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June 14, 2007
Credentials, Accomplishments and Redemption
Among connoisseurs and admirers of fine art, nothing is more troubling than the discovery that a great and celebrated painting is a forgery. Those who praised the picture find themselves embarrassed. Worse still, all reverence for the picture vanishes and its high value plunges to near worthlessness.
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Why this happens is clear. The picture was valued primarily for its creator’s name — that is to say, for its credentials. The beauty and interest of the picture have not changed, but when its credentials reveal the painter to be Han van Meegeren, a 20th century forger, not Jan Vermeer, a 17th century master, everything else does change.
I offer this observation to illuminate the case of Marilee Jones, whom I do not know. She had been employed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for 28 years, most recently as the dean of admissions. In this last position, she was celebrated, a rare case among admissions deans who are usually obscure, for her efforts to humanize the overwhelming process of applying to colleges and universities. When a few weeks ago someone anonymously informed the MIT administration that she had falsified her résumé, she stepped down.
And like a forgery discovered, her value became nil upon the revelation. Having been a university president for 30 years, I find this whole business troubling and dismaying for several reasons.
I am troubled that she lied about where she earned her bachelor’s degree and that, over the years, she did not attempt to correct the record. I am further troubled by her hypocrisy, Ms. Jones having made a great point of telling students to be honest about their accomplishments on their admissions forms. None of this is good.
But I am dismayed by the weight that has been put on credentials that, after so many years, have absolutely no bearing on her performance. It visibly makes no difference that she earned her bachelor’s degree from the College of St. Rose, in Albany, not Union College, or that she has no degree from Albany Medical College or Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute.
Of course colleges must perceive degrees as consequential. If not colleges, who? But degrees as “sacred,” I’m not sure. “Sacred” has theological implications that may take us a step too far. We do, after all, give university credit these days for courses taken in high school, and we give credit with university degrees for life experience. There are all sorts of degrees that can be earned through experiential programs. The box is not as hermetically sealed as it once was. And that is a good thing.
To put it plainly, she is not a forgery. She is what she has always appeared to be — a very accomplished university administrator. The value of the Vermeer resides almost entirely (and unfortunately, I think) in the certainty of its authorship. I wonder if Ulysses S. Grant would have been a lesser general or a greater president had he not attended West Point, but claimed that he had. We are known by our accomplishments and rewarded accordingly.
We may insist that we are also known by our character, and I agree. However, as far as I know, Ms. Jones muddied her skirts many years ago and has since been otherwise blameless. This apparent fact is also troubling.
The laws regarding privacy have traditionally recognized “unconscionable publication” as appropriately actionable. An example: A young man is convicted of a misdemeanor, serves his time, then moves to another city and starts over, becoming over the years a respectable businessman and philanthropist. Someone discovers his indiscretion and publishes it. Courts have found that this invades privacy (and is akin to libel), the reasoning being that the fault is so old and so immaterial to the character and actions of the man some 28 years later as to be “unconscionable” or offensive to the community’s standards of decency.
The outing of Ms. Jones strikes me as unconscionable. She had done no harm, and revealing her dishonesty so many years later only undermines the good she has done. (I doubt her résumé fraud deprived anyone of her lowly first job in any event; she probably would have got it with her true credentials, sad to say.) I am reluctant to criticize the administration of MIT, however. Had Susan Hockfield, the president of MIT, declined to do anything, no doubt the informant would have gone to the press and outed MIT. It’s a sorry fact that many in the media prefer getting the goods on higher education than getting the good that higher education does — and Marilee Jones had done a great deal of good. Thus, MIT was in a bind, one I would tremble to be in.
But, from a safe distance, I want to offer some thoughts. It seems to me that some sins are more forgivable than others, especially after so many years. Do we not, after all, believe in redemption not to mention the statute of limitations? Does Ms. Jones’s failing when she was 27 still define her at 55? I think not. How many years must go by before we forgive? Twenty-eight seems more than enough to me.
It is not that Ms. Jones should not have been sanctioned. She should have been, but she should also be forgiven. College degrees are meant to represent the judgment of faculty that a student has demonstrated competence in a discipline. We go to universities to learn — not to get degrees. The degrees are symbols. If 28 years of performance haven’t proven that Ms. Jones mastered the lessons, of what utility would a degree be?
Were I and George Washington University to be faced with such an unhappy case, I want to believe that this is what I would do:
In recognition of her many years of service, I would confer an honorary and retroactive degree on Ms. Jones in order to ameliorate her defective résumé. I would say she messed up. I would say she embarrassed herself and GW. I would add that she is human. And then I would issue a pardon in the name of the university and everyone else who has an old failing that has yet to come to light.
I am surprised no one has raised the feminist argument — the date of her employment, the sociology of the time, the place, her gender, the ceilings (both glass and otherwise), the preemptory strike against anticipated bias in the human resources office.
