Or, Should a College Degree Be Worth More Than Knowledge and Ability.
This is Part 3 of a series of three on diploma mills.
I am setting politics and issues of politicians aside in this first case to focus on ability alone. Laura Callahan had successfully preformed the duties of Deputy Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the US Department of Labor and Senior Information Technology Manager at the White House. She then became Senior Director at the United States Department of Homeland Security. No one has questioned her ability to do the job but she was forced to resign due to the fact she listed a diploma mill as the the source of her doctorate in computer information systems. In fact she was able to perform all her duties successfully with her only accredited degree being from a two year degree from a community college.
Frank Reed is a softball coach for University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. The position of coach requires a bachelor’s or master’s degree at that university. His team has just finished another winning season(41-22). The college website with his biography proudly lists Western States (wildly considered a diploma mill) as his alma mater.
So whats the point? If people can be successful and are being successful with a a fake degree why are having degrees a requirement of employment. A measurement of a person’s abilities should not be the the weight of there degrees. If Frank Reed can consistently lead a team to a winning season who cares if he can even write, or has a masters degree. If Laura Callahan was able to run the computer network at the White House she is capable of doing that with or with out the proper pedigree.
More and more educational requirements are becoming the norm in our society. Capable teachers are forced back to school for advance degrees even when they do an excellent job with there current educational level. See College: Door to Opportunity or a Barrier to Enter?
It is time to look at a person as a whole with no one part of the resume being used as a trump card or a barrier to entry. I do not condone lying on a resume or using fakes degrees. It is also wrong to use degrees to keep the capable out of jobs they would succeed at.
The Dumb Kid
References: http://www.gomocs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=92092&SPID=10582&DB_OEM_ID=17700&ATCLID=1146493&Q_SEASON=2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Callahan
http://www.newschannel5.com/global/story.asp?s=8674699
Useful links:
How to choose an online college
College Tips