The blame game

Kean’s president blames staff for errors as university’s reputation continues to falter

By Cheryl Hehl, Staff Writer

Although there is a firestorm surrounding Kean University President Dawood Farahi and whether he lied on his resumes or not, the smoking gun might be found in how the school compares to other New Jersey state universities.

After remaining mum on the entire issue revolving around allegations by the Kean University Federation of Teachers that the university president falsified his academic credentials, Farahi admitted last week in a Star-Ledger interview that some errors were made on his resumes.

However, the university president, who was appointed in 2003 at a salary of $293,000 plus benefits along with longevity bonuses that individually tally $200,000, placed the blame on Kean staff members who helped prepare his resume for routine accreditation reviews.

But, it appears some of the errors Farahi blamed on staff members actually can be traced back to 1983 when the former Union County consultant was applying for his first position at Kean. This means he was responsible for the contents of his original resume.

For example, both the letter and the Kean application completed and signed by Farahi in 1982 have the same inconsistencies brought out last week in a LocalSource article examining all six known resumes used by the university president in the past.

In the 1982 letter and resume Farahi used to apply to Kean, he noted he had tenured status at Avila College, but not that he was an academic dean. However, in a 2008 Curriculum Vitae the university president submitted, under the heading of “Other University Experience,” Farahi said he served as Acting Academic Dean,” at Avila College.

Also confusing is that Farahi lists a Fullbright-Hays Scholarship on all his resumes from 1972 to 1974, the same time he maintains he was at the University of Kansas studying for a political science degree.

At question is whether Farahi, a naturalized citizen who immigrated to the United States in 1972 as a college student was actually eligible for the Fullbright-Hays Scholarship.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, the Fullbright Scholarship specifically sends U.S. citizens abroad “but does not provide reciprocal opportunities for international scholars to visit the United States.”

While Farahi appears to have a long history of poor academic record keeping or not examining his own resumes prepared by Kean staff members, coincidently Kean University has developed a similar record of setting poor academic standards.

For instance, last year in June Kean University and Essex County College were issued warnings after they failed a review by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, the group that accredits colleges and universities in New Jersey and other mid-Atlantic states.

Both schools were cited for not having adequate systems to assess whether students and the school are meeting goals. Kean and Essex County College have until March 1 to submit reports proving they corrected problems, then a team of Middle States assessors will visit the campuses for another inspection.

Losing accreditation is one of the most serious sanctions a college or university can face because students at schools without accreditation may not be able to get financial aid, transfer credits to other colleges or universities or use their degrees to attend graduate school.

The Kean Federation of Teachers, a union consisting of 480 professors, professional staff and librarians has strongly objected to how Farahi has operated the university in the past.

More recently, in a letter to the Kean Board of Trustees in November, the union faculty president strongly suggests that Farahi falsifying his academic credentials could put the university in a very bad light in many areas.

“False claims of academic achievements on official documents seriously jeopardize the academic integrity, the reputation and the accreditation of Kean University,” Castiglione said.

Taking center stage right now with the faculty union, however, is that the Kean Board of Trustees investigation into Farahi’s academic credentials which began in December has stalled.

The board’s executive committee retained an independent council, McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter, to investigate these allegations, but there has been no indication when that investigation will be completed.

Late last week the faculty union’s patience with the board of trustees ended and they sent a letter to Gov. Chris Christie explaining they had requested the board establish an independent, academic investigation into allegations that Farahi falsified his academic credentials on his Kean application and many other resumes. They also asked for his intervention.

“The board’s sluggish, inadequate response does not address the potential damage that these allegations have on impending Middle States accreditation and NCAA reviews. It is urgent that this matter be promptly and thoroughly investigated by an independent body above reproach,” said James A, Castiglione, President of the Kean Federation of Teachers.

Castiglione also urged the governor to assure that if he launches an investigation there will be no cover-ups, falsification of public records and/or retaliation for whistle-blowing.

“This matter is too serious to the integrity of everyone to be treated as a non-consequential local dispute at a state university,” he added.

Adding fuel to the fire that is growing day by day is the fact that Kean has a graduation rate of 16 percent in four years for students attending the school as their first college, not taking into account transfers, drop outs, switching majors, and working and delaying graduation.

The 16,000-strong student body grew 46 percent between 2006 and 2010 and the administration foresees continued growth in that area, according to information provided by Kean to Moody’s Investment Service. But while this could suggest “churning,” or boosting of enrollment without concern for graduation rates, Farahi has continued to reduce faculty in favor of adjunct professors and increase administrator staff.

This, though, may be adding to the problem if you look at how other local state universities are doing things.

According to the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education, Montclair State University has 135 more full-time faculty, 509 to Kean’s 374, but 52 fewer administrators to manage a student body that is 25 percent larger than Kean’s.

When compared with other four-year New Jersey state colleges, Kean also has the highest student to faculty ratio at 49 to 1, compared with the state average of 30 to 1. Kean’s ratio increased from 44 to 1 since last year.

The faculty union believes that with 50 percent more administrators than Montclair, “it is clear that Kean is “inordinately top-heavy.” The union found this unsettling, especially since more money is being funneled into non-classroom expenditures, such as expanding the Kean campus.

Kean built several new facilities at the Union campus in the last two years, including a six-story, $50 million building on Morris Avenue, The Center for Science, Technology and Math Education.

The faculty union finds this deeply concerning. Since Farahi took over in 2003, the university’s debt soared from $48 million to more than $350 million, according to the New Jersey Educational Facilities Authority. In fact, Kean has the second highest debt load for a New Jersey public university.

And the $50 million science building, according to sources, currently only holds seven faculty members, but does contain a New York Times reviewed restaurant called Ursino and offers catering.

Other charges by the union include that student fees continue to escalate, rising by 62 percent since Farahi came aboard, and only New Jersey City University ranks lower than Kean when it comes to state university and college graduation rates.