Yes, she lied. What is the appropriate action to take when one discovers that transgression after 28 years of loyal, dedicated, competent service? Surely it is distinguishable if one discovers it the next day.
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Comments
What a refreshingly humanistic view — thank you!
Dan Lundquist, at 6:40 am EDT on June 14, 2007
A Slippery Slope?
After pardoning Ms. Jones, would President Trachtenberg then extend his amnesty to all of the students at GW who were recently failed, suspended, or expelled because of academic dishonesty? Or does one’s eligibility for pardon depend on his or her ability to avoid getting caught for a decade or two? Either way, this is not a 28-year old crime: every year that Ms. Jones failed to come clean was another year that she lied to her employers and her students.
And this is not a question of credentials vs. performance. The dishonesty involved here is, in fact, part of Ms. Jones’s performance and must be understood as such.
Finally, the gratuitous mention of the “feminist argument” is perplexing and demeaning. First, as President Trachtenberg points out, Ms. Jones lied her way into an entry-level job. Second, while there can be no doubt that sexism was greater and glass ceilings were lower in the 1970s, many women did achieve positions of influence in universities, and they did so without cheating. Third, and most important, the suggestion that bigotry mitigates academic dishonesty takes us places I’m sure we don’t want to go. Would President Trachtenberg extend this logic to his current set of students and employees, many of whom come from groups that face the same sort of discrimination Ms. Jones faced in the 1970s?
There may have been a way to save Ms. Jones’s job, but this article is not helpful in pointing out the way.
Unapologetically Tenured, at 7:45 am EDT on June 14, 2007
Interesting argument, but that’s not the point
I did know Marilee Jones and thought she did a fantastic job at MIT. However, your article missed the real point. Ms. Jones not only lied about her degree when she applied at MIT, over the years she added another degree (that she didn’t have) and then lied in her resignation letter, when she said she lied 28 years ago and hadn’t had the courage to correct it (not mentioning the fact that she’d added another unearned degree along the way). Also, every time the information was mentioned, printed, or stated, Ms. Jones, by not correcting it, was essentially lying again.
It was right for MIT to let her go, even though she had done a fantastic job at MIT. It’s not about not having the degrees — it’s about lying about the fact that she had the degrees. That is not something that any university or other employer should let stand, and there’s not excuse for it. MIT would have dismissed a student if it found they had lied about something in their application, so why should they not dismiss an employee that lied in their application (and again later in their tenure)?
I do wish, however, that MIT had done one thing differently. Since Marilee was such a beloved person at MIT and had done so much for the institution over the years, I wish they had allowed her to resign quietly, rather than making an example of her — that would have been a kinder thing to do.
Margaret, at 7:50 am EDT on June 14, 2007
Statue of limitation?
True, Ms. Jones’ delict calls for a measure of proportion and understanding, but why should the antiquity of her offense blunt its penalty? Ms. Jones was doubltess most skilled at her job, but so likely was Patrick Imbardelli, the CE of Intercontinental Hotels’ Asia-Pacific division, who’s just quit after lying about the 3 degrees he claimed on his CV. Seehttp://business.timesonline.co.uk...y_sectors/leisure/article1930584.ece
Abbott Katz, Dr., at 8:50 am EDT on June 14, 2007
Forgiveness?
I understand President Trachtenburg’s argument and appreciate his comments. However, we are discussing a woman w/ over 25 years experience in higher education. We have to hold ourselves to a higher standard. The bottom-line is that Ms. Jones lied about her accomplishments. This is not a gray area and should not be treated as such. She was an administrator dealing w/ incoming students on a daily basis. Administrators need to set the example for their students. Would Ms. Jones tolerate plagiarism or cheating among her students applying for admission at MIT? Where do we draw the line? I believe that MIT made the right decision. HOOAH!
Tom G., at 8:55 am EDT on June 14, 2007
Redemtion
We’ll never know if Ms. Jones privately sought redemption by showing understanding and compassion to those MIT applicants over the years discovered to be frauds of one sort or another. The personal burden of a self-inflicted career shipwreck might be easier to bear in the light of consistently humane behavior towards others with similar failings. One wonders if President Trachtenberg would be as harsh toward the person who exposed Ms. Jones if it came to light that the whistle-blower was an otherwise promising MIT applicant who’d been caught fudging, say, a middle school credential, and then summarily dismissed and disgraced by Ms. Jones’ and her team of eagle-eyed meritocrats?
Admissions Dean, at 9:00 am EDT on June 14, 2007
Engineering isn’t poly-sci
In an era of presidential perjury, political promises conveniently forgotten, $5,000/student “pre-admissions” counselors, and a 13% confidence factor in the Senate majority leader — the brave are those who support standards. Because that is why the USA is the USA — rule of law.
