Sam Brownback hires IT chief with diploma-mill degree
Update: A day after accepting the job as Kansas chief information technology officer, Jim Mann resigned from the $150,000-per-year job yesterday after it was revealed that he had a degree from an online diploma mill, the Topeka Capital-Journal, reports. The paper, which broke the story, reports that Mann’s resignation letter read, “The questions surrounding my qualifications to perform and deliver in this position have compromised confidence in me and in my integrity. As such, I am no longer an asset to your team and your IT mission.”
Original Story: As the recession drags on, pundits and studies are split over whether a college degree is more valuable or becoming completely meaningless. But there’s no denying that, even if it doesn’t hold the same benefits it once did, a college degree is a nice résumé booster. The only consensus that experts seem to agree on is that a college degree is expensive but should lead to greater earning potential. New Kansas chief information technology officer Jim Mann knows this. Gov. Sam Brownback appointed Mann to his new $150,000-a-year gig on Monday, and the Topeka Capital-Journal reports, Mann’s supposed degree from the University of Devonshire is little more than a fancy piece of paper bought off the Internet.
The C-J‘s Tim Carpenter took to Google to dig up more information about this British-sounding institution and found a 2002 Wired article explaining that the University of Devonshire is one of many online diploma factories with legit-seeming names that charge a few grand for a degree with “no tests or coursework required.”
