Interview on ‘Up to Date’

UMKC Chancellor Leo E. Morton has expressed regret and frustration over the issue of false data submitted in entrepreneurship ranking applications to the Princeton Review from the Henry W. Bloch School of Management, and in an interview with KCUR-FM, he noted that the university is taking corrective measures.

“I want to apologize to our students, to our faculty, the staff, alumni, friends and supporters in the entire Kansas City Community,” Morton told host Steve Kraske during an interview Monday morning on the KCUR program “Up to Date.” “This is a serious issue to me because this is not what we’re about. I want to assure you that we are doing everything humanly possible to ensure that this issue never arises again.”

Morton pointed out several ways that UMKC is addressing the issue.

• New leadership at the Bloch School, including David Donnelly as Dean and Jeff Hornsby as Managing Director of the Regnier Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation; any problems that were identified occurred before their stewardship.
• A new faculty review committee that will oversee all future ranking applications for the school, and recommend any needed improvements to ensure a transparent and accurate reporting process.
• Appointment of Dave Cornell, the Associate Dean of the Bloch School, to work with the faculty to form the committee.

Morton agreed with Kraske that the university had “taken a hit” as a result of the controversy.

“There is no question about the fact that this is a hit to our brand, and that’s why we have to take these steps to assure the community that we are taking every step necessary to ensure our reporting is something that they can rely on,” Morton said.

The chancellor also addressed the question of how the bad data could have been reported in the first place.

“If you look at the (PricewaterhouseCoopers) report, it’s clear that this was a situation where an individual was pushing the envelope,” Morton said. “It’s very frustrating to me. It’s not what we should be doing, and it’s not necessary. These are great programs.

Morton said that no organization can predict and prevent all potential problems. “What matters is what you do in response to that.”

Morton added that the academic expert commissioned by the University of Missouri System Board of Curators to review the controversy – Prof. Robert D. Hisrich, Ph.D., who retired as Jan. 1 as Garvin Professor of Global Entrepreneurship and Director of the Center for Global Entrepreneurship at Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University –found that the ranking was consistent with generally acceptable professional practices.

Click here to listen to the entire KCUR interview.