VCU: Monroe’s degree will ’stand’

Rodney Monroe can keep his degree, according to a statement by Thomas Rosenthal (Rector of the VCU Board of Visitors) that was released today by the university. But the investigation did reveal some troubling details.

The investigation found no evidence that the student, former Richmond Police Chief Rodney Monroe, had any role in requesting an exception to this residency rule, or even was aware that the rule existed, or that an exception was granted. Chief Monroe has fully cooperated with the investigation and has voluntarily waived his right to confidentiality for the purpose of this statement. All options in the matter of this degree were considered and because the investigation found no evidence of academic misconduct by the student, both the Board and the administration agree that the degree should stand.

Click here to read the entire news release at the VCU News Center.

Posted in Hub's Blurbs, RVANews-news, VCU

23 Comments.

1. The controversy surrounding VCU continues. Awarding bogus degrees. Taking tobacco money. Rapid campus expansion into neighborhoods (Oregon Hill, slave burial grounds, etc). VCU needs to clean up its act, and perhaps Trani isn’t the right person to do it.

2. I hope Charlotte enjoys their new police chief with the degree from University of Phoenix Online.

3. Perhaps the city of Richmond can hire somebody with a legitimate degree to manage the >880 people in the police department and the vitally important task that they are charged with.

Sam @ June 27th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Sam,

VCU has had a rough few months of publicity that didn’t underline the positives it would rather we look at with its 40th anniversary coming up.

Seems to me the tobacco money story got blown up bigger than it ought to have been. Everybody in Richmond takes Philip Morris dough. VCU takes money from Massey, too.

But the slave burial ground thing got fixed fast. Oregon Hill is another matter. I tended to see their side of it more than VCU’s.

FTRea @ June 27th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
The interesting thing was not so much that VCU received Philip Morris money. What was interesting was Trani sitting on the board of a tobacco company as well as the secretive nature of academic research deals with the tobacco industry.

Scott Burger @ June 28th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
I would also say the ‘mea culpa’ by Trani on Monroe’s degree is pretty eyebrow-raising (like the Kaine reference?).

Scott Burger @ June 28th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Sam,

I should have given you some credit for that U of P crack. It was choice.

Scott,

Eyebrow foreshadowing of the next VCU prez?

FTRea @ June 28th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
U of P is a joke! No decent school would accept those credits. I do give Trani credit for all he has done to take VCU to a higher level in terms of student recruitment and fundraising. All schools take money from big corporations that will offend some and all schools upset the neighbors. Unfortunately one stupid move like this one with Monroe can undo in an instant years and years of hard work. I am hopeful that Trani and Rosenthal will press the Provost to make sure that justice in done to the criminal justice professor who allowed this to happen – ironic, isn’t it? If VCU wants to really celebrate their 40th anniversary the right way, then make July 1 the day when heads roll for this injustice to all VCU students, graduates, faculty, and citizens of Virginia. I say FIRE the faculty member who Rodney Monroe named in the Times Dispatch. Her name was in the anonymous letter, I’ve learned. This is an easy problem to fix.

Ram Fan @ June 29th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
to ram fan,

It wasn’t a CJ faculty that did anything, even though one was mentioned in the RTD. This decision was made at a much higher level.

Actually, it can only be made at a higher level than some individual faculty member.

Besides, the Chief’s degree isn’t in CJ, it’s a Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies, which is awarded through the “University College.”

The fact is, however, awarding the Chief a degree was a major exception to the normal procedures at VCU, at least in Cj and in the other depts in the Wilder School of Govt and one that will land a person or two in some serious hot water.

notthefaculty @ June 30th, 2008 at 4:31 am
Obviously, it would be more satisfying for the university to be more open with how this all went down. Perhaps if the public knew more about the identity and motive of the “anonymous” tipster, it would shed some light on this.

Did anyone associated with Doug Wilder have a hand in walking this unusual degree past the normal requirements?

As it stands now, I don’t know who should be punished, if anyone.

