Integrity in business has become a contradiction of terms in these recent times of accounting scandals, insider trading and other practices perpetrated by individuals seeking to cheat their way to wealth. Patterns in deception may begin as early as the collegiate application process, and at least two schools have responded by taking the initiative to screen out liars, a positive step in troubled times.
The Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania have started implementing background checks to determine the veracity of claims made by prospective students on applications. Wharton has even asked accepted applicants to pay an additional $35 to cover the cost of an outside firm to check the claims made on their applications, according to a March 16 New York Times article.
Both the $35 fee and the background check itself are appropriate, albeit an unfortunate consequence of the times. Without such a system, applicants would be able to claim any type of position or experience, be it true or not, with impunity. With this solution, offending applicants are refused admission and more deserving candidates are accepted based on actual qualifications.
"It is a reflection of the state of affairs in our world," said David Frasier, assistant dean of the School of Management and Administrative Director of the MBA program at UB, "but I am not surprised that (Haas and Wharton) have to do that."
Frasier pointed out that UB's MBA program requires all applicants to include a resume with their application, including a phone number and e-mail address for their last two places of employment. This, too, is an appropriate measure taken by the program, which, along with other graduate programs at UB, has a significant degree of autonomy from the overarching administration.
UB, like Haas and Wharton, must be able to verify the truth of claims made by students if the integrity of the application process and the quality of the student body is to be preserved. Even if it means possibly charging students for the verification, the cost is justified.
While the incentive to cheat is not as high at UB as it is at top-flight programs, Dr. Katherine Ferguson, director of Graduate Recruitment Services, said, "If we got to that point, in this budgetary age, I would say that Wharton acted appropriately."
Ferguson is correct in saying the financial burden should be placed on the individual student and not on the university as it relates to the truthfulness of the applications. Students are responsible for anything they submit to a university, and a graduate program's administrators should not have to spend their resources looking for fraud that is not a fault of theirs and should obviously not be there in the first place.
A school or a program has the right to protect itself from those who would compromise it by falsifying a resume, letter of recommendation or even a transcript. UB goes a step further by notifying the institution where a fraudulent transcript originated, ensuring the institution's knowledge of the dishonesty.
Two of the best schools in the country for business have decided to take the step to preserve the quality of their graduate programs, and UB has not shied away from its commitment to maintaining the best possible student body for itself. While there has been no discussion of implementing a fee for an application verification check for UB's graduate admissions, according to Ferguson, if there were, the university would only be acting in the best interests of itself and the students.
A verification check, or a fee to conduct one, is a sad necessity in today's super-competitive business and academic worlds. In the final analysis, integrity is crucial in the business world; consumer confidence drives the market and provides jobs, products and services. When that confidence is threatened by the appearance of fraud, the system crumbles. It is important that these tendencies in individuals are quashed early on, and that the honest are not discouraged.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
