Registrars' convention, Las Vegas, Wednesday Allen Ezell and I spent half a day with 60 Minutes yesterday. Their information, confirmed by others here with connections, is that the GAO found a very large number of people with fake degrees, on their just-completed degree audit. They only looked at 6 departments + the Pentagon, and they only looked at people of GS-18 and above (very very high; Ezell, after 31 years at FBI, was a GS-13). And they only looked for known fakes; not for people who listed degrees they hadn't earned from real schools. What we don't know is what the report, due out before Senator Collins holds public degree mill hearings on May 11 and 12, will say. Will it give detailed numbers, by departments? Will it list the schools names found? Given that GS-18 is so high, and so few of them, if they mention even numbers at given departments, it shouldn't take the Bruce Taits and Mark Israels of our world, not to mention lots of reporters, to figure out who they are. Interesting times ahead!
Thats Very High High Up Any thing above a GS-15 is known as Senior Executives. This will be very very big!! As a up and coming FED I feel a promotion brewing for me Executive Scales http://www.opm.gov/oca/04tables/html/ex.asp Regular GS Scales http://www.opm.gov/oca/04tables/html/gs.asp S/
Dr. Bear, Vonnell is correct in the current structure. However, I'll bet that the majority of the defenses will be that the position did not have a positive education requirement. GS-13 and above does not allow education as a substitution for experience. Also, many of the SES positions are appointed so take bets on the political stuff coming out of the woodwork. The only real issue is the actual application and the attesting to the veracity. My guess, the degree inflation is so bad that there will be a policy put in place and a period of time to correct records before action is actually taken. You also must consider that some of these employees will be able to exercise the Merit Systems Protection Board and/or union intervention. The reality is the system will bog down quickly. But hopefully the embarassment will cause these folks to seek employment elsewhere. ....Probably as a government contractor. Vonnell, I've got my fingers crossed.
This may be more like a cluster bomb. We will all look forward to the report in May. If Laura Callahan set a precedent there may be a lot of folks out on administrative leave. John
Think I'll take leave and prop my feet up in front of the TV with some popcorn looking for fireworks.... The greatest satisfaction I will take from this is the fact that for years I caught grief for going to college and "thinking I was smarter than the rest".
GAO Report I've been waiting to hear some findings about the GAO audit - I was worried that it got bogged down in election year politics. Thanks John GS-18 and higher will be very embarassing for many execs and that will grab the headlines. I also hope that reporters see the bigger issue. This is a problem that is not partisan and because of the level examined, there are people who will try to make it into a partisan issue. Whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, this is a problem among Federal employees and needs bi-partisan work to resolve it. Fed, I agree that much of it hinges on the Civil Service rules in effect when the person was hired or promoted; the job requirements; and the practicality of disciplining so many employees. Just posting the names of those with fake degrees would go a long way towards embarassing those individuals and discouraging others. John do you know when "60 Minutes" will air your segment ?
Fed's analysis seems right on to me. I've already heard from one reporter that there could be a period of amnesty, where holders of fake degrees can repudiate them without penalty (but will this be public or available information, one wonders). But things are definitely stirring. The Office of Personnel Management has postponed the degree mill workshops scheduled for next week. They had invited, then uninvited Allen Ezell, but I was still invited. Perhaps sometime in May. Sen. Collins' public hearings on degree mills are scheduled for May 11-12. There seems a good chance that C-Span will carry them live. CHEA (Council on Higher Education Accreditation) is apparently doing some kind of a workshop in June (they don't talk to me any more; I don't know why). 60 Minutes works at its own pace, without deadlines. Ezell and I apparently passed our auditions; we'll be going to NY for tapings next month, it seems. They are likely to do something either in late May or, if not that, October -- with at least a 10% chance of not doing it at all.
Decimon, That too. I was also shunned for daring to challenge the pass/fail performance (my butt) appraisal system. Now there was an incentive to perform.
The Federal Performance System is Terrible FED, As a 35 year old young federal manager (GS-13) I find that the PASS/FAIL performance system of the federal government lets mediocre people stay employed and the real shiners lose hope and leave. In 2 months I will reach my 3 year mark for the federal government (DoD) and my family and I will reevaluate whether it’s worth doing 20+ more or go to defenses contracting. Right now it’s a toss up. These folks with phony degrees that have been bought over the internet are even more discouraging simply because they are in positions that upstarts aspire to be in. s/
Don't feel alone here, it's not just the government. I could name a very large German-American auto manufacturer with a lot of middle management folks holding questionable "degrees" from internet sources.
That company could likely serve as proxy for U.S. corporations on the whole as they are just now recovering from their post-WWII hangover. What irony if it takes some Germans and Japanese to make us become serious about business.
GAO Audit Thanks for the update John. Congrats on passing your auditions. Who are the expected attendees for the workshops that you mentioned ?
Vonnell, you are in a very good position at your age and could very well be the person to affect a positive change down the road. I have 22 years (most of it with DOD) and am on the downhill slide but still have not given up the notion that as civil servants we can be effective. My comment has always been that when in a position of authority you can continue the cycle or you can step off and make a positive impact. From a career standpoint at least hang long enough to get a deferred retirement. Government contracts will always be available.
Thanks for the Advice FED, I'm still up in the air about leaving the federal government because I'm in the perfect place and I’m relatively happy, depending on the day. I've turn down a few agencies so far because it would not be cost effective to leave Japan and return to the states as the same grade, free housing is a big incentive to stay. I will return for a well place GS-14 position in a nice non-political organization, if I can find that. I do miss the SCI-FI channel and gas that cost less than $4.00's a gallon. S/
