Employee w/Mellen BA - Opinions?

Looking for opinions on the following -

I have an employee who is up for promotion. She has a BA from Mellen University which, from looking around online, isn't accredited. That said, her case involves 3 important variables:

1. She did the majority of her college level coursework at accredited institutions. However, due to relocations and such, she never bundled all of her accumulated credits into a degree other than Mellen. She says that's why she used Mellen - she had 90% of the credit needed to credentialize the BA, just hadn't assimilated it in one cohesive location. Transcripts back this up.

2. It appears that some of the degree evaluation services find Mellen degrees equivalent to RA degrees. Can anyone tell me which evaluators do or don't recognize degrees from Mellen? I don't seem to be able to find this information without actually submitting her transcripts and paying for the evaluation (or can you tell me where I would find this sort of data?).

3. The position she is up for requires a BA. Our company does not have solid rules for accreditation. She is completely qualified and well suited for the promotion, and has been with the company for many years. I may just be feeling paranoid about the Mellen degree.

I guess what I'm looking for is opinions. I'd love to promote this person, but fear that other internal candidates might look into her background and scream that her degree isn't legit. If anyone can provide insight on the credential evaluators or recommendations of what you would do in a similar situation, I would appreciate it.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Michael

 

The splendid Lingua Franca magazine did a major story on Mellen in the September 1993 issue. I think it is safe to say that anyone who read that article would either
(a) if an employer, would not accept a Mellen degree as equivalent to a properly-accredited one, or
(b) if an employee, would likely consult an attorney if passed over for a promotion in favor of a Mellen alumnus.

At the time, Mellen's owner, Herbert Richardson (apparently the first tenured professor ever fired by a major Canadian university, over Mellen issue) filed a very large lawsuit against Lingua Franca. He lost.

Mellen has advertised "a fully accredited British [degree]." They rationalize this because they are chartered on the Caribbean islands of Turks & Caicos, part of the British commonwealth. They say, "Mellen University has earned a license from the government of the Tucks and Caicos islands and, virtually, the British government."

My favorite Mellen story is the friend (with two properly-accredited doctorates) who was researching Mellen, and left a message on their answering machine asking various questions. In a few days, he received a letter saying, "Based on our conversation, achieving the degree you so richly deserve is well within your grasp." It went on to offer him a degree based entirely on life experience.

John Tulip, who was the Director of Admissions at Mellen has gone on to associations with other equally dubious enterprises, such as the American University of Suriname and, I believe, Eire International U.

 

You seem to have a favorable impression of this employee except for the degree. Have you considered discussing it with them and pointing them towards http://bain4weeks.com/index.html

 

Thanks

John,

Thank you for your insight - I believe you've confirmed what I already suspected. There's surprising little information about Mellen available online (either that or my poor search skills are coming through). I had planned to call the number I have for Mellen tomorrow, but now I think I am a little afraid of what the conversation might sound like.

Mike,

I had never seen http://bain4weeks.com/index.html before - will have to check it out in depth after some sleep and perhaps recommend it to her. You're correct that this individual is a model employee and I'd really like to see her promoted. However, as John pointed out, I think I would have to either redefine the position requirements or have the company legal counsel on stand-by if we were solely using the merits of the Mellen degree as one of the defining criteria for promotion.

Thank you both for your assistance. Still not sure how to handle things, but you've certainly given me some things to think about. I appreciate it.

 

Stiff upper lip, old boy. If she qualifies under existing rules then promote her.

If this won't get you drawn and quartered then use her case as a reason for modifying the rules. Explain that while her degree qualifies her promotion, another might use entirely bogus educational credentials to achieve the same.

Making lemonade from a lemon.

 

If she doesn't have a recognized degree this would cause problems with applicants who already have earned and recognized credentials and could make a case that she was not qualified despite her record.

Maybe this candidate needs to get her legitimate credentials evaluated and see how close she is to actually earning a recognized degree from either Excelsior, COSC, or TESC. If you have some leeway in delaying filling the position she may be able to complete the degree requirement or possibly consider placing her in the position on a specified probationary period with the requirement for her to complete the degree in a reasonable timeframe.

It would be great for her to be able to diffuse her Mellen time bomb before it causes additional problems.

John

 

Thanks again.

Based on the information I've received here and discussions with others in my department, I think we are going to offer a "conditional" promotion and see if the employee is willing to pursue a true RA degree.

If she's not willing (which I doubt), then we will have to deal with that when it happens.

Since you've all been a great help, any suggestions on how one should respond if she suggests having the Mellen credentials evaluated by one of the credential evaluators? I imagine these services are the same as the schools - some are legitimate and other not so much? Anyone know of any online resources where I can look into the evaluators?

Appreciate all of your assistance and suggestions - this is much better than trying to figure it all out solo.

Regards,
Michael

 

Employer responsibility for degree mills

I don't know any specific information about the situation that triggered this thread. I can't help but notice the number of cases where someone is doing a job successfully, and runs into problems when it turns out their degree isn't of comparable rigor to accredited degrees. Sure, you can blame the employee for getting an "easy" degree, but doesn't the employer share some of the responsibility? If a person without a legitimate degree can do the job, why does the employer require a degree in the first place?

Occasionally, and perhaps in the case in this thread, a person will have an unusual background that develops the same skills that an accredited degree would develop, and those skills are really necessary to do the job. But from what I've seen in this forum, the want-ads, etc., it seems that frequently the degree requirement is just an arbitrary hurdle that employers create for no good reason. Few people feel guilty about circumventing requirements that shouldn't exist in the first place, and this makes it easy for people to justify to themselves pursuing a sub-standard degree.

 

Make sure that you let her know about the big three, where she can fully utilize her already earned RA credits. Her Mellen degree is a joke. If she had fewer credits, I'd even consider it a good chance that she was scamming her employer as much as Mellen scammed her but when one is so close to a degree, it is extra easy to fall victim to the degree mill scam.

 

Re: Employer responsibility for degree mills

It's unclear that just any person could do the job without the degree. In this particular case, she seems qualified (perhaps through many years of experience, but who knows). I'm not sure we can deduce further.

As to why employers uses such an arbitrary requirement? Have you every been an employer? It is not uncommon to get dozens (or even hundreds) of applications. Somehow you need to narrow the field. Using a degree as a barrier qualification seems a better choice than most of the other possibilities.




Tom Nixon

 

Re: Employer responsibility for degree mills

The biggest problem with bogus degrees is not that they are "easy," it's that they are bogus. If an employee is willing to buy a fake degree in order to get ahead, what else might he/she be willing to do?

Also, smart companies tend to hire employees who have the capacity for advancement. Sure, a degree may not be a functional necessity for an entry-level job. But if that entry-level employee were to advance, the degree might be functionally important. Hiring people who can not legitimately advance to higher-level postions can be an expensive and destabalizing proposition for many companies.