MIT dean of admissions resigns after lying about her academic credentials

KSUViolet06 · #1 04-27-2007, 09:24 AM

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americ...ean/index.html

CNN) -- The dean of admissions at one of America's most prestigious schools resigned on Thursday after the university discovered she had lied about her academic credentials.

Marilee Jones, who joined the staff of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1979 to lead the recruitment of women at the university, stepped down from her post after admitting that she had "misrepresented her academic degrees to the institute," according to a statement posted on MIT's Web site.

"I misrepresented my academic degrees when I first applied to MIT 28 years ago and did not have the courage to correct my resume when I applied for my current job or at any time since," Jones said in a posting on the school's Web site.

"I am deeply sorry for this and for disappointing so many in the MIT community and beyond who supported me, believed in me, and who have given me extraordinary opportunities."

Patti Richards, spokeswoman for MIT, said the school had received information about Jones' credentials and investigated them. "At various times she claimed to have received degrees from Albany Medical College, Rensellaer Polytechnic Institute, and Union College and we confirmed that she had not graduated from any of these schools."

"This is a sad and unfortunate event," said Daniel E. Hastings, dean for undergraduate education at the Cambridge school, in a Web posting. "But the integrity of the institute is our highest priority, and we cannot tolerate this kind of behavior."

Jones was named dean of admissions at MIT in 1997 and received MIT's highest award for administrators, the "MIT Excellence Award for Leading Change." She was also the 2006 winner of the "Gordon Y Billard Award" given "for special service of outstanding merit" performed for the school.

Stuart Schmill, MIT's senior associate director of admissions, has been named the interim director of admissions.

AlexMack · #2 04-27-2007, 12:48 PM

I wonder who busted her?

AchtungBaby80 · #3 04-27-2007, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by centaur532

I wonder who busted her?

No kidding. Especially after 28 years.

KSUViolet06 · #4 04-27-2007, 03:43 PM

When this story first broke, I thought about all the kids who get rejected from MIT every year. The woman who made the decision about whether they got in wasn't even a college grad!

alum · #5 04-27-2007, 03:56 PM

I work at a rinky-dink college with multiple campuses around the world. All staff and faculty have to resubmit resumes and transcripts every two years. I am shocked that MIT doesn't do this.

PeppyGPhiB · #6 04-27-2007, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

When this story first broke, I thought about all the kids who get rejected from MIT every year. The woman who made the decision about whether they got in wasn't even a college grad!

No kidding, wait til I tell my boyfriend! It was the one school he was rejected from.

mystikchick · #7 04-28-2007, 01:57 AM

i was really disappointed when i heard this - i read her famed essay (last year?) about how the college applications process is becoming an absurd hypercompetition that simply isn't healthy, and i admired her for having the guts to come out and say that. all the admissions office at my school can do is be 'misquoted' (yeah right) in the nyt about how part of the deal in raising tuition to sickeningly high levels (we outrank yale) is that it makes parents think 'oh they must be more selective.'

wonder what made her feel the need to add extra degrees.

mystikchick · #8 04-28-2007, 02:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

When this story first broke, I thought about all the kids who get rejected from MIT every year. The woman who made the decision about whether they got in wasn't even a college grad!

if MIT is anything like my school, admissions decisions are made in committee, so while she would have had a say in it, hers wouldn't have been the deciding vote. still, i think part of the embarrasment is that she's such a high-profile and well known admissions officer from MIT - i doubt this would have been such a huge deal had she not been so well known for that essay/her blog/etc

JonInKC · #9 04-28-2007, 04:38 AM

...and she would have gotten away with it if it weren't for those meddling kids.

alum · #10 04-28-2007, 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mystikchick

if MIT is anything like my school, admissions decisions are made in committee, so while she would have had a say in it, hers wouldn't have been the deciding vote. still, i think part of the embarrasment is that she's such a high-profile and well known admissions officer from MIT - i doubt this would have been such a huge deal had she not been so well known for that essay/her blog/etc

