The New Jersey City University Board of Trustees issues the following statement of facts to the University community regarding President Carlos Hernandez’ academic credentials.
After earning a bachelor’s degree, Dr. Hernandez began graduate studies at the City University of New York. He enrolled in a bridge program that would permit him to go beyond a master’s degree directly to a doctoral degree. Dr. Hernandez earned a Ph.D. in environmental psychology in 1988. However, until 1998, he was unaware that because he had not filed the necessary paperwork, he had not actually been awarded a master’s degree on the way to his doctorate. Upon learning that this was the case, Dr. Hernandez immediately directed appropriate University staff to remove any indication of the master’s degree from all documents.
The matter was reviewed by the New Jersey City University Board of Trustees in 2007 and years earlier by the Commission on Higher Education (CHE), and no evidence of fraud or intentional misrepresentation was found.
Since Dr. Hernandez had completed all requirements other than the dissertation for his Ph.D. at the time when he became vice president for academic affairs, and had earned his Ph.D. before becoming president, the question of whether he had a master’s degree is moot.
Recently, in the course of performing his official responsibilities on behalf of the University, Dr. Hernandez gave testimony in an unrelated civil law suit in which the University was a defendant. The plaintiff’s attorney asked the President several
questions related to his academic credentials. Dr. Hernandez responded to the questions, some of which related to the master’s degree matter. On Monday,
September 26, 2011, the Court charged the jury of eight to render a verdict based upon their review of all of the evidence. After deliberation the jury delivered a unanimous verdict that the University had not violated that plaintiff’s rights under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Dr. Hernandez has served New Jersey City University with distinction since 1973. He has the full support of the NJCU Board of Trustees to which he reports. On September 19, 2011, Dr. Hernandez announced his plans to retire at the close of the academic year. His decision to retire was personal to himself and is in no way related to the Master’s degree issue previously addressed by the NJCU Board and CHE years ago or to his testimony in court on September 21, 2011.
President Hernandez, the institution’s eleventh leader in its 82-year history, became president in 1993. Prior to his appointment as president, Dr. Hernandez had served in various capacities at NJCU: as provost, vice president for academic affairs, executive assistant to the president, and a faculty member in the Department of Psychology.
During his tenure as president, the institution attained University status on May 29, 1998 and changed its name from Jersey City State College to NJCU. Under Dr. Hernandez’ leadership in 2000 and 2010, the institution underwent two successful reaccreditation processes by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.
Rafael Perez, Chair of NJCU, Board of Trustees