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Ramsey says U of L broke no rules on disputed doctorate
Spokesmen: He was only addressing part of inquiry
By Andrew Wolfson

In a letter to the University of Louisville's accrediting agency, President James Ramsey said yesterday that "we do not believe any violations have occurred" in awarding a doctoral degree to a student who was enrolled at the university for only one semester.

But in interviews, spokesmen for the university said Ramsey was referring only to possible violations of the accrediting agency's residency requirement for doctoral candidates.

They said the committee Ramsey appointed Wednesday still will investigate other aspects of the degree -- including whether then-dean Robert Felner had a conflict of interest in supervising the doctoral candidate, who had given his research center a $375,000 contract.

"Dr. Ramsey is going to let the committee do its work," said A. Keith Inman, U of L's vice president for university advancement. "He has not reached any other conclusions."

Yesterday, a lawyer for Felner offered his first public comments on the Ph.D. controversy.

Scott C. Cox said there was no connection between the contract and Felner's efforts to help the doctoral student, John Deasy, win his Ph.D.
Exception to the rule?

The Courier-Journal reported yesterday that because of the Deasy doctorate, U of L could face sanctions from the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, an accrediting agency that requires candidates for graduate degrees to earn the majority of their credits at the university awarding the degree.

But writing yesterday to the commission's president, Belle Wheelan, Ramsey noted that in 2007, U of L carved out an exception to the agency's rule.

The exception allows graduate students to transfer more credits "under the rarest of circumstances" when, for example, a faculty member transfers to U of L and brings a graduate student with him.

In his letter, Ramsey said it would appear that the doctoral degree awarded by U of L to Deasy, who had studied under Felner at the University of Rhode Island, "may be reflective of this rare exception … permissible with the approval of the graduate dean, which was given in this case."

Wheelan was not in her office yesterday and said by e-mail that she could not comment on Ramsey's letter.

The letter says that the degree was awarded in 2007, when university records show it was in fact conferred in 2004; Inman said that may have been a typographical error.

He that said he didn't know if the accrediting agency recognized U of L's exception at that time.

Deasy was a California school superintendent when awarded a doctorate in philosophy by U of L in 2004, after studying there for only nine credit hours.

Two years earlier, Deasy had given a $375,000 contract to a research center run by Felner.

William Pierce, the interim dean of U of L's graduate school, whom Ramsey named chair of the committee investigating the doctoral controversy, said last night that the panel is still "gearing up to go" and hasn't made any reports.

He said that he could not comment on Ramsey's letter or whether the university president should have waited to hear back from his committee before assuring the accrediting agency that its rules weren't violated.
Attorney defends Felner

Felner's attorney said yesterday that Felner followed university rules in presenting Deasy's transcripts to the graduate school dean at U of L, who approved in writing allowing Deasy to finish his doctoral degree at U of L.

Cox noted that Deasy had worked on his doctorate for five years before that at the University of Rhode Island.

"It is regrettable that Dr. Deasy has been tainted by what is essentially a false allegation against Dr. Felner, and it is even more regrettable that the U of L has been tainted in any way, because it did nothing wrong," he said.

Cox said he hasn't been able to determine if Felner disclosed the contract with Deasy's school district when he sought the approvals.

U of L's rules require professors to disclose "any business transactions which present a known conflict of interest."

The graduate school dean at the time, Ronald Atlas, is on sabbatical in Africa and said in an e-mail this week that he didn't remember granting a waiver of the school's residency requirement.

But he said he recalled allowing Felner to bring a student whom he'd been mentoring at the University of Rhode Island into the doctoral program at U of L "in accordance within the traditional policy of allowing a student to come with a faculty member as long as significant work ... was to be done toward the completion of the degree at U of L."

Deasy, a nationally known leader in education reform who is now superintendent of the Prince Georges County (Md.) Public Schools, told The Washington Post earlier this week that if U of L "made errors in the awarding of the degree, I do hope they rescind it. My responsibility is to do everything I was advised and told to do."

The Post reported yesterday that in Deasy's most recent formal evaluation, in July 2007, his board gave him a $16,666 performance bonus and a 5 percent raise, pushing his annual salary to $273,000.

The district said he had received an overall score of 4.46, on a 5-point scale in a rating of 106 indicators, and the board described his leadership as "excellent."

Ramsey reported in his letter to the accrediting agency yesterday that Felner is under investigation for "misuse of federal grant dollars by the Department of Justice" and that no charges have been filed but the university is cooperating with federal authorities.

Ramsey said that the investigation resulted from information discovered in an internal review of financial records, which was then reported to the authorities.

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