Sunday, March 30, 2008

"Professor" Dan Seals About to Start Night Class, But Is Northwestern University Hiding His Politics?

Well, the long-awaited start of 10th Congressional Democratic candidate Dan Seals' night class in Federal Policymaking (MPPA 490-0) at Northwestern University is coming up (appropriately) on April 1, at 7:00 p.m. NU may now be embarrassed, however, that it hired a current congressional candidate to teach such a course, as explained below.

The class itself is at Wieboldt Hall at NU, Room 417. I'd encourage everyone to show up, but I'm assuming that NU would not appreciate those who have not signed up for the class (and, more importantly, not paid) attending just for kicks. TA regulars know that we have been following this escapade with extreme interest since last December, when we noticed that Seals was claiming to be a professor at NU, but had never actually taught a class.

Seals apologists (and there were many) tried to explain that, in the 'academic world,' one supposedly is deemed a professor as soon as one signs a teaching contract, and, hey, he was planning on teaching in April 2008, so what's the big deal? But, the majority of commentors here didn't buy it, mostly for the simple fact that it was clear that Seals was campaigning heavily on a credential (teaching experience at NU) that he didn't actually have, and he never pointed out the caveat in his literature or on the stump.

In fact, a few real professors even chimed in when the Daily Herald ran a story exposing the misleading claim (dare we say lie?) of Seals that he was "currently" an adjunct professor, which was on his website as early as last October. Thanks to our pounding the snot of out this story (and we're not ashamed to say it), even his primary opponent Jay Footlik, the IL state GOP and Northwestern students picked up on it (the NU student blog is priceless). We also had quite a debate over whether Seals was qualified to call himself a "professor," as opposed to simply a "lecturer." Even Seals had to back off on that claim and changed at least some of literature to call himself a "lecturer" instead of a "professor," although he apparently never updated the claim on his website (though he's still yet to teach an NU student).

In any event, the long-awaited day for school to take in is coming right up, but something curious happened since we broke the story and started causing some very uncomfortable questions to be raised to Northwestern administrators. Seems that they have changed Seals' bio on the NU website to OMIT the fact that he is a candidate for Congress.

You can read Seals' original bio from the NU School of Continuing Studies page in the comments section from our post on December 15, 2007 (you have to scroll down through comments almost to the bottom). The critical first sentence is: "Former finance director of marketing at GE Capital, Wilmette, Illinois businessman Dan Seals is challenging Republican Congressman Mark Kirk to represent Illinois' Tenth District in the U.S. House of Representatives."

Here's the current bio, which I just checked on: Dan Seals is a former finance director of marketing at GE Capital, Wilmette, Illinois. Seals has spent time on Capitol Hill, serving as a fellow in the office of Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman, where his primary focus was on economic development and policy. He is now self-employed as a consultant. Seals earned a master's in international relations at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and his MBA from the University of Chicago. You can view it by going to the NU School of Continuing Studies website, scroll down to the course description, and click on the "Instructor: D. Seals" link.

Notice the difference? Basically everything is the same except the reference to Seals' candidacy against Mark Kirk. Any guesses as to why Northwestern is all of a sudden so shy about copping to the fact they hired a current candidate for a federal political office to teach a course on federal policymaking? Perhaps they are concerned that Seals' bias is going to leak into his teaching or grading? But, it's a bit late to try to hide it now. Among other issues, what if you were an NU student that signed up for the class based only on the website description of the course and Seals' bio, and found out too late that it was being taught by someone with a certain strong VIEWPOINT on some of the issues? What if you were an active Republican student on campus--might you be worried about being treated fairly or expressing your views at all? And, as we've asked before, does Seals' teaching essentially amount to electioneering on university time? Or even NU endorsing his candidacy?

TA has a call in to Dean Shapiro at the School of Continuing Studies to find out why the bio was recently revised.

This whole thing continues to stink to high heaven, and I hope the voters of the 10th District don't forget about Seals' resume padding escapade come November.

INTERN vs. FELLOW: By the way, I almost forgot to mention that the NU website got it wrong as to Seals' experience for Joe Lieberman (a credential that Seals rarely acknowledges by name nowadays)--in fact, he was never a Presidential Management "Fellow"; he was an 'intern' under a now extinct program. See our previous notation here and the IL GOP discussion of the issue here. I suppose calling yourself an "intern" instead of a "fellow" just doesn't have the same cache that a school like NU is looking for, but what the heck? It's only words, and words to Seals, apparently don't matter.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

TA:

As a Northwestern alum, I am offended that some guy who served as an intern for six months is teaching a class on "federal policy making."

