Did Bear do Part of the Paper? Sounds like it.

[Randall Flagg]

By the time the SECOND committee was reformed in 2002 at Union it had been dead for years. In fact Douglas had moved all his work to MIGS and an entirely NEW committee formed. The old one at Union was defunct. You can't have two doctoral committees on the same subject and using the same material at the SAME time. So the Union committee was closed out and no longer existed. Douglas and Bear were both at MIGS (not Union) trying for all they were worth to close the deal and get the diploma for Richie. By the time Douglas moved back to Union, thanks to Papa Bear, and reformed the old committee, Bear had been both employer and friend for many years. So indeed Rich and John had known each other for almost 20 years when the NEW committee was assembled.

Here is the main point to take from this. You can't have two active committees at the same time using the same material for the same degree at two different colleges.  I can't get the same degree from Penn. State and the University of Tennessee based on the same work, therefore, the Union committee was no longer in existence, the MIGS committee was.  The old committee was started fresh, again, at Union for the final push. But it was not still in existence while Douglas was doing his MIGS song and dance.