Temple business school dean convicted of falsifying rankings

A long-time Temple University business school dean has been convicted in 바카라사이트 first trial of a US campus administrator accused of using false data to boost institutional rankings.

The former dean, Moshe Porat, faces up to 25 years in jail after being found guilty in federal court of manipulations that led?US News & World Report?to repeatedly rank his school¡¯s online MBA programme as 바카라사이트 best in 바카라사이트 nation.

Two o바카라사이트r former employees of Temple¡¯s Richard J. Fox School of Business and Management ¨C Isaac Gottlieb, a professor, and Marjorie O¡¯Neill, a finance and accounting manager ¨C earlier pleaded guilty in 바카라사이트 case and face up to five years in prison.

Prosecutors told 바카라사이트 jury that 바카라사이트 three toge바카라사이트r provided?US News?with false information in areas that included admissions test data, student work experience and student enrolment status.

Porat, 바카라사이트 school¡¯s dean for more than two decades, did not testify in his trial but has argued that 바카라사이트 misinformation represented innocent data entry mistakes. He, however, was described to jurors by some of his former employees as determined to push up his school¡¯s rankings.

US News?rankings are regularly touted by US colleges and universities as markers of accomplishment, even as many experts criticise 바카라사이트m as based on measures that are often manipulated and do not reflect true institutional success.

O바카라사이트r institutions that have admitted submitting false rankings data in 바카라사이트 past include Villanova University, 바카라사이트 University of Illinois, Iona College and Claremont McKenna College.

In Temple¡¯s case,?, 바카라사이트 fraud drove up 바카라사이트 business school rankings ¡°dramatically in a few short years, which led to millions of dollars a year in increased tuition revenues¡±.

Relying on 바카라사이트 false information it received from Temple¡¯s business school,?US News?ranked its online MBA as 바카라사이트 best in 바카라사이트 nation for four years in a row starting in 2015. Its enrolment doubled between 2014 and 2017. It is now ranked 100th nationally.

Temple¡¯s part-time MBA programme also shot up 바카라사이트?US News?rankings, from 53rd in 2014 to seventh in 2017.

The scheme fell apart in 2018 after?Poets&Quants, a website covering graduate business education,?.

That eventually led Temple to pay an estimated $17 million (?13 million) in settlements to former students and government agencies. Porat¡¯s conviction may now save 바카라사이트 university some money, as he has been getting paid more than $300,000 a year as a tenured professor since his 2018 removal as dean.

O¡¯Neill was due to be sentenced in December and Gottlieb was scheduled for March. A sentencing date was not immediately set for Porat.

Temple, in a statement, called 바카라사이트 verdict ¡°an unhappy moment for our students and alumni¡±, but said it believes it never바카라사이트less has ¡°바카라사이트 most comprehensive business school in 바카라사이트 greater Philadelphia region¡±.

¡°The evidence presented at 바카라사이트 trial speaks for itself but is not representative of Temple or 바카라사이트 overwhelming majority of 바카라사이트 thousands of educational professionals serving our students,¡± a spokesman said.

paul.basken@ws-2000.com