Dan Seals has only one credential: he worked once for GE but could not get his job back after Kirk beat him.

An unemployed, former intern posing as an expert on federal policy. Pathetic for NU to present him as an expert -- unless he gives tips on collecting unemployment checks.

Wildcat

Team America said...

Wildcat, I raised that question with Dean Shapiro of NU and he steadfastly defended Seals' qualifications. But, what do you expect, he's not going to admit the guy he hired was unqualified, or was hired based on a push from members of the faculty who are big Dem/Seals supporters.

I would suggest that if a bunch of NU alums finally had enough of this and called in to complain, you might see some action.

Anonymous said...

The political fraud that the cook county democrats have been committing just gets worse and we have even less and less to say about it.

Northwestern, a mid top tier school is probably sucking up to some donor-$$$$ not professors TA, that's patronizing Dan with this and is screwing itself in the process. If I was an alum I would be furious that they would so blantantly trash their academic reputation for 6 months of mediocre p.r. and potentially earning a chit with a future congressman.

Mark controls their funding on the appropriations committee-maybe he can fire Dan by zeroing out some of their federal dollars?

If Northwestern had a college republican organization or we had a local political operation doing below the radar stuff this would be perfect for some ambitious 20 year olds to hold a letter writing campaign or protest on campus with a media advisory to hit Dan below the belt, on the theme that he's not qualified to teach there and the school deserves better.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the early morning chuckle, TA. It helps on such a dreary Monday morning. Dan Seals teaching anything is worth a real laugh, so I hope that someone on this Blog is actually registered and will report back after the first class. But TA, do we know how many are actually ENROLLED? It could well be like throwing a party and nobody decided to attend.

I don't think that his being offered a 'teaching' spot is due to pressure from a major donor. I DO believe, after seeing some of the NW professors on the Seals FEC report, that they touted his ability to those who hire for the Continuing Ed division. Regardless, it's going to be interesting to see who actually attends and MORE interesting to hear what Seals has to say in a class for which he has absolutely no credentials.

The 'intern' vs 'fellow' distinction with Senator Lieberman is something Seals wants to deep six these days. Let's make sure that we continue to point out that he did, indeed, spend some intern time with Lieberman!

Oh yes, and to what Wildcat was suggesting on perhaps having Seals give tips on collecting those unemployment checks to help pay the mortgage, etc. he'd have to show he actually DID get out and look for gainful employment. He's not going to release his tax returns so we'd know, without a shadow of a doubt, that it's his wife who works, not him!

Anonymous said...

TA:

Its pretty clear that Dan Seals is unemployed.

Team America said...

Agreed, Anon 4:09. But, that could work out OK for Seals, considering how much out-of-classroom prep time he is going to need to try to be able to fake his way through this course. He will probably run out of all his relevant "war stories" in the first hour, and will need to fill the rest of the course by lecturing from the textbook.

Interested to see how much he has paid himself from his campaign funds to keep himself afloat.

Anonymous said...

So he did not have a fellowship working for Senator Lieberman. Now it turns out that maybe he was just a general intern who happened to be assigned to him?

Isn't kind of like Hillary's Bosnia story? One minute she is bravely ducking sniper fire, the next is just flowers and smiles?

Why do these types of Democrats insist on assassinating the truth about their past activities? Is it because Seals cannot measure up to Kirk's background and accomplishments?

Louis G. Atsaves

Team America said...

Hey Lou- as far as I can tell, Seals WAS an "intern" that was through a presidential management program, which is more than simply applying to a congressional office to be an unpaid intern, but it is not exactly the same program that is known as the "Presidential Management Fellow" program today.

Even if the two programs ARE identical, Seals should have been a lot more careful, since the "fellow" program didn't exist until implemented by President Bush (and Seals served his gig under Clinton's administration). Because (at least in my opinion) the term "fellow" sounds a lot more impressive than "intern," he should have been very specific and used the correct terminology, because now it looks like more evidence of Seals puffing his resume. Most people when they hear the term "intern" make exactly the same inference that you did, Lou, so I am not shocked of yet another example of Seals playing fast and loose with his credentials. But, as these add up, I am optimistic the voters will take note of this pattern of mistruth and respond accordingly.

Anonymous said...

Wonder if Seals is going to offer extra credit to any students who offer to volunteer for Seal's campaign?

Anonymous said...

TA:

Wonder if Seals is going to claim he was in Bosnia too!

Anonymous said...

TA,

The simple fact that NU revised Seal's bio is an admission of guilt on the part of NU. Why was it OK for him to be a candidate last year and not this year? Looks like your efforts made a difference. And they should - hat's off to you for demanding a level playing field!

