangie
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« Reply #11 on: May 18, 2009, 05:39:41 PM »


I’ll follow the advice of Sibyl, and will inform you all what happened.




So, what happened?
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