Resume 2.0, Minus 2 Points for Repetition

Two in a year. John J. Schulz who had held the post of Dean of Boston University's College of Communications took a fall for misrepresentations on his resume last May. Only eleven months later another local academic takes a fall. MIT Dean of Admissions Marilee Jones recused herself of her position today after it was discovered that she had made inaccurate statements on her resume.

Jones has spoken out against the push for High School students to beef-up, or pad, their resumes in order to gain admission into the prestigious technical institute resigned from her post because she had misrepresented her degrees on her own resume. The Globe reports that upon Jones' urging the MIT admission application reduced the number of spaces from ten to six available slots for extracurricular activities. The change was made in an effort to reduce pressure on students to involve themselves in more activities to appear "perfect", but rather involve themselves in meaningful activities.

When Jones applied to MIT 28 years ago when she was hired she misrepresented herself on her resume. According to her stated credentials she had graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, apparently that was not the case. In the official statement made via MIT she admitted: "I misrepresented my academic degrees when I first applied to MIT 28 years ago and did not have the courage to correct my resume when I applied for my current job or at any time since." Her inclusion of Albany Medical College and Union College also may be erroneous.

Last year it became apparent to the public that John J. Schulz of BU's College of Communications had misstated information on his resume. He'd indicated that he was one of 19 students who presented a dissertation, where the truth was that 30 dissertations were presented, 41 were presented the following year. The voluntary departure of Marilee Jones is the second to depart a high level academic institution in the Boston area within a year for resume fraud. It's big news for the academic reputations of our prestigious institutions. Where will we be if Doonesbury leaves?