Team America said...

Well, the silly thing is, there is no realistic chance that NU could actually "hide" the fact that they have hired a congressional candidate from anyone with any brains and the ability to read a newspaper or use a computer. But, the fact that they deleted that portion of the Seals bio makes it look like they are trying to hide it. Go figure. Maybe if Dean Shapiro calls me back, we'll find out what NU was thinking.

Anonymous said...

You may want to ask Dean Shapiro as to what exactly in Seal's background leapt out in NW's determination that he was qualified to teach that class. Was it the various political offices he previously held? His brief experience in government as an "intern"?

I took a class with Alderman Dick Simpson when I went to college way back in the day. He was a "professor" on the verge of getting "tenure" and he had the political background (being an elected official and having formed an independent political group) to teach the class.

How does Seals measure up here? Other than being a perennial candidate Obama copycat or wannabe?

Louis G. Atsaves

Team America said...

Lou- here's what I said in comments on January 5 in relating my previous conversation with Dean Shapiro:


Prof. Peabody- To be fair, Seals does have an MA and an MBA. So, as far as advanced degrees, he has more on paper than your typical grad teaching assistant. I asked Dean Shapiro if he thought Seals was qualified, and he gave me a pretty standard, 'well, we looked at his credentials and his experience and thought he was qualified' type of answer. I didn't ask him how Seals and NU ever hooked up in the first place, which would have been interesting to learn, but who knows if he would have told me.

So, considering Shapiro is responsible for Seals teaching at NU (in the sense that his department hired Seals), you can assume that Shapiro is not going to all of a sudden say, 'OMG, this guy is a hack, how did he ever sneak in here???' No, Shapiro and NU are going to back Seals, as you might expect.

Again, I keep going back to the misrepresentation issue. NU can hired whomever they want, and if their standards have diminished lately (or perhaps specifically in Seals' case), then that's a different issue than whether Seals is out there misrepresenting himself.

January 6, 2008 8:41 AM


So, I think I've probably gotten all the answer I'm going to get out of NU. They are very unlikely to fall on their sword and admit they hired an underqualified political hack to teach at their nationally-acclaimed school.

Publia said...

So did enough people sign up to hold this class? Any reports?

Team America said...

Publia- I am hoping for a full-fledged report from a new cub reporter on the Seals class soon, but I can report that the class did happen. There were around 18 students attending, according to my source.

Interestingly, there was reportedly a NU cop checking IDs at the door. Wonder how often THAT happens for a class? Any ideas who asked for that?

Seals also apparently stopped one student who wanted to videotape the class for her notes.

Finally, Seals handed out no syllabus, no reading list, and did not keep the class for the full period.

Some way to start a class, huh?

Anonymous said...

TA,

I went through four years of Northwestern. I have never ever heard of campus police checking student IDs. That is ludicrous!

Also, I would advise whomever was told not to videotape to write a formal complaint to the Dean and to President Bienen. If someone is paying money to take the class, they have full right to videotape it so that they can play it back later on during study time. Some people simply retain information better that way.

If Seals has something to hide or is changing the normal way of doing business because of his candidacy, the university should remove him immediately.

Team America said...

You make some pretty darn good points, Anon 10:04.

Anyone at NU listening?

BTW, TA's sources tell him there will be an article in the Northwesterner on Seals, maybe as early as tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

This whole thing is a train wreck. As an NU alum, my check book is permanently closed. Read that loud and clear Dean. I now have serious concerns about even sending my kids there now.

Cops checking ID's? Are you kidding me? The students in Seal's class should have immediately left in protest. Apparently, a police state exists on the NU campus now, just so some political hack can attempt to make sure no one from the outside world can hear what he is saying.

On the video taping thing, if it is allowed under NU policy, I hope the student does it again, and again, and again, and refusses to stop. What then Mr. Seals? Call in a SWAT team? Smash the camera? Have the student removed in shackles?

As an alum, I know that the students are allowed to write down every single word that is said. What are you going to do about that Mr. Seals? Confiscate all notes at the door before the students leave? Full body cavity searches for hidden media?

NU should be ashamed of itself. This is going to snowball.

Anonymous said...

TA,

And the bottom drops out.

http://media.www.dailynorthwestern.com/media/storage/paper853/news/2008/04/03/Forum/Campus.Voices.Seals.Abusing.His.Nu.Title-3300823.shtml

Anonymous said...

TA:

I think Dan Seals is getting a little paranoid if he is calling the cops to sit in on his class.