This is especially true in hard-side academia. “Fudged” data on bridge diagrams? Or space shuttle heat shields? The outcome is obvious.
Deceptions ultimately grow, and grow faster if ignored. CU-Boulder has learned that.
As for Ms. Jones — she has probably been called by a number of pre-admissions counseling services. She’ll do OK, IMHO.
Buzz, at 9:20 am EDT on June 14, 2007
A Long-term Lie
Ms. Jones’ transgression was not 28 years ago. Rather, it lasted for 28 years.
If she had lied to get a job back in the 80s, then soon corrected the lie and the record to reflect reality, I would say that her job performance over the past decades would far outweigh her mistake in the past. But that’s not what happened.
She’d probably have been out of a job as soon as she ‘fessed up no matter when that was. But if she’d done it 27 years ago, she’d have gone on to other positions with integrity intact, and this one indiscretion would have been long forgotten and truly irrelevant.
BKO, at 10:15 am EDT on June 14, 2007
feminist case?
I think there’s a plausible feminist case to be made against Marilee Jones. By promoting the popular idea of today’s college students as grade-grubbing conformists with helicopter parents, as she did in her “Millennials” article, and by her actions later, she is helping to devalue academic degrees exactly when women are starting to achieve educational credentials equal to or superior to those of men. Women may not always be able to break into the old boys’ networks and schmooze their ways into better jobs, but in an educational environment where both admissions and grading are based on more or less objective criteria, they are more than able to compete. The drive to make these credentials less important in favor of more “intangible” qualities is not good for women.
jcl, at 1:25 pm EDT on June 14, 2007
My understanding is that Ms. Jones falsified even attending college, beyond a few community outreach courses. This is far more egregious than listing a different college from which she graduated, especially given her responsibilities. When you look back at her various speeches, blogs, and publications, the core values she implores are integrity and honesty. MIT was absolutely correct in upholding these very values.
CP, at 4:50 pm EDT on June 14, 2007
Protecting the guilty
While I might disagree with President Trachtenberg in this particular instance, based on the apparent multiple infractions of Marilee Jones, I do agree with his overall thesis that we often get carried away with our decisions, primarily to make a point, regarding controversial matters.
Faced with a very public infraction of morality and decency (and a criminal charge) at my college, we were recently about to terminate a tenured professor. Had the professor not shown remorse for his/her actions at what otherwise might have been our final meeting (short of potential litigation), the professor finally showed sincere remorse and threw him/herself on the mercy of the college.
We had been prepared to offer a loss of tenure and required rehab to the professor in this event and so we did just that. The professor had a stellar track record in the classroom and the victim had already spoken on the professor’s behalf.
I am happy to report that the contractual arrangement we worked out with the professor, including the loss of tenure, has worked out very well over the past year or more (4 more to go to get retenured) and we very likely did not send him/her off to engage in the same behavior at another college (based on a confidential personnel record and severance agreement).
These seemingly black-and-white issues are often not so black-and-white and on that point I agree with President Trachtenberg.
Anonymous, College President, at 7:00 pm EDT on June 14, 2007
A reference please
I recently saw an ad for a job that I’d very much like to have. I’m quite certain that I could do the job well: I’m a smart guy. I just don’t happen to have the degree that they say is required, but I don’t think that’s important.
I’ve decided to apply, and I’m just going to put on the application that I do have the degree, even though I don’t. I’m also going to list President Trachtenberg as a reference. I know he’ll cover for me.
Unemployed, at 8:25 pm EDT on June 14, 2007
Oh please
I wish that Steve ran GW in as philanthropic and generous a manner as he advocates in this article. Mark my words, if this happened at GW I assure you she would have been quickly fired.
Andrew Breza, Undergrad at The George Washington University, at 10:50 pm EDT on June 14, 2007
What’s really irking people?
I think what’s really bothering people here is that she didn’t need the degrees to do a terrific job.
That exposes the flaw in our credentialing system: you can do the job without the credentials.
I would’ve given her amnesty for a job well done and kept her on. A great employee is a great employee, and how rare are they?
I wrote about a similar situation in my “Ms. Mentor” column a few years ago (http://chronicle.com/jobs/2004/07/2004070101c/careers.html)about someone who was a fraud and a great teacher. The only complaints I got were from people who wanted her job.
Emily Toth
Emily Toth, at 10:55 pm EDT on June 14, 2007
Enter Ms. Mentor
Ms. Mentor,
Nice of you to join us. I enjoy your column in the Chronicle, though I disagreed with you in the case you cite and I disagree with you now. And for the record, I wouldn’t take Ms. Jones’s job if you doubled my pay and threw in a Bentley for the commute.
Of course, credentialing is imperfect. That shouldn’t surprise anyone. There are probably a handful of well-read men and women with eighth-grade educations who could effectively teach graduate-level history courses. Just the same, I would advise history departments to hire from the pool of Ph.D.s rather than from the pool of those who never attended high school.
