Alarm over bogus degrees
AUSTRALIA needs to be more vigilant against fake degrees following reports of “an exponential rise” in fraud in our No.2 student market, India.”I think it really means increased due diligence in background screening [of would-be postgraduate students],” higher education consultant George Brown said.
His paper, Degrees of Doubt: Legitimate, Real and Fake Qualifications in a Global Market, appears in the latest Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management. Read More

Fletcher administration conducted illegal background checks
FRANKFORT, Ky. — In late 2003 and early 2004, while Ernie Fletcher was taking over the reins of state government, hundreds of people were applying for state jobs and appointments. State police ran criminal background checks on those folks, and many of those checks were illegal.
“My best estimate is 40, 60 somewhere in that range,” says State Police Commissioner Mark Miller. Those improper background checks were done before Miller was state police commissioner. He ordered an internal inquiry after WHAS11 News raised questions last summer. Read More

Background checks at nursing homes to get major upgrade
By Matthew Miller Lansing State Journal
EAST LANSING - Cracks and loopholes in the various employee back– ground check systems used by Michigan’s nursing homes and other long-term care facilities have occasionally allowed violent felons to slip through.
Lori Post is the person charged with filling in those cracks. She is the assistant dean for research in Michigan State University’s College of Communication Arts and Sciences. Read More