County tuition reimbursement questions still being raised

By Jessica Stith
of The Daily Times Staff

A year after The Daily Times first reported a Blount County employee attended an unaccredited university under a county tuition reimbursement program, the county still has no formal tuition reimbursement policy.
While Alcoa and Maryville have standard tuition reimbursement policies in place, Blount County is still drafting, revising and reviewing its program.
The Blount County Sheriff’s Office implemented its own tuition reimbursement policy in 2002. Blount County Sheriff James Berrong and Assistant Chief Jeff French said the courses had to be job-related and the employees were reimbursed according to their grade-point average. One thing the 2002 policy did not address was institutions’ accreditations.
In August, after discovering another tuition reimbursement payment for an unaccredited college for Maryville Police Department Capt. Sharon Moore, The Daily Times requested tuition reimbursement reports from the past five years from the city of Alcoa, city of Maryville and Blount County. The only payments identified were for Moore and Blount County Circuit Court Clerk Tom Hatcher’s tuition that was discovered in 2006.
On Nov. 20, The Daily Times requested that Berrong research reimbursements that were directly paid to individuals for out-of-pocket tuition payments to unaccredited schools. Berrong confirmed that Detective Lt. Danny Wilburn, Lt. Patrick England, K-9 Deputy Gary Perkins and Sgt. Rick Baker had all submitted invoices for tuition reimbursement from Columbus University and received reimbursement from the county.
Neither the U.S. Department of Education nor the Council on Higher Education Accreditation recognizes Columbus University as an accredited school. It is commonly referred to as a “diploma mill” by both organizations.
At the same time Berrong researched reimbursements at the sheriff’s office, The Daily Times asked the cities of Alcoa and Maryville and other Blount County department heads to again review their tuition reimbursement invoices. Available records did not reveal any other tuition reimbursements for unaccredited schools, according to city and county officials.
Wilburn, who has worked at the sheriff’s office for 11 years, said he was researching information on furthering his education when he discovered Columbus University.
“I found it on the Internet,” Wilburn said.
In hopes to better himself for his family, the sheriff’s office and the community, Wilburn said he signed up for the program in 2003. He said the university had a professional Web site and he began a program to get a bachelor’s and master’s degree for approximately $3,500.
Baker said Wilburn told him about the university and he also signed up for the program in hopes of obtaining a master’s degree. He said he was working two or three jobs at the time and had a newborn child at home, making an online program his only option.
Baker got his bachelor’s degree from Lee College (which later changed to Lee University) in 1988. The master’s program he signed up for with Columbus University cost between $2,500 and $3,000, according to Baker.
Wilburn and Baker said they bought books, took difficult tests, wrote papers and corresponded with Columbus University professors. They both said they were working hard for what they thought were degrees from an accredited university.
Deputies England and Perkins declined an offer to discuss Columbus University with The Daily Times.
One year ago
In November 2006, The Daily Times published a story about Hatcher obtaining degrees from Columbus University. The degrees cost Blount County taxpayers $3,910, but Hatcher paid the county back in full just three days after The Daily Times reported the story.
After he paid the county back for his tuition, Hatcher said he would be happy to work with Blount County Mayor Jerry Cunningham, the commission and other officeholders to develop a policy that would allow county employees to pursue continuing training and education, but avoid “a bad experience” similar to his experience with Columbus University.
A year ago, Cunningham said work was “already under way to develop an overall policy manual” covering things including the use of county vehicles, travel, credit card use and tuition reimbursement for continuing education and training. Today, that policy is still in draft form and has not been formally adopted by the county.
Cunningham would not comment on the additional Columbus University tuition reimbursements, telling The Daily Times it was “old news.”
Commission responds
Dr. Robert Ramsey, chairman of the Blount County Commission, said he doesn’t recall anything ever being brought before the County Commission pertaining to tuition reimbursement.
Ramsey said, “The mayor or the human resources department could bring a recommended policy to the budget committee — that’s the way it should be done.
“Nothing would stop a single commission member from recommending it, either. It could be a policy dealt with entirely through the budget committee.
“I’m disappointed someone hasn’t taken the initiative — it needs to be addressed.”
‘Diploma mills’
In 2004 following a CBS News exposé, the state of Louisiana shut down Columbus University. A few months later it relocated in Picayune, Miss., where it operates today. Many online universities and colleges operate out of Mississippi where there are few regulations pertaining to accreditation — the Mississippi Office of the Attorney General said it is taking steps to correct this.
