State Health Plan Executive Administrator Jack Walker's dissertation is on file in Ann Arbor, Mich., but it's not at the University of Michigan as he thought.

The 197-page dissertation is stored at a company called ProQuest/UMI, which contracts with several hundred universities around the world to store research papers, Dan Kane reports.

Walker wrote the dissertation while enrolled at Columbia Pacific University, a for-profit correspondence school near San Francisco that the state forced closed in 2000.

State officials questioned the school's academic rigor. Walker received his Ph.D. in Administration and Management in 1992, while the school's degrees were still considered legitimate by California. The school has never been accredited by a regional or national entity, as most colleges and universities are.

On Monday, Adam Linker, a blogger with N.C. Policy Watch, called the Ph.D. a fake degree. But Walker said he worked hard on the degree and the dissertation, which is entitled "Closing the Candy Store: Replacing Individual Health Care Wants with Societal Management of These Resources."

Carol Wadke, an author school relations specialist for ProQuest/UMI, said people often confuse the company with the university. They think that UMI refers to the school, when it stands for University Microfilms Inc.

Even if the doctorate is suspect, it could be a moot point regarding the executive administrator's position. Plan spokeswoman Linda McCrudden said a Ph.D. is not a requirement for the job.

N.C. Policy Watch blogger Adam Linker is questioning the doctoral degree that Jack Walker, the State Health Plan executive administrator, received from a now-defunct private California institution.

Walker claims a Ph.D. in Administration and Management from Columbia Pacific University, near San Francisco, Dan Kane reports.

The for-profit correspondence school went out of business in 2000 after more than 20 years of operation. Walker said he received his degree in 1992.

The school was never accredited by any national or regional institution, and in 1997, a California deputy attorney general called it a diploma mill as part of a complaint to shut it down.

In a post on the Progressive Pulse group blog, Linker said the state deserves better than having someone with a "fake degree" running the health plan serving 667,000 employees, teachers and retirees.

Walker said in an interview that his degree is legitimate. Joanne Wenzel of California's consumer affairs department said the state gave approval to degrees the school issued from 1978 to 1997.

He said his dissertation on health care administration was strong enough to be published by the University of Michigan. The university could not immediately confirm that information on Monday.

Walker served as the state health plan's administrator from 1999 to 2005. He became interim administrator last year after the legislative leaders in charge of the plan fired George Stokes.

Walker makes $200,000 a year as the interim administrator, $32,000 more than his predecessor.

The House and the Senate gaveled in the short session just after noon.

Along with the state budget, they will consider bills that passed at least one chamber during the 2007 session as well as some new legislation, Dan Kane reports.

One bill was introduced in the House, to provide $660,624 for Juvenile Crime Prevention Councils serving Franklin, Granville, Person, and Vance counties.

Other bills filed on opening day included a $44.7 million request for the Smart Start child care program and legislation limiting ski resorts' liability for injuries that typically occur in skiing.

Lawmakers can also expect another visit from Appalachian State University's football team, which won its third straight NCAA Division I championship in December. Resolutions filed in both chambers would honor the team's accomplishments, which include beating football powerhouse the University of Michigan.