Alleged Grade Changes Get Assistant Registrar Fired

On Friday, March 21, former Southern University Assistant Registrar Cleo Carroll left his office only never to come back after 31 years of service.
The locks on his door had been changed and he had been placed on involuntary leave without pay after administrators at Southern University received information that there were unauthorized changes in the recording of grades made by an administrator in the Registrar’s Office.
On that day, the administration issued Carroll a letter of termination of employment for cause after reviewing the information and records in question.
According to Southern University System Vice President for Administration and Management Ralph Slaughter, the administration had received credible information from credible sources, including faculty members that unauthorized grade changes had been occurring.
The administration had not released the names of the sources, nor havethe names of the students involved been released.
According to Slaughter, the students’ record system is confidential under federal law and the names of the students cannot be disclosed.
“This is a regrettable and unfortunate situation,” said Slaughter. “The Southern University Board of Supervisors, President Leon Tarver, Chancellor Edward Jackson, along with the SU system and campus administrators are determined to take swift and decisive actions to correct this matter and to restore confidence in our Registrar’s Office and our institution-The Southern University System.”
Although Carroll is currently only person named (and terminated) after the administrators’ review, Slaughter stressed that everyone in the office is being examined in the matter.
An audit of grade changes dating back four years is now in process by the University’s internal auditors. Once the audit is final, administrators will determine if any additional employees were involved. If so, their names could be sent to the parish district attorney’s office for consideration of criminal persecution.
Slaughter stated that Carroll was placed on leave without pay initially because University procedure states that the subject of an investigation had to be isolated from the area in question and the assistant Registrar’s Office was in the vicinity of the investigation.
The records were placed in a secure location, along with all of the necessities to facilitate the audit.
As a result, internal auditors were given priority to review Carroll’s records including a review of all grade postings and grade changes.
Slaughter also said that the Louisiana Legislative Auditors’ Office has been notified as well as East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Doug Moreau and the Louisiana Board of Regents.
“This is to protect the University,” said Slaughter. “Certain things can be dealt with internally, but we can’t have Southern University’s academic integrity questioned.”
Internal auditors have not finished their audit, which could take months and no one else in the registrar’s office has been ordered to leave.
According to Slaughter, the motive behind the alleged grade changes has not been determined nor did he think that money had been exchanged, but all options were being explored.
“The Board of Supervisors cannot legislate morality, but as a system, we can ensure that proper safeguards and controls are in place to minimize the opportunity for unethical behavior,” said Slaughter. “This is the most severe incident that has happened at Southern. As (Doug) Moreau mentioned, ‘…the grade structure and transcripts and all academic material in the Registrar’s Office represents the foundation of the institution’.”
Although terminated, Carroll is still eligible for retirement and he has expressed that he is confident with the ongoing investigation and at the appropriate time, any further statements that will be made will be exclusively with The Southern DIGEST.
On a wall in the enrollment section of the Registrar’s Office, there is a crayon-drawn picture of the Daktronics scoreboard at A.W. Mumford Stadium. In the middle of the scoreboard is a screen with a photo of the office staff and Carroll is in the front kneeling down. Everyone is smiling in the picture and appears to be one big happy family. That family has now lost a member and pending investigation, others may be gone after the audit is finished.
“It’s unfortunate that something like this had to happen,” said Kasandra Woods, a member of the Registrar’s Office family. “It’s especially unfortunate when a member of the faculty, staff or administration is trying to help students and ends up hurting the students and themselves in the long run.”
But not until the auditors have finished will the administration and the rest of Southern University know how many students have been hurt.