Another reason that many positions require a college degree (including, I suspect, the one to which Ms. Jones initially applied) is because the completion of a degree documents a certain mental discipline. If nothing else, college graduates have demonstrated the ability to commit to a multi-year task and to see it through without succumbing to laziness, procrastination, ennui, or any of the other maladies that cull the herd between the freshman and senior year. That sort of discipline is invaluable in just about any profession.
Obviously, there will always be a few college dropouts who can summon that same level of discpline. Bill Gates is one example and Marilee Jones is apparently another. But given the typical career trajectories of graduates vs. dropouts, it is clear that Gates and Jones are the exception and not the rule. The credential is, in this case, more often meaningful than not.
As to whether Ms. Jones was doing a “great job", I suppose it depends on one’s perspective. On the one hand, she was evidently satisfying her bosses and effectively serving—indeed, even inspiring—many of her students. On the other hand, she was lying to her employers, risking the reputation of her university, and demanding that students meet standards of intellectual honesty that she could (or would) not. As far as I am concerned, all of these issues also go to the question of performance.
Letting Ms. Jones off the hook sends students college students a bad message. Using her case as a basis for arguing that “you can do the job without the credentials” sends them an even worse message. In the end, regardless of her other virtues, Ms. Jones had to go.
Unapologetically Tenured, at 4:35 am EDT on June 15, 2007
Sorry link doesn’t work
The column I wrote is called “A Fraud and a Great Teacher.” It’s my Ms. Mentor column, on the Chronicle of Higher Education’s Career Network (chronicle.com/jobs). Google should find it.
People who are angry with Trachtenberg will be angry with me, too. But I didn’t mean to give the link incorrectly.
Emily Toth
Emily Toth
EMILY TOTH, at 4:35 am EDT on June 15, 2007
Ms. Toth — legal issue
Ms. Toth: I typically find your column humorous and helpful. Unfortunately, here, I believe a legal issue has arisen (Larry, where are you?).
Human resources professionals will point out that on job applications today, any deliberate action to lie, cheat, mislead, deceive, etc., will result in immediate termination. In the similar, current matter at CU-Boulder, that issue was addressed, involving affirmative action.
Yesterday, a U.S. vice-presidential adviser was told about rule of law, in a very controversial case. Multiple standards ultimately leads to mistrust, distrust, and a breakdown of order and discipline.
God forgives Ms. Jones. I hope she forgives herself. MIT appears to have preserved her pension rights. If this were Hollywood, she’d be in rehab, preparing herself for bigger things. In any event, life will go on.
L.L., Fan at “Unapologetically Tedious” Institute, at 8:50 am EDT on June 15, 2007
Marilee Jones
Thank you for your wonderful comments Prof. Trachtenberg. As an MIT grad, I personally found MIT’s handling of the Marilee Jones situation to be draconian. Who of us has not made mistakes in our youth? I wonder how many MIT faculty might also be guilty of some curriculum vitae puffing, about the wisdom of rewarding a disgruntled phone tipster, and about whether MIT has consistently applied such stringent punishments when their own faculty have been guilty of ethical infractions (such as sexually harassing students or bullying talented job applicants, for instance). It is not like she was practicing medicine without a degree; her job did not require a degree, and MIT was also guilty for not checking her qualifications. Surely there should be a statute of limitations in this case. Dean Jones’s actions over three decades of service to MIT have provided ample evidence of a person of the highest possible integrity and humanity. Had she been sentenced by a court of law for a once in a lifetime misjudgement in her youth three decades ago, not nearly as draconian a sentence would have been pronounced by even the most severe judge. Who is not guilty of a serious mistake at some time in their life? MIT’s actions in this case were a cruel hypocritical over-reaction that lacked heart and wisdom. I hope Jones will be allowed to re-apply for the job, but this time with her true credentials.Ben Barres
Ben Barres, Professor of Neurobiology at Stanford University, at 2:00 pm EDT on June 17, 2007
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Marilee Jones
Being an 8th grade dropout (actually 10th grade)I KNOW that I could teach at the college/university level. History, Political Science, Economics and perhaps, Spanish. But what would be the point? To suffer the students or faculty? Ms Jones did an extraordinary thing. She maintained a fiction for close to thirty years. How many of us are capable of maintaining a TRUTH for half as long. So, she is fired! So long. You’re outta here! If there is one us alive that cannot recall an error in judgement, a slip of morality, a turning away from a Truth, I would like to meet him/her. Did she do her job well? Was she of service to her school? Her students? I do not condone either her initial action nor her continuous maintenance of the lie. I cannot condone the demeaning arrogance of the T/A’s, lecturers, instructors, asst. professors who have never made a mistake.There but for the grace of God, go the rest of us.
jgb, at 1:20 am EDT on July 26, 2007