Following allegations that President-Elect Michael Hannigan received his Ph.D. from a "diploma mill", UAF Faculty Senate members took no official action last Monday after a committee investigating the matter submitted a report recommending that Hannigan retain his office.

The senate postponed adoption of the report in order to give members time to thoroughly read it. But a non-binding vote of confi- dence failed 1-16, constituting a "vote of no confidence" in Hannigan's ability to lead the senate, said President Abel Bult-Ito.

"It is now up to Professor Hannigan to decide whether he feels he can effectively continue as president-elect or whether he should resign," he said.

The investigating committee found no grounds for his recall, but called on the senate to examine how foreign institution accreditation should be evaluated. But the committee failed to resolve the validity of an International University de- gree, Bult-Ito said, instead focusing on "procedural issues" that were "out of context."

The report included a copy of the university's accreditation paperwork, but did not show whether it was a diploma mill or not. In Oregon, where unaccredited institutions are outlawed, International University is not considered a "legitimate provider of postsecondary education meeting Oregon standards," and it is not listed for St. Kitts by several

Hannigan, an associate professor of social work at UAF's Northwest Campus since 1985, holds a doctor- ate from the International University for Graduate Studies in the Caribbean nation of St. Kitts and Nevis. In April, he was elected president of the faculty senate, the governance body that forms and oversees academic policy at UAF.

Hannigan's credentials came into question after the publication of a June 25 article in The Chronicle for Higher Education. The article, which dealt with "diploma mills" and insti- tutions with questionable accreditation, quoted Han- nigan about the Ph.D. program at the International University.

Hannigan enrolled at the college after seeing an advertisement in a magazine, the article said. Hannigan had never finished a doctor- al program in family therapy at Florida State University, he told The Chronicle, and wanted to get his degree.

The university was a "lightweight," Hannigan said at the time, and he was "used to a bit more rigor in academic things." Although Hannigan claims in the piece that the university has "the same accreditation as Oxford," the article notes that only St. Kitts and Nevis recognizes it as such, a nation that once accredited a university that gave out degrees for watching sitcoms like "I Love Lucy."

Susan Andrews and John Creed, both journalism professors in Kotzebue, brought the matter to the senate's attention in Au- gust. Bult-Ito appointed a committee to look into the matter.

The committee found no explicit language requiring faculty to hold degrees from accredited institutions or what accreditation means, as accreditation practices differ in different countries.

But the report went a step beyond Bult-Ito's requests by focusing on what constitutes "generally accepted academic standards" at the University. The committee recommended that the senate, university administration and faculty unions address how to evaluate foreign institution accreditation.

Evaluation of foreign accreditation policies, the committee said, would help faculty in the future make decisions in peer evaluation cases like this. Clarity lacking, the committee recommended allowing Hannigan remain president.

The committee, chaired by philosophy professor and former president Norm Swazo, decided during Sept. 7 and 9 meetings to allow Andrews, Creed and Hannigan to address the com- mittee for 15 minutes each on Sept. 13. Andrews and Creed agreed, but Hannigan deferred to Alaska Community Colleges' Federation of Teachers President Bob Congdon, who declined on his behalf.

"It makes little sense," Congdon wrote in an e-mail to committee members, "to participate in a process that might attempt to make judgments affecting one's work at the University based upon standards that have not been identified, written, noticed, or approved."

According to the report, Andrews and Creed testified that the issue was a matterof institutional integrity, a matter of Hannigan's intellectual honesty, and of ethical standards. They requested the senate re-vote on the election Hannigan previously won.

The committee interpreted their mission to deter- mine not just whether Hannigan had broken senate or university accreditation rules, but also to determine whether any rules existed and what UAF recognizes as an accredited degree. Reviewing senate-governing documents, the committee concluded the senate has no jurisdiction on faculty credential accreditations.

With the Ph.D. question dismissed, the committee found Hannigan satisfies and maintains senate membership and officer eligibility. The senate by-laws had "no explicit provisions" to recall a senate member or officer, and Hannigan's removal would violate due process principles, as no evidence and only allegations had been presented.

Under senate rules, Hannigan is not set to take full-presidency until 2005. Bult-Ito will serve as president until then.

Faculty senate President-elect Michael Hannigan received his Ph.D from what has been called a "diploma mill." Some of his fellow senators have called for his resignation or impeachment.
photo by Robinson Duffy/Sun Star

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