Higher Education Quick Takes

A former West Virginia University professor who had been nominated to lead its epidemiology department made up credentials for his resume, including his doctorate, and may now face questions about his published works, according to an investigation by NBC News.

NBC's report raises questions about Anoop Shankar and what it called his "history of fraud." Shankar, who left the university in December 2012,  was asked to lead a public health program just as the university was attempting to start a public health school and step up its quest for research dollars in a state with many citizens facing dire short- and long-term health problems. The report also suggested, in an even more bizarre twist, that two people close to Shankar falsely accused another professor of sexual misconduct because that professor was reviewing Shankar's credentials. 

In a statement, university spokesman John Bolt failed to address specifics but said the university "immediately and appropriately followed its policies, procedures and all applicable law to assess the circumstances" since questions about Shankar's credentials were first raised while he was still at the university. He added, "WVU's discoveries were shared with law enforcement and appropriate research funding agencies."  Yet, according to NBC, when Shankar was "forced" out under a cloud, the public was never informed about the situation. After WVU, Shankar moved on to Virginia Commonwealth University. But he is no longer there after it opened its own investigation following inquiries by NBC.

Senator Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts Democrat who has been a leading critic of how the U.S. Department of Education oversees the companies it hires to service federal student loans, indicated Wednesday that she is not satisfied with the department’s effort to overhaul its agreements with those companies. Under pressure from Senate Democrats like Warren, as well as many groups representing students, labor unions, and consumers, the Education Department announced last month that it had renegotiated new contracts with the four main entities it hires to manage payments for federal student loan borrowers.

The new contracts change the payment structure for loan servicers, increasing the rate at which they are paid for accounts in good standing and reducing the amount of money they are paid for delinquent accounts. The servicers will also receive new bonuses if they keep their borrowers’ delinquency rates at certain levels.

At a Senate hearing Wednesday, Warren grilled an Education Department official over the new contracts, asking why the loan servicing companies would be paid more to manage the payments of borrowers in good standing. She cited analysis by Compass Point that showed that Navient, the loan-servicing business that was previously part of Sallie Mae, stood to receive an additional $20 million under the payment structure without making any changes to the health of their portfolio.

Navient has drawn particular scrutiny from Warren and other student and consumer groups. Federal prosecutors earlier this year accused the company of overcharging military service members. It entered into a multimillion-dollar settlement with the Department of Justice, in which it did not admit any wrongdoing.

William Leith, the chief business operations officer for the department’s Federal Student Aid office, said that while the department estimated that the servicers, in aggregate, would receive more money to service loans, the contracts were designed to help borrowers. He said that the Education Department was on track to complete a 120-day review of whether any of its loan servicers, including Navient, had illegally overcharged service member borrowers. That review will be completed in the next several weeks, he said. 

Thirty-eight students at Olivet College have been treated at local hospitals in the last two days for symptoms such as nausea, headaches and dizziness, The Lansing State Journal reported. The college has also evacuated a dormitory in which 35 of the students lived. The college is testing for elevated levels of carbon monoxide. (Note: This item has been corrected based on information provided by the college.)

In today's Academic Minute, Chris Adami, professor of physics and astronomy, and of microbiology and molecular genetics at Michigan State University, discusses his work to improve upon Stephen Hawking’s landmark theories about the universe. Learn more about the Academic Minute here.