"How does a small liberal arts college in Ohio get caught up in a distance education scandal in Florida in which thousands of its credits were awarded for no work? A lot of the problem appears to be not paying attention, according to a statement released Wednesday by Otterbein College, which finds itself in this embarrassing situation.
Otterbein announced that it was revoking thousands of credits awarded to hundreds of Florida teachers, enabling some of them to receive certification, recertification or raises. The college also announced that it would donate the funds it received for the courses to a charity in Florida.
The college’s involvement with the distance education programs in Florida was ‘inconsistent with the standards and integrity long associated with Otterbein,’ said a statement from Thomas C. Morrison, chairman of the college’s board.
Many details about the programs and their link to Otterbein may not become clear because the official who authorized them, Dan Thompson, died in March. Thompson was associate dean for academic affairs. Otterbein’s investigations are partly in response to an investigation by Katherine Fernandez Rundle, a state attorney in Miami-Dade County, Fla.
A grand jury report released this summer found numerous irregularities in the way some Miami-Dade teachers have their education credentials evaluated. Specifically, it found that William McCoggle, a former Miami teacher, created two sham entities – the American Academy of Distance Education and Training and Move On Toward Education and Training – through which credits were awarded to teachers for work they never did at colleges they never attended. (McCoggle could not be reached for comment.)
The grand jury report found that in this program, ‘There were no tests; there was no homework; there were no assignments and there were no class discussions…. There was no learning and no educational end was attained. The teachers simply paid money and later received a transcript.’"
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