TSU board says admissions investigation, review ongoing
Texas Southern University’s board of regents laid out a timeline Monday in its search for a new president and announced initiatives to improve the university.
In a letter to the college community the regents said the board’s investigation and review into the university’s admissions, enrollment and scholarship practices is still ongoing and is being conducted by external investigators.
“Until their work is done, we will continue to support the review,” the regents said in a letter signed by board vice chairman Albert Myres and chairman Hasan Mack. Mack, an Austin-based attorney, was appointed to the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. by Gov. Greg Abbott in an announcement issued Monday.
The outside investigators include Chicago-based auditing firm Baker Tilly Virchow Krause; national research firm Berkeley Research Group, which has a Houston office; and Austin-based law firm O’Hanlon, Demerath & Castillo.
The announcement comes after months of controversy and fallout at the historically black university that resulted in former president Austin Lane’s departure, and just a week after former board member Derrick Mitchell stepped down.
The board said in its Monday letter that its priority moving forward is completing the university’s accreditation review by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on colleges. University officials held a three-day meeting at the college with the accrediting body, they wrote.
“A final determination on the university’s accreditation will be forthcoming toward the end of the year,” the regents said. Six to eight months after completion, Texas Southern will then begin its search for its 13th president. Input will be sought from the university community and alumni before announcing an official presidential search committee, they wrote.
In the meantime, TSU’s former chief financial officer Kenneth Huewitt will continue serving as acting president.
The board also announced Monday that the university will create an Office of Compliance and a Chairman’s and President’s
Council.
The office of compliance will be developed “to ensure compliance with outside regulatory, legal requirements and internal policies and bylaws” — a move that comes after many people questioned and criticized the board’s decision to give itself power to hire and fire anyone at the university.
Repealed powers
The board has since repealed the power to “approve the termination of any position,” but its bylaws still permit regents to “remove any professor, instructor, tutor, or other officer or employee” when the “best interests and proper operation of the institution requires it.”
And the council will serve as external advisers to the university president and the chairman of the board “on matters related to the university’s role in the community, which will include synergies with the business and philanthropic community on advancing the student needs of the University.”
The regents’ Monday letter said they are already working to identify potential members of the new council.
‘Dishonest activities’
The board first announced an investigation into “improprieties” in November. In January, they voted to place Lane on leave without public explanation, and voted for his termination in a 6-1 vote in February, saying Lane had failed to notify them about “fraudulent and dishonest activities” in the law school’s admissions process.
Ultimately, the board found no wrongdoing on Lane’s part, according to a settlement reached weeks later. Under that agreement, Lane stepped down and the board paid him a lump sum of $560,000, plus unpaid benefits, bringing the total buyout to $879,000, Lane said.
A 17-page report by TSU’s chief internal auditor obtained by the Houston Chronicle revealed that TSU awarded more than $400,000 in scholarships to poorly performing students in a scheme to boost enrollment, awarded ineligible students financial aid in order to receive “substantial refunds” to spend at their own discretion, and enriched a school official that went unnoticed for years.
The March 10 report still faulted Lane for failing to notify the auditor and TSU’s board of regents about the problems in the admissions office, but Lane has maintained his stance, disputing the findings and emphasizing that his settlement agreement with TSU found no wrongdoing on his part.