Diploma mills are commonly defined as colleges or universities that require little or no course work from students. Many claim to offer credits for life and work experiences, and most operate exclusively on the Internet and by mail and have no campus.
While online diploma mills typically provide bachelor’s and master’s degrees for less than $5,000 over a period of months, the College Board, a nonprofit association founded in 1900 to work with students and educational institutions, estimates that the average cost of a bachelor’s degree from a public university is now “$87,000 to $115,000 depending on the amount of student aid offered” and takes the average student 6.2 years to complete. Private university bachelor’s degrees now average $200,000.
Various state and federal government Web sites monitor colleges and universities and categorize schools as either “accredited” or “diploma mills.” More than 200 “diploma mills” operate in the United States or foreign countries and take in at least $200 million a year from selling bogus degrees.
The U.S. Department of Education and Council on Higher Education Accreditation also maintain master lists of more than 7,000 academic institutions that have proper accreditation.
Both Wilburn and Baker said they were surprised when they learned about Columbus University and immediately stopped working toward their degrees.
“I was stunned,” Wilburn said. “I actually felt victimized.”
“It was very disheartening,” Baker said. “We’re all the time dealing with victims. All of a sudden — we become the victim.”
Baker and Wilburn said Columbus University was “very misleading.” They said they would recommend that those interested in taking online courses should “study accreditation.” Baker said he would get in his car and drive there himself to see the institution.
A prospective student who drives to Columbus University would find an empty storefront at its address in Picayune, Miss., with a small “Columbus University” sign taped in the window.
Jeremy Pittari, a reporter for the Picayune Item newspaper, told The Daily Times he has investigated Columbus University in the past.
“Columbus University has a building here in Picayune,” Pittari said. “But I’ve never seen anyone working there.
“There was a paper sign that said ‘Columbus University’ taped up in the front window for a while and a small sign on the front door instructing people to deliver any mail or packages to a business across the street.”
The business across the street from Columbus University’s address is a massage parlor and “body sculpting” studio.
‘Hard work’
Baker pointed out that although the school was not properly accredited, he spent a lot of time on his work. He said many schools, police departments and sheriff’s offices across the country are not accredited, but that does not mean that “they are bad” or that employees do not work hard.
Wilburn said Columbus University had not deterred him from continuing his education. He said he finished getting his associate’s degree at Roane State this year.
The Daily Times asked Baker and Wilburn if they had ever taken steps to pay the county back for the tuition reimbursement, and both said they had not.
“I don’t feel like I’ve violated any policies that were in order,” Wilburn said, and Baker agreed.
Berrong said that a revised tuition reimbursement policy has been implemented for his department that is more detailed and addresses accreditation.
The policy states that employees requesting tuition reimbursement follow specific guidelines including taking courses that, “are job-relevant, college-level courses taken at an institution that is accredited (as recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education).” It also requires that, “such courses must be presented to his or her immediate supervisor and then to the assistant chief deputy over the appropriate division or unit for consideration and approval.”
Although the sheriff’s office is implementing a revised policy, the county still does not have one in place. Betsy Cunningham, the director of human resources for Blount County for the past four years, said the county wants to be proactive and establish a policy that eliminates problems with tuition reimbursement.
“We have drafted a policy,” Cunningham said. “It requires all schools to be accredited, and the county employee would have to get pre-approved for the program before enrolling. The draft is currently being reviewed.
“I anticipate that we could possibly implement our new policy — based on final approval — on or around January 1, 2008.”
Columbus refunds Hatcher tuition
After paying the county back for his Columbus University diplomas, Hatcher retained an attorney to pursue a refund from Columbus University.
“We wrote to Columbus University and demanded our money back,” Hatcher said.
“They lied to us; they defrauded us, and we wanted our money.
“It took two or three months, but they did issue a refund.”
Hatcher recommended that others who attended Columbus University look into the possibility of obtaining refunds for their tuition.
“This school is a fraud,” Hatcher said. “They sell themselves as an accredited school and they’re deceiving people.
“I think it would be worthwhile for others to pursue refunds.”
Berrong said there “was no discussion” on whether the deputies should pay back the money or ask Columbus University for a refund. He said he “would like for them to try to obtain a lawyer to ask Columbus to do the same that they did with Tom (Hatcher).”
“I think that’s something that we can pursue,” Berrong said. “I think a letter would be relatively inexpensive to have an attorney, if we could find one, that would do that.”
Berrong said the deputies felt they were “scammed” and that “the county lost some (money) on it for them trying to better their education.”