Public commenter alleges SIU withheld earned PhD; speaker cites lost paperwork and legal dispute

At the board’s public-comment period, a speaker identified as Christy Carlton used her allotted five minutes to publicly allege that Southern Illinois University has withheld her earned PhD in education/psychology and to summarize a long-running dispute.

Carlton said she completed dissertation requirements, had committee signatures and that the graduate school misplaced her paperwork, later posted the degree to a transcript in 2001, and that an ensuing review and demands for revisions led to a court of claims case. She told trustees she possesses documentary evidence (an orange microfilm form she says was used 1997–2001) and a letter from an assistant dean acknowledging the committee’s approval. She characterized later university requests for additional revisions as violations of policy and due process and said legal counsel objected to her attendance at a review meeting in 2007.

The chair interrupted the speaker once the five minutes expired. Trustees did not take immediate action on the public comment during the meeting record presented; the transcript records the speaker making substantive allegations and a request that the university post the degree and answer questions about its handling of the matter.