The following was reported today by the Associated Press: "Miami (Ohio) Says Resume Was Correct". "Tom Collen, a 1983 graduate of Miami, was hired as the women's basketball coach at Vanderbilt on May 1. He resigned the next day after it was reported that he listed two Miami graduate degrees on his resume but only held one degree. Collen of Fort Collins, Colo., had resigned earlier as the women's basketball coach at Colorado State to take the Vanderbilt job. He is now without a job, and both Vanderbilt and Colorado State have since hired new coaches. When Collen graduated from Miami, the registrar's office entered onto Collen's transcript that he earned one master's degree in two areas of study. But the record should have reflected two seperate degrees, Miami spokesman Richard Little said Friday. Collen earned seperate master's degrees from Miami in recreation and in health education, Little said. "The records show Mr. Collen was a student in good standing and that he was not attempting to mislead anyone when reporting that he had two Miami graduate degrees," Little said. Collen contacted Miami last week to ask about his academic credentials at the southwestern Ohio school, which prompted the administrative review, Little said." AP. Very unfortunate for this to happen to anyone. I am wondering who initiated the investigation and what will happen next. Michael.
Here's the story at the Miami University website: Coach's resume was correct. The wording is interesting: ... in 1983 Mr. Collen had completed the requirements and been approved for both a master’s degree in recreation and a master’s in health education. I infer that Collen earned two degrees but was awarded only one due to a bureaucratic foul-up. As to MikeT's question as to "what will happen next" -- I would think a lawsuit against Miami University!
Then why did he resign the next day? Why did it take him almost 20 years to realize he did not have both degrees? A lesson to be learned here is to obtain official copies of your transcripts and keep them in a safe place.
OUCH! This sucks. Collen may have resigned because he thought he screwed up and wanted the controversy ended. Sometimes resignations are requested to avoid unpleasant situations. It turns out someone else screwed up. Some time bomb! Some outing!
Here's the earlier degreeinfo thread on this case: Resume discrepancy for Vanderbilt women's bball coach candidate. I'm glad to be reminded that we were generally fairly sympathetic to Collen. It's also interesting to read Jason's comment at the time: "It seems the concern was that his resume submitted to Colorado State showed two degrees earned a year apart, which wasn't true."
Re: Re: Coach was correct - he had 2 graduate degrees. Imagine my surprise when I opened by first "official" TESC transcript after graduation and discovered the WRONG DEGREE posted. Lesson learned.
Double Majors Dear Viet - There is a difference between double majors and dual degrees. In my undergraduate degree program, I did a double major in Engineering Science and Economics. My diploma only says Bachelor of Science since it is only one degree, and the transcript lists both majors. Some colleges have dual degrees in which two degrees are earned, but I believe this is a much rarer occurrence than a double major. Also, some schools do cooperative programs (e.g., the 3/2 program with Furman and Georgia Tech in which the general education and liberal arts credits are done at Furman in the first 3 years with the final 2 years at Tech focused in engineering -- this produces two degrees from two good schools).
It is always good to check your transcripts to make sure they they are reflecting the proper degrees. I know someone who completed a BA in Political Science and did two minors -- History and English with the degree. When the transcript was issued after graduation the transcript showed two majors -- one as History and and the other as English (two degrees for the price of one?). John
Here is a coach at Pace U. who appears to have legitimate degrees but also lists a masters from Shelbourne University. http://www.pace.edu/em/athletics/VB/danbio.doc John
Strange that people who are already fully qualified for their jobs feel the urge to sully their resumes with worthless credentials. Here's the athletic director, James Krause, at Dana College with a doctorate from "Berne University in New Hampshire": New Faces.
Re: Double Majors In Australia double majors are certainly common, but it is still not uncommon to undertake two bachelor degrees at once; often law with arts, commerce or science. These are called (imaginatively) "combined degrees". Such courses are five years (as opposed to three for a BA and four for a LLB). I don't know the stats, but it seems these programs are becoming more and more popular. Kind regards
Tom Collen is one of four finalists for women's basketball coach at Nebraska: http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/3490547.htm
