Private university says doctorates of 11 staff are not part of any 'diploma mill'

All 11 Shue Yan University (SYU) teaching staff with doctoral degrees from Bulacan State University (BSU) in the Philippines had no involvement in plagiarism, SYU's Academic Vice-President Sun Tien-lun said.

Sun said the quality of the theses of these staff members was acknowledged by a number of academic organizations.

Her statement came amid a scandal erupting over a suspected "diploma mill" selling fake overseas degrees in Hong Kong.

However, she admitted that acquiring doctoral degrees from BSU was a "measure of expediency" at a time when SYU was yet to be granted university status.

She said studying with BSU had helped the staff enhance their academic qualifications while balancing family and work commitments.

According to the school's academic records, the staff had entered the doctoral program between 2003 and 2008. Each of them spent two to three years acquiring a degree.

SYU, formerly known as Shue Yan College, was granted university status in 2006.

After the upgrade, only doctoral degree holders could qualify for professorial positions, according to the university's rule. This stirred suspicions about the staff's purposes in securing promotions.

A document of indicative salary range from SYU showed a senior lecturer would earn HK$64,800 monthly at most, whereas a professor would be granted as much as HK$108,000.

Sun said the university had never forced its staff to pursue further education and the quality of the staff's theses was proven.

According to an investigation carried out by the university last week, none of the staff was involved in plagiarism.

Some theses were published in world-renowned academic journals such as Harvard Business Review and Asian Profile, according to the records.

Sun said the university has a strict assessment process when considering promotion and recruitment, by which it will verify the credibility of the staff's academic achievements.

Of the 11 staff, eight are full-time employees. They are all from the faculty of commerce. Sun pointed out that no one received a promotion after obtaining a doctoral degree.

The saga began more than a week ago when Lingnan University's vice-president resigned after his doctoral dissertation from another university in the Philippines was found to have allegedly been plagiarized.

This dragged in an alleged "diploma mill" run by Alex Lee Ye-lick - a member of the Lingnan University Council and founder of Lifelong College. This is an institution which provides students with degrees awarded from partner universities abroad.

luisliu@chinadailyhk.com

(HK Edition 11/20/2015 page7)