THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 9, 1994 TAG: 9409090607
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
The Army is reviewing the credentials of a civilian education counselor whose advanced college degree came into question after he was elected to the Virginia Beach School Board.
Charles W. Vincent, the target of the inquiry, said he was interviewed by Army agents last week about his Ph.D. but expects no further action. ``I'm simply using the title which I earned,'' he said.
Vincent also contends that he is being harassed by supporters of a losing candidate in a Virginia Beach's first school board election May 3. He said his detractors were trying to goad him into resigning from the school board, something he said he would not do.
Vincent, an education specialist and counselor at Fort Story, successfully campaigned for the school board post as ``Dr. Charles Vincent.'' He has a doctorate in counseling psychology from Harmony College in Los Altos, Calif.
According to Harmony College literature, the school offers non-traditional, off-campus studies leading to degrees ``in a substantially shortened time frame.''
California education officials say Harmony College, a subsidiary of the religious organization Harmony of Life Fellowship, is not authorized by that state to issue any degree.
The fellowship has a state exemption that allows it to issue degrees only in its own theology, said Lee Stallings, an official of the California agency that regulates private postsecondary schools.
But Vincent said he got his doctorate in June 1993, a month before California barred the college's degrees.
Ron Johnson, an Army spokesman, said agents of the service's Criminal Investigative Division are prohibited from discussing the inquiry about Vincent, who has worked for the federal government for about 20 years.
Vincent's job with the Army is to counsel soldiers who come to Fort Story's Education Center with questions about such things as taking courses from local colleges. His work is considered administrative and he does not teach any courses, Johnson said.
``He's sort of like a high school guidance counselor,'' Johnson said.
Vincent's credentials were first questioned shortly after the school board election by George Hamar, the father of a candidate Vincent defeated.
Hamar said Vincent, who was endorsed by the Virginia Beach Education Association, an organization of local teachers, misled voters by citing his degree in ads during the campaign.
But Vincent defended his Ph.D. and the hours he put into it. He said Hamar and his son, attorney Michael B. Hamar, were like ``mosquitoes buzzing around. They haven't drawn blood yet.''
Vincent said his large family - he has seven children - and a lot of moving around as a government employee prevented him from enrolling in a traditional doctoral program. He also said he has not used the degree to get or keep his job.
Gordon K. Davies, director of the state Council of Higher Education, said there are no minimum degree requirements to serve on local school boards.
Commonwealth's Attorney Robert Humphreys said he does not know of any law being violated by someone merely calling themselves by an academic title, even if they don't have the degree.
``Saying you're a college graduate when you're not, in and of itself, is not a crime,'' he said. ``It's not a crime for me to say, for example, that I'm a medical doctor. But if I try to take your spleen out, that certainly would be a crime.'' by CNB