FTRea @ June 30th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Rodney Monroe named one person as the ONLY person with whom he spoke about the requirements for his degree. Actually he went out of his way to confirm this. It’s in the Times Dispatch for all to see. Was this faculty member the one who taught Monroe his 6 hours? Since he thought that his degree was in CJ as listed on his resume for the Charlotte job then it seems reasonable that these two “classes” were in CJ. It’s disappointing that some faculty members are circling the wagons rather than pushing for all of the facts to come to light. Rector Tom Rosenthal made it clear that those involved from VCU were NOT cooperating with the investigation. Furthermore, no one signed Monroe’s application for the degree – the person who would have signed it would have been the person in charge of the ID program. Interesting that she didn’t sign – was she making a statement that she didn’t approve of what was being forced on her department by another department? Seems likely. Rodney Monroe isn’t a bad guy – but unfortunately for him, and for the reputation of VCU, a person or persons in positions of authority at VCU put him in what could be a career-ending situation. That’s arrogance plain and simple. I want to know why tenured faculty members at VCU aren’t publicly calling for full disclosure on the situation. They should be troubled at what transpired. The taxpayers and students have a right to know – personnel matter or not. Let’s shine some light on this!!

Ram Fan @ June 30th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
From VCU’s website:
Criminal Justice Professors at VCU
Jay S. Albanese, Ph.D.
Christina Barnes
Glenn S. Coffey
Jill A. Gordon
Patricia Grant
Christopher G. Kopacki
Robyn Lacks
Michael Leiber
Don Martin
Laura Moriarty
John Reitzel
Steven Spruill
Art Westveer

Could we ask that the faculty member or members who taught Monroe either or both of his two VCU classes to come forward? It might be helpful to hear from you if you are willing to share.

Ram Fan @ June 30th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
I thought Monroe did a pretty good job. As long as that’s true, who cares where his degree is from?

Justin @ June 30th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
I’m definitely concerned with the Monroe diploma situation as I am a student in the process of disputing credits at VCU with some board who I will never see in person. With the supposed tightening on grading and graduation requirements by this/these secret board(s), I would have expected things to go a different way. I will definitely bring up this situation if need to defend myself further. If he can play ignorance on the rules and regulations, then I can too.

As for Trani, what do you expect? He needs the free smokes for when he holes up in his house writing his memoirs. But seriously, in this small ass city do you really expect these powerful people ($$$) not to schmooze and make deals together. As much as they would like to deny it, they’re all in the same good ‘ol boy circles and these contracts are bound to be a part of how they do things.

Anyone at all familiar with the Richmond blogosphere can see that most of the largest public organizations are run by incompetent people and committees. This combined with Richmond’s obsessive resistance to change leads almost every single project taken on by the city or a committee to become plagued with flaws and controversies.

VCUstudent08 @ July 1st, 2008 at 1:04 am
I hope that the faculty of the Criminial Justice program and/or the Wilder School will speak up about this. It’s apparent to me that Notthefaculty is likely such a person based on his/her comments about the normal proceedures of both CJ and Wilder School. Please tell us what happened. Tell us who is to blame. Although Trani may have said it was a nice idea, I don’t believe ANY tenured faculty member would bow down to that and break the sacred trust (and risk sanctions from the accrediting agency) just to please him. Heck, at most schools, the faculty really run things and they can even run a president out on a rail if they would so choose. Unless we hear otherwise the most obvious suspects are the ones that Monroe disclosed, the one the anonymous letter disclosed, and the one with whom Monroe had a professional relationship – that’s a CJ faculty member.

Ram Fan @ July 1st, 2008 at 11:32 am
I cannot say what happened because I don’t know who made the final decision or how it came about. Most likely neither do the faculty in CJ.

I can say that I found out from the news like a lot of others in the community.

I can also say that many of the VCU faculty are bothered by the situation given that there are a lot of students who work extremely hard to earn their degrees here and often get denied exceptions to different requests in situations where they had asked for “much less.”

Though I mean not to suggest any notion that awarding the Chief his degree is not a problem, but it is my belief that given the known facts, this decision was made by someone in an administrative capacity (very unlikely that it was Trani but who knows).

The way in which the university is set up (like almost every other accredited, reputable university), someone with some administrative power had to have or should have signed off on it.

I would also submit that this incident is an exception to the rule on how the Wilder school operates and (in some very important ways is mutually exclusive to the whole tobacco debacle).

A near lion’s share of the decisions made regarding students are routine (but not necessarily unimportant). But routine or not, these decisions are made within the confines of university regulations and obviously with common sense and an eye on doing what’s right.

I doubt you’ll see much in the way of CJ or Wilder faculty calling for heads to role or speaking out too much. Not because they don’t care and because they are not bothered by it (or afraid to speak) but because most probably do not know much more beyond what was reported. I know you find that hard to believe but it’s true.

From my vantage point, as far as scandals go, this ranks pretty low on the scale. In fact, I don’t think anyone should lose their job over it unless evidence of criminal wrongdoing is found (or something close to it such as a real quid pro quo).

