Carnegie Mellon Dean Resigns Over Degree Questions

The dean of the Heinz School of Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University has resigned while school officials investigate the granting of a master’s degree.

University spokesman Ken Walters said this afternoon that Carnegie Mellon informed faculty and students of Mark Wessel’s resignation in an e-mail Friday.

In the e-mail, university President Jared Cohon and Provost Mark Kamlet said “Dean Wessel has been a strong leader for the school, but he has tendered his resignation due to an error in judgment involving the approval of excessive transfer credits and excessive units for independent study in lieu of coursework.”

The university learned of the situation, which involved a student who received a master’s degree from the school in 2004, on Wednesday and is investigating it through its offices of general counsel and campus affairs. Carnegie Mellon is checking records for the past five years.

University officials declined to identify the student involved because of federal privacy laws.

Wessel came to the Heinz School in 1993 and has served as director of health care programs, associate dean, senior associate dean and chief operating officer. He previously had served as an economist and financial analyst for the U.S. Department of Energy and as a development specialist for the Mon Valley Initiative to help distressed communities in Western Pennsylvania.

Originally published by The Tribune-Review.

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