While meeting with faculty memberson April 2, SUBR Chancellor Edward R. Jackson said that he wanted theuniversity’s reputation to be stronger after an investigation into allegedacademic degrees and grade changes was complete.
Jackson, along with legalrepresentatives explained proposed courses of action that the university wasplanning to take in order to bring the investigation to a close.
On March 31, Jackson announced in apress conference that Southern University System internal auditors haddiscovered that at least 541 current and former students had been involved in agrade-changing scheme.
“We have to ensure that thoselooking at the process are well prepared to handle this,” Jackson said.
Frances Smith, assistant vicepresident for human resources and counsel to the SU System President, alongwith Winston Decuir, Jr., legal counsel to the SU System Board of Supervisors,gave those in attendance details on how the university was going to begincrafting a due process of interrogating individuals involved.
In upcoming weeks, SU faculty andadministrators will be selected to serve on hearing committees. They will be chosen by the SU Councilof Deans, administrators and the faculty senate.
They will conduct pre-deprivationhearings informing those individuals of their rights.
The individuals in question wouldalso be informed of evidence used against them and when they are to meet withthe committee.
A deprivation hearing, which purposeis to recommend if the case should go to the board of supervisors, wouldfollow.
The board would have the optionduring a board meeting (which is a public hearing), to decide if revocation isnecessary.
If a grade or a degree is revoked,the corrected transcript will be sent to the individual and their respectivegraduate school or place of employment.
“We expect ‘no-shows’ at bothstages,” Decuir said. “But this will not alter the process.”
Decuir did say that findings wouldalso be forwarded to the East Baton Rouge District Attorney’s Office forpossible prosecution and that there was no statute of limitations.
“The school is not a criminalenforcement body,” Decuir said. “That will be the responsibility of the D.A.”
Jackson said that implicatedstudents currently enrolled will be disciplined legally and as prescribed bythe student handbook, in addition to having their credits revoked.
He added that the university’saccreditations would not be affected, as far as the Southern Association ofColleges and Schools (SACS) was concerned, but the Louisiana Department ofEducation would be furnished with a list of individuals affected.
Until the end of theinvestigation-which could last throughout the rest of the year-is finished,Jackson said that his hands are basically tied, but he is optimistic about theoutcome, despite the adverse situation Southern has been placed in.
“It’s how you handle it (adversity).It’s what you do with it and it’s what you do to move forward,” Jackson said.”Every challenge becomes an opportunity, so let this institution prosperbecause of it.”
He also added that he possibly woulduse the F.G. Clark Activity Center to address students about the current statusof the investigation.
CORRECTION: In the April 2 issueof The DIGEST, Gabrielle Maple wrote that 2,500 grade changes were made in SU’sRegistrar’s Office. There were 2,500 transactions, not changes.
In Nikki G. Bannister’s “GradeChanging Scandal Brings Disappointment…,” she wrote a quote citing GlindaRutledge as the source instead of Helen Rutledge.
