Two Brownsville school administrators have illegal doctorates

Two Brownsville Independent School District administrators who made frequent and public use of their doctoral titles obtained the Ph.D.s from an online institution whose degrees are illegal in Texas.

Oscar Cantu Sr., administrator of the district’s Adult Continuing Education Department, and his son, Oscar Cantu Jr., special assignment administrator assigned to Brownsville Early College High School, both cite degrees in educational administration from Canbourne University obtained in 2005, and represent themselves as having doctoral degrees, according to documents obtained through a public information request.

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board lists Canbourne on its roster of “Institutions Whose Degrees are Illegal to Use in Texas.”

Both Cantus had been displaying their doctoral titles prominently on BISD websites and in e-mail and hard-copy correspondence, but all references to “Dr.” Cantu now have been removed from BISD websites.

In addition, Cantu Sr. last week said he is in the process of removing all references to the degree from BISD websites, e-mail and hard-copy correspondence.

Susan Fox, the district’s assistant superintendent for human resources, said she told Cantu Sr. by telephone to stop using the title after Brett Springston took over as superintendent in January. She said she assumes the elder Cantu told his son of the directive.

‘NO WRONG INTENTION’

Cantu Sr. defends his Canbourne degree, saying he received a Ph.D. in educational administration by submitting transcripts of post-master’s and other completed coursework.

His resume lists a bachelor’s and a master’s from the University of Texas-Pan American in Edinburg, as well as a mid-management administrator certificate.

“They have a program out of New York City,” Cantu said of Canbourne. “We submitted transcripts to the university and we were told that they accepted those.”

Canbourne later certified the transcripts and the degree with an “apostille” — a certification —  issued by Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Once the apostille was issued, the degree became “a legal document,” he said.

“There was no wrong intention here at all,” Cantu said. “I’m not being compensated based on that degree.”

Cantu Jr. at first spoke with the The Brownsville Herald about his Canbourne degree, then said confidential information was being compromised.

On Friday, Cantu Jr. did not return a voice mail request for comment left on his phone at Brownsville Early College High School.

CANBOURNE UNIVERSITY

Online, Canbourne University seems legitimate. It lists a physical address in London and has a United Kingdom-based website.

However, on that website, the biography of its chancellor, “Paul C. Crosbie, the Lord Paul of Coleshill,” is identical to the biography of Richard Vincent, chancellor of Cranfield University, a legitimate and accredited post-graduate university with two campuses in Great Britain.

When informed of the nearly identical biographies, Barbara Clack, an administrator in the vice-chancellor’s office at Cranfield University, said she personally knows Richard Vincent and that the person pictured on the Canbourne site with Vincent’s identical biography is not him.

“I have passed your email to our secretary/registrar, Prof. William Stephens, for further investigation, but it would seem that Canbourne is a fraudulent organization. We will contact you further once we have investigated,” Clack wrote in an e-mail to The Herald.

Canbourne’s website lists no telephone number — only a fax number.

Prospective students are invited online to apply for degrees ranging from a high school diploma to a Ph.D. by submitting coursework from any collegiate institution, in addition to work and life experience that may qualify them for the degree.

Canbourne’s website lists 14,407 students, mostly outside the United Kingdom, for the 2002-2003 school year — the most recent year for which it gives figures.

DEFINING ‘ILLEGAL’

But what makes a degree from Canbourne University “illegal” in Texas?

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, in the preface to its illegal degree list, defines a “fraudulent or substandard degree” as one that is issued by a non-accredited institution or one that was certified by an accreditor not recognized by the board.

Section 32.52 of the Texas Penal Code prohibits the use of such degrees to obtain employment or an employment promotion, “regardless of whether the actor receives compensation for the position.”

Diploma mills like Canbourne typically are unaccredited schools or colleges that grant relatively worthless diplomas for a fee.

The purchaser can then claim to hold an academic degree and the organization is motivated by making a profit. These degrees are often awarded based on vaguely construed life experience. Some such organizations claim accreditation by non-recognized / unapproved accrediting bodies set up for the purposes of providing a veneer of authenticity.”

THE DISTRICT RESPONDS

Administrators receive no additional compensation for having a doctorate under Brownsville school district policy. Teachers, however, earn more for having a Ph.D.

Despite that, the district’s employee handbook does provide for truthful disclosure of credentials.

“It shall be the responsibility of the applicant to furnish accurate information and any falsification of either information or credentials shall be cause for dismissal or refusal to employ,” according to the handbook.

Susan Fox, school district human resources administrator, said the Cantus submitted their degrees in 2005, when Johnny Pineda was administrator of the district’s Human Resources Department. Pineda is now superintendent of the Raymondville Independent School District.

Fox said former superintendent Hector Gonzales asked her to check on the degrees in December 2008. She spoke to the Cantus about the questionable nature of the degrees back then, she said, but they continued to use the credentials.

When Springston took over as superintendent, Fox asked him if he wanted her to continue to work on the situation. He told her to proceed.

Charles Lackey, dean of graduate studies at the University of Texas at Brownsville, said diploma mills undermine higher education. He said the university does not accept the fake degrees and checks to ensure prospective students and staff do not try to use them.

“There’s nothing we can do to prevent people from getting them, but they undermine the integrity of education in the U.S.,” Lackey said. “Certainly, UTB discourages people from using this type of thing as an ego booster or to deceive themselves.”

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Gary Long is a reporter for The Brownsville Herald.