Resume discrepancy for Vanderbilt women's bball coach candidate

Article (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=531&ncid=755&e=6&u=/ap/20020502/ap_on_sp_co_ne/bkw_vanderbilt_coach_5) today that the man Vanderbilt was going to announce as its new women's basketball coach had a discrepancy on his resume. Apparently, his biography at Colorado State (his previous employer) claimed that he had two master's degrees, but he only had one which was a dual degree.

 

This might be calling things a little too close. The "two" masters seems to me very much like it was an honest mistake. Why would a person claim a false degree from the same school their real degree is from, knowing they would have to present transcripts that would only reflect one degree? The side issue is that I have never (except for subject area concentrations in Ed. degrees, like "Science Education") seen dual subject masters.

 

O'Leary Redux: Collen out as Vanderbilt coach.

In this version, he is reported as saying that he believed for 17 years that he had two Master's degrees -- one in health education in 1982 and the other in recreational programming in 1983. (These details are in his resume at the Colorado State website here.)

I agree with Craig that this is not an obvious case.

 

I still would give him benefit of the doubt, but as Horatio says "My but this is wonderous strange!" How do you think you have two masters when you did one? I suppose he might have done the course work or most of the work and failed to file for graduation or something, but wouldn't you take a look at your own transcripts, say, every 17 years or so?

Anyway, I have an MA in English, does this mean I have to take the "bonus" MA in Political Science off my vita?

 

Here are two articles from The Tennessean on the matter:

http://www.tennessean.com/sports/vandy/archives/02/05/16998330.shtml

http://www.tennessean.com/local/archives/02/05/17022225.shtml?Element_ID=17022225

It seems the concern was that his resume submitted to Colorado State showed two degrees earned a year apart, which wasn't true.

 

I read that today. The degrees were listed as separate and a year apart. That is very unlikely to be a mistake. One should know what degree(s) one has or has not earned.

I took two bachelor's degrees from USNY/Regents. They had an option to get a liberal arts degree with two concentrations, which isn't the same thing. In fact, I earned the degrees one after the other, not simultaneously, in two different areas (first, a BS in business, then a BA with a concentration in sociology)and received two diplomas. No matter what else, this coach knows whether he received one or two diplomas, especially given that they would have been dated (and awarded) differently. That's why he had to go. It doesn't look like a mistake, even while he continues to spin it as such after the firing.

What is sad is that he's without a job. Volleyball coaches can't make all that much; I would suspect this is really hurting his family. Without the harsh light of the media, this might have been able to be handled with some other form of discipline short of firing. But once it came out, I doubt the school could have done that given the recent firings for similar matters. (Although, IMHO, this doesn't measure up to the soccer coach with the Columbia State bachelor's or the football coach who lied not only about having a master's, but also about his football background.)

After the previous debacles--and the accompanying press--people like this need to be proactive in cleaning up their resumes. If he'd done this, the school could've forgiven and forgotten outside the media limelight. If he'd said, "Hey, I looked at my resume after the previous events, and I see I have two master's listed instead of one with a double major. I need to clarify that," they might have been able to hold on to him. But he didn't, probably hoping no one would notice. (Or, because it was such an old lie, maybe he got used to having it there?) Sad

 

The outcome in this case seems too harsh to me. From what I understand, his current resume is accurate but his 1997 resume was inaccurate. See Vanderbilt Coach Quits Over Resume.

 

Rich is right; he would have gotten two diplomas, so a mistake seems less likely in that light. But still, I can't imagine what he was thinking---he would have to submit transcripts which list degrees awarded usually at the very top. In other words, he would end up providing the exact evidence that would reveal the lie. I can only think he kind of fooled himself into thinking that if the issue ever came up, he would just say, "Oh, it was a double major, which is like two masters in one program." That excuse would be accepted and the matter forgotten. Once upon a time, in the athletic department of a good ol boys' school that was probably the case. Obviously no more.