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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A University of Missouri-Kansas City professor resigned Friday after an audit found that he told a subordinate to submit inflated data in applying for rankings for the business school.
Michael Song, former director of the Regnier Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at UMKC, said in a written statement that his presence had become "an unnecessary distraction."
"For the best interests of the students and programs, I have reluctantly decided to resign from UMKC so that everyone can focus on doing the important thing — training the next generation of entrepreneurs and innovators," Song said.
Earlier this month, the Princeton Review announced it was pulling the school's 2011 through 2014 top 25 rankings for graduate and undergraduate entrepreneurship programs. The university was stripped of its rankings after Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon requested an audit of the school's data because of a Kansas City Star article that called the Henry W. Bloch School of Management's pursuit of higher rankings for its Regnier Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation into question. The audit found the business school knowingly submitted false data when applying for rankings and awards from national organizations.
In a statement announcing Song's resignation, UMKC Chancellor Leo E. Morton called him "a talented researcher and teacher who strived relentlessly to lead the development of outstanding entrepreneurship programs at UMKC."
"Students get a first-rate education in entrepreneurship through the programs developed during his time here," Morton said.
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