Lisa Haynes, chief innovation officer at Chattanooga State Community College.
Jim CatanzaroChattanooga State President Jim Catanzaro is defending the woman he placed in a high-paid administrative position despite the fact that she was hired without a college degree and had what some staff considered to be questionable qualifications.
Chief Innovations Officer Lisa Haynes, who holds one of the top posts at Chattanooga State Community College, resigned Sept. 19 after the college was notified she never received a bachelor's degree as stated on her resume. After receiving a retroactive degree days later, Haynes was reinstated.
Duquesne University in Pittsburgh admits it erred by not notifying Haynes that she hadn't met all her degree requirements. But Chattanooga State never verified her degree status - which was a requirement of both her job description and the visa that allows her to live here from her native Barbados.
The Tennessee Board of Regents, which oversees community colleges, is conducting a formal audit of Chattanooga State. But a spokeswoman for the board wouldn't comment on the specific nature of the investigation.
Haynes was originally hired in August 2013 as senior executive assistant to the president at a salary of $90,000. Catanzaro had met her in Barbados, a favorite vacation spot of his. This summer she received a promotion to chief innovations officer, bumping her annual salary up to $108,000.
She oversees a staff of 12 employees and an annual budget of about $1.1 million.
Though her promotion was made official this summer, Haynes was signing documents with the title of chief innovations officer as early as December 2013, personnel records show. In a Sept. 19 letter to a Tennessee Comptroller's Office investigator, Duquesne University officials said Haynes failed to meet a "specific curricular requirement" of her bachelor's degree in communication studies. The registrar was notified of the issue in May 2005, though "nothing in our files suggests that Ms. Haynes was notified of this turn of events," officials wrote.
The university agreed to issue Haynes a different marketing degree this coming December. Then on Sept. 22, the university changed course and said it would offer Haynes her degree effective that day. But a day later - after Duquesne officials had talked to Catanzaro - they agreed to retroactively offer Haynes her original degree in communication studies back to 2005.
Haynes could not be reached for comment late Friday. But Catanzaro said the college did its due diligence. He said he studied her unofficial transcripts himself.
"In general, we make a diligent effort to look at that transcript," he said. "I calculated that she met every one of their requirements and then some."
But Chattanooga State never acquired an official transcript - as its policy requires - and the unofficial transcripts Haynes submitted don't show that a degree was ever conferred. But because her position isn't academic in nature, Catanzaro said, her degree isn't all that important.
"We can't be slowed down in our selection process," he said. "And of course the degree for somebody who is in an area like entrepreneurship and innovations may not be that significant in terms of the selection process. The interview is much more to us."
Catanzaro said Haynes represents him at events in the community and across the country. She's on par with a vice president, he said, but in many ways ranks higher. She's expected to build relationships with businesses and international partners, as well as find alternative sources of revenue for the college.
"So we expect somebody to come in that doesn't have that classical background," he said. "We run this college like a business."
But faculty members have been concerned about Haynes and her pay - which is more than twice the $52,593 average salary of a nine-month full professor. She is the seventh-highest-paid employee at Chattanooga State.
"Clearly the amount of money that job was given and the additional money is something that has woken people up really fast," said Faculty Senate President Kenneth Goldsmith.
Haynes' resume - which in 2013 listed a bachelor's degree - indicates that she worked three overlapping jobs in Barbados after college. Two of them, at Green Monkey Construction Supplies and Island Girl Lifestyle, were sales-centered positions, according to her resume. In another position, she managed a private micro credit fund.
Goldsmith said many instructors have questioned her experience, especially given her rank as a de facto No. 2 in Catanzaro's administration. And faculty members are unsure how her duties fit in with the mission of a community college.
Among other duties, Haynes is responsible for overseeing the small business development center and maintaining partnerships with the Barbados Manufacturing Association and the University of West Indies in Barbados. Much of her role fits into Catanzaro's vision for an institution that redefines the role of a community college.
"He's explained what these projects are," Goldsmith said, "but faculty don't really understand why we're doing it."
Contact staff writer Kevin Hardy at khardy@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249.