Rather, a reconsideration of the procedures and a discussion of whether VCU should even be accepting University of Phoenix credits (I do not think they should) or life credits (I do not think they should, but there are morally and logically compelling arguments that can be made in support of doing so).

My own belief is that this incident should viewed as an outcome of other, larger problems with the internal operations of VCU and to some degree, of the culture within the administration although there is nothing scandalous about these larger problems, per se (i.e. they are related to problems with large organizations in general and some misplaced priorities).

I welcome your thoughts on it.

notthefaculty

notthefaculty @ July 1st, 2008 at 10:33 pm
Thanks for your good and thorough comments, nothefaculty. Boy, you were burning the midnight oil responding at 10 pm. Were you teaching class? One aspect of your response is worth expanding upon – the credits that are counted in the transfer process. I agree that the University of Phoenix credits and credits from similar schools should not be counted by VCU or any other traditional 4-year college. Unfortunately, if Monroe’s degree stands, then other students should expectf or their online classes to be counted. The door is ajar.

I disagree that “life experience” should be counted for so many reasons – two that immediately come to mind: (1) the evaluation of such experiences would be subjective and therefore subject to uneven application and abuse, (2) what kinds of experiences would count? Would just a police officer be afforded this opportunity over say a mother of three children? I would argue that the latter might be more taxing.

I still think that the faculty member who was named by Monroe should face sanctions. This story has been published all over the world and makes VCU look really bad. It insults the tens of thousands of students who crossed every “t” and dotted very “i”, and may have paid dearly for going through the process fairly. Granting this degree was wrong – at least in the opinion of many. If a person is faced with a moral dilemma such as this – providing special favors under what you stated was pressure from “higher ups” in the administration – then that person has a choice. No one forces anyone to compromise their integrity. If a person in this position doesn’t have the morals and values to do the right thing, then that person has no place teaching others. My opinion, of course. But I’ve been there, done that so I speak from experience. Not to sound holier than Thou, but when a higher up in college administration tried to pursuade me to do something that violated university policy and my own basic understanding of right from wrong, I took the right road. I wouldn’t compromise my own integrity just to keep my job and/or move up the ladder. And so now I can live with myself. Making a living was a challenge for a while but good things happen to those who take the right path – eventually. Saying “someone forced me to do this” just doesn’t hold water – it is no excuse for breaking one of the most important rules in higher education and it is no excuse for tossing personal integrity out the window. Again, my perspective.

Ram Fan @ July 2nd, 2008 at 11:55 am
Just saw this on richmond.com:

Posted June 30, 2008 @ 09:13 PM by Anonymous
What did Robin Lacks, Phd, head of the Dept. that awarded him the degree (who happens to have a penchant for cozing up to Richmond’s Police Chiefs) get out of it, or was Monroe’s hiring her cohort, Shana Mell, the VCU doctoral student that got a “special job” with the RPD enough of a quid pro quo?

She is the one that was listed in the RTD by Monroe. Head of Public Safety Institute, I think.

Richmonder @ July 2nd, 2008 at 3:24 pm
To Ram Fan,

First things first. I try to be thoughtful in such matters and I at least “try” to refrain from being reactionary. And since you are thoughtful in your comments, I will continue to do likewise.

So on to the business…

I agree with your assessment and the problems with accepting such credits from UP or similar institutions and the practice of accepting life credits. Though, to be sure, there is no ironclad, objective rule that can cover the numerous situations presented by students (and I sure hope there never could be, but that’s a discussion for a different time).

However, certainly a bright line can be drawn between, for example, UP credits and, say, credits from Randolph-Macon.

The life credits thingy, on the other hand, is a much more slippery slope for exactly the reasons you state. By the way, I couldn’t have come up with a better comparison to prove my point. Let me just say “my sentiments exactly.”

Perhaps something will change down the road; I am not too cynical to hold out some hope that such an argument against it could be won.

However, if the university insists giving credit for “life experiences” then it should be under very limited circumstances and not for many credits, say 9-12 credits maximum!! (remember, my preference is zero credits).

I would imagine that most “sentient” faculty members would agree; or at least those who went through the blood, sweat, and tears of a phd, have some moral code and pride in the academy and it’s “traditions.”

btw, I didn’t say that life experiences should be counted. I was simply pointing out that there is a plausible argument that can be made in support of giving life credits.

But like you, I don’t buy the arguments and I certainly don’t agree with the practice.

I understand where you are coming from regarding the reputation of the university and someone being held accountable but I am willing more willing to give some benefit of doubt to those involved, at least in terms of whether this was some orchestrated incident or someone just not doing their job well enough.

