Metadata TYPE_NAME value is null for String Columns

The metadata TYPE_NAME value for string datatypes is apparently returning null. I am running against a JBoss AS7.1Final server with Teiid 8.0Beta2.

My application (openshift web client) establishes connection from a DataSource, eg connection = dataSource.getConnection(),
then resultSet = connection.getMetaData().getColumns();
when iterating thru the resultSet, the value for columnName="TYPE_NAME" is null for string types. Other types seem to return a correct value.