Saw this on http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/...336353&page=32

Quote:

Quote:
Ms. Jones would have been the final reader on my son's application to MIT

I remembered an MIT blog post saying that Marilee Jones generally has a last read on the files of all admitted applicants. Here is the exact wording I found in an MIT blog entry written two years ago:

Quote:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt McGann, MIT admissions blogger
You might ask, so selection is over, why can't I have my decision? What happens now? Well, as you've read, there is randomness built into our admissions process, from the reading to the selection subcommittees. The final step ensures consistency and fairness: all of the decisions are reviewed by a small team lead by Dean Marilee Jones. The vast majority of decisions from the selection room will be upheld; some decisions will be changed (one way or the other) if they seem inconsistent with the process. This is a good thing for you, one more way that we make sure there are no "mistakes," and that everything is appropriately considered.

http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/...8_beyond.shtml

On another blog entry of Matt's, I saw this post by Ben Jones which references a CC post.

Quote:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ben Jones
First a senior staff person will do a quick read to make sure there aren't a bunch of D's or combined 400 on the SAT. This takes about 10 minutes tops. Any application that has even a remote chance of making it through selection committee will make it past this stage. This is just to make sure we're not wasting time doing full reads on people who aren't competitive (and by that I mean *really* not competitive).

After than, 2 readers will read everything in your folder (yes, everything) and write individual summaries. Figure 25-45 minutes per reader, depending on the speed and experience of the reader and the size of the app.

Then selection committee, where different groups (each generally comprised of 2-3 admissions officers and sometimes a faculty member) will discuss the app for ~10 minutes each, guided by the two summaries (but able to access anything in the folder they want). If it's a clear admit, sometimes the group can admit, but generally an admitted app is seen by at least 2 groups and usually more like 3, even 4.

Then Marilee (Dean of Admissions) will personally review each and every admit (I don't know how long, prob 5-10 minutes) before approving the final decision.

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/...84&postcount=1

(This is the stickied FAQ thread in the MIT Forum.)

Bottom line: Marilee Jones has signed off on every admission decision at MIT for several years. All of which makes the recent revelations dismaying to the colleagues who trusted her and to the students who sought admission at MIT. MIT is blessed with a great group of applicants, and no one should feel bad about being admitted after coming forward and submitting an application--there was plenty of competition to get in. But, yeah, I feel for everyone connected with this process, and I wish MIT well in improving the leadership of the fine staff it already has in its admission office.

aephi alum · #11 04-28-2007, 05:16 PM

My jaw pretty much hit the floor when I read the article. I'm shocked and surprised that MIT never verified her credentials, especially as she was promoted to positions that did require college degrees (her initial job didn't). I hope they did a better job reviewing the professors' backgrounds!

mystikchick · #12 04-28-2007, 06:29 PM

thanks for the info alum, i stand (at least partially) corrected. i didn't realize she signed off on every admit.

scratch what i said earlier, i'd be furious if i/my child had gotten turned down from MIT and that decision was made by her

UGAalum94 · #13 04-29-2007, 06:51 PM

I think she needed to get fired for lying, no doubt. Only option, period.

It is interesting to note though that she demonstrated that the degrees she would have needed to be considered for her later positions pretty obviously don't require the degree to do the job well.

alum · #14 04-29-2007, 06:56 PM

What's interesting is that her husband also works for MIT (he runs an important research facility). If he knew that her academic background was a pack of lies and he failed to turn her in, should he be fired as well?

KSigkid · #15 04-30-2007, 11:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alum

What's interesting is that her husband also works for MIT (he runs an important research facility). If he knew that her academic background was a pack of lies and he failed to turn her in, should he be fired as well?

Maybe he didn't know - there's that trust between spouses, and if he met her after college/grad school/etc., he may have been just as duped about this whole thing.