And yes, most students who cross their “t’s”would love to catch such a break as Monroe did but they don’t or haven’t, which is one of the central issues why it is wrong.

However–and I am speaking with no actual knowledge about what or how this all came about except from what I read in the papers–I am not sure that any one faculty, i.e. teaching faculty, whether the person named in the news or any other, were responsible for this occurring.

As others have noted, including me, the final decision for granting degrees rests in the hands of an administrator. They sign off on the paperwork (or are supposed to) so it falls on their lap.

Now, if there was some quid pro quo going on or if there was strong evidence that an individual faculty member deliberately submitted paperwork they knew to be false, then of course, these things are clearly wrong and should be dealt with accordingly.

I am just not sure that is what happened here yet I don’t begrudge others for being very skeptical about the whole affair either.

I guess I am just trying to urge restraint until more is known (if ever).

I fully trust that the rector was being truthful when he said that Trani was not involved. It just doesn’t strike me as plausible although I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s not impossible because that would be naïve on my part.

Also, remember, the Chief’s degree was a Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies, which is administered through University College; a different entity within the university and separate from criminal justice is housed. Thus, it’s up to officials in UC to certify that the chief met the requirements, not a faculty of cj.

These are the facts as I know them and of course, my opinion about them. If something is uncovered in the coming weeks/months then we’ll know for sure, obviously.

I wouldn’t bet the ranch on it just yet.

I’ll close on that thought for now but I’ll be back..for good or bad.

notthefaculty @ July 3rd, 2008 at 1:34 am
Oh my, notthefaculty, you must be an insomniac, posting your response at 1:34 am! All good thoughts – you obviously take great pride in your writing and are obsessive with details. All admirable in this context . . .

Some faculty members can find themselves in precarious circumstances and therefore they would have to be most careful on their actions. I could see a collateral faculty member being reluctant to “step off the reservation” and expose wrongdoing but I would think that a tenured one should feel confident standing up for what’s right – even if that means challenging the administration. Maybe I’m just too much of a glass half full, optimist and naïve to think that even tenured faculty members are protected.

One might argue that this infraction isn’t the worst that a faculty member could commit – like say having a relationship with multiple students in his/her classes over time which some would find despicable. Also a potential problem for a faculty member would involve treating students unfairly in grading, like giving an “A” to a favored student who hasn’t completed her work while threatening another who is temporarily out of favor with an incomplete under the same circumstances. But I think anyone who was involved in compromising the sacred process of degree granting has probably committed a more egregious and atypical offense. This, in my opinion, is unforgivable.

I think it’s important to note in light of the criticism of Trani that Rector Tom Rosenthal has uncompromised integrity – so there is no doubt that he thoroughly reviewed the information and found the facts. If he says Trani wasn’t involved, he wasn’t. If he says that those involved on the VCU side weren’t cooperative, then they weren’t. The latter is is a particularly troubling finding in my opinion.

But it all “is what it is” for now and the VCU community will have to try to resolve this matter as soon as possible. Until someone is brought to justice, we will all have to live with the consequences – the embarrassment, shame, and finger pointing will continue.

In the meantime, some of us will just have to agree to disagree on who is responsible until it all comes to light – and I am confident that it will. Richmond is a small town and there are NO secrets. Telling the truth – always telling the truth – is required of all decent members – in all circumstances. Let’s hope that in the end those involved will do the decent thing and tell all.

Ram Fan @ July 3rd, 2008 at 1:56 pm
Wow, Ram Fan, it seems like this Monroe thing may be the tip of the iceberg in terms of the improper things going on at VCU. I must admit, I’ve experienced some that what you described first hand. So sad. I just wish someone had given me a “pass” on my degree requirements!! I would be happy to take the good with the bad!! Instead, I just got the bad!

I do think that Trani is probably not connected to this all. It was a mid-level faculty member who worked with someone in administration to do a favor for a highly-regarded police chief. I hope the truth will come out sooner rather than later.

LDP 06 @ July 3rd, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Such is life…let’s just say that I burn the candle about both ends way too much these days…

First things first, collateral and adjuncts are not in much of a position to speak out for obvious reasons. Also, you won’t hear much from untenured assistant professors who have yet to reach the promised land. So you are left with
less than half the faculty at the university who can speak more freely without fear of the worst case retribution…losing one’s job.

Second, I would caution anyone against interpreting the general silence by the faculty as approval. I am certain that faculty are, to some degree or another, disturbed by the situation but probably see this as an isolated incident and thus, not a systematic violation of university policies or professional norms and thus, not enough to jeopardize their own careers.

