Concur's stock rebounds after board offers support of CEO

Shares of Concur Technologies rose more than 11 percent today after the Redmond company's board of directors issued a statement of support for CEO Steve Singh. Last Friday, TechFlash and other news sites reported that Singh did not graduate from the University of Michigan as he had previously indicated. The error -- which caused the stock to drop nearly 20 percent -- appeared in Concur's financial documents until 2007. The board met Sunday to discuss the matter, expressing "regret that the mistake occurred." [Full statement after the jump]

Concur announced today that its Board of Directors met yesterday to review Concur's historical disclosure about the academic background of Steve Singh, Concur's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. As previously disclosed, Mr. Singh attended the University of Michigan, but did not earn a degree, as had been mistakenly reported prior to 2007. At the conclusion of its meeting, the Board expressed its regret that the mistake occurred, and its complete confidence in Mr. Singh, his abilities, and his proven leadership. The Board also provided guidance to Concur's management about steps to prevent similar mistakes from occurring in the future.

Barron's has a nice run down on what stock analysts are doing in response to "Diploma-gate," with Caris & Co. analyst Curtis Shauger saying the issue will "continue to challenge the credibility of the company's current management team."  

The issue has caused an interesting debate on TechFlash, with more than 40 comments about the merits of a college degree and the reasons for misrepresenting it.

One reader wrote:

"Isn't a degree just a piece of paper? I have a degree from the University of Michigan, but I feel like it shouldn't make that much of a difference if you actually finish or not as long as you get the education somehow or another."

That caused another reader to counter:

"It's not about the piece of paper. The misrepresentation is the issue. It begs to ask the question, what else is the individual failing to truthfully disclose."

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