Given the general nature of the professoriate, I would suggest that most are not too inclined to rash judgments in such matters, anyhow…at least publicly. And certainly very few would call for someone’s head on a platter. Without knowing the details and context of which it occurs (although he spectacle of the Duke lax incident portrays otherwise).

Mind you, I am not defending the actions of those involved or the general silence of the faculty. It is because professors are entrusted with a great amount of responsibility (rightly given the unique nature, history, and mission of a university) and, perhaps, an even greater amount of autonomy, which allows them to make many decisions without seeking clearance from administration, can sometimes lead to such violations. And, although there might be many people calling for changes to the system, I don’t see it as being helpful. This was a one or two people acting on their own and changing the system could very well lead to making things worse.

In some ways, I am more disturbed by the tobacco research incident and the Duke lax case than this incident. Am I bothered by it. Yes sir. But the long term effects will be minimal and I just hope that if there is strong evidence against and individual, the administration that the administration takes action.

I’ll leave you with this thought. It could very well be that someone or some “ones” in a decision making capacity simply made a very bad decision that was not a result of some corruptive influence or some quid pro quo. I know that sounds hard to believe but there is some possibility of that being the case. Is it still wrong? You bet, but it might not lead to someone being fired. If those charged with investigating this issue make such a determination, then I can live with that, so long as they provide a thorough explanation of what occurred.

notthefaculty @ July 4th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
I just hope they (VCU provost and Board) will get on with it – whatever “it” is and end this. This has been the topic of conversation everywhere I’ve been the last two days – in state and out of state. I guess I didn’t realize how many VCU grads there were out there. VCU has to “offer someone up” to the mob in my opinion (probably a faculty member and an administrator since they likely worked hand in hand to get this dirty deed done) and I think Monroe should give back the degree. Although he didn’t necessarily do anything wrong, he knows that he doesn’t really deserve the degree.

Ram Fan @ July 4th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
A friend who lives in Charlotte just told me about a radio interview with Monroe. Monroe was asked if a cash machine spit out money by mistake should the recipient have to return it. Monroe said yes. Then the interviewer asked what about a bachelor’s degree. Monroe had no answer. Seems like the story continues down there and up here we’re waiting to hear who is going to “pay” for Monroe’s free ride at the expense of VCU’s reputation. I am leaning towards Trani paying if no one else is offered up. I think the world of Trani, but someone has to be held accountable. And I don’t buy the personnel secrecy. This is a public school. Look at W&M and UR – the presidents were very publicly punished.

Ram Fan @ July 11th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Examples of spin: (I wasn’t make that up but since you need examples, here they are)

Times-Dispatch – June 3
“The VCU committee will meet tomorrow in closed session to review the allegations, said Rosenthal, who as rector leads the board of visitors. At issue is whether the six credits Monroe received at VCU qualified him for a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies. The university requires that at least 25 percent of 120 credit hours be completed at VCU, but exceptions may be granted. Exceptions sometimes are considered based on a candidate’s life experiences.”
**This makes the exception for Monroe seem like no big deal – exceptions may be granted. But I thought that since 2003 exceptions would not be granted – and his was the only one.

Times-Dispatch June 18, 2008
If former Richmond Police Chief Rodney Monroe got his bachelor’s degree as a result of a waiver to Virginia Commonwealth University’s residency requirement, he was among 11 to get such a waiver in the past three years.”
**This information made it sound as though he was not the only one – so not as big a deal. A later release said that he was the ONLY one since 2003.

Article entitled: At center of Monroe dispute, it gives some a second opportunity. RTD Friday, Jun 20, 2008
“Maxwell found that flexibility through Virginia Commonwealth University’s Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies, a program that caters to students pursuing degrees in nontraditional, individualized ways. For Maxwell, the program let him tailor the degree he needed to become head of the culinary arts, tourism and hospitality program at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College.”
**And another article about the program. All feel-good pieces that would paint a student like Monroe as someone that VCU could help. Shame on the rest of us for criticizing.

And there are other examples. Is this spin? Absolutely. Damage control. Is it okay for a public institution to engage in damage control? I don’t think so.

And finally this: TD JUne 5
“They told me what I needed to do,” Monroe said of VCU officials. “I’ve done all the work. No one has given me anything.” Monroe said the degree was the result of his work at four institutions, and that he was unaware of anyone trying to pressure VCU into granting the degree.
**He only met with one person. And what were the four institutions? Seems like we don’t know the forth one. VCU, UofP and the FBI (not higher ed).

LDP06 @ July 21st, 2008 at 1:12 pm