Case in Point:
Lessons for the proactive manager

Last month we paused our review of 2015 to focus on the Title IX concerns at Baylor. We now return to our prior year review with our final category: Campus Life. Campus Life typically contains more general stories about risks we encounter on campus. The majority of stories in this category relate closely to students and campus environment/culture. This category can help us recognize trends and topics that are growing in importance nationally. Campus Life issues can also impact our most valuable institutional resource: our reputation.

This category is very diverse due to the nature of higher education. When we look back at last year we see the following breakdown of topics:

1. Diversity Issues 25%
2. Campus Security/Life Safety 17%
3. Sexual Crime 13%
4. Alcohol/Drugs/Hazing 13%
5. Non Sexual Crime 12%
6. Other Issues 20% (too small for separate ranking)

It has been hard to miss the numerous diversity concerns at campuses across the nation over the past year. This is an issue that AU has taken a pro-active approach toward. You can review the AU campus diversity survey here.

All the subjects in this category are important and should be taken seriously with respect to proactive risk management. As we routinely say here, if you have a concern or see a potential problem, tell someone. If you are not sure who to tell, always feel free to come to us in OACP. If our entire campus community works together, we can help protect our reputation, and more importantly, our students, faculty, and staff. This keeps us focused on our primary mission rather than crisis management. As always, we invite you to evaluate the current events in our industry and we welcome any feedback.

M. Kevin Robinson, CIA, CFE
Associate Vice President
Office of Audit, Compliance & Privacy

Information Security & Technology Events

Jun 30, 2016: As of June 28, the total number of breaches captured in the 2016 ITRC Breach Report hit 500, an increase of 18.8 percent over last year's record pace for the same time period (421). Of these, the CEO spearphishing breaches continue to represent nearly one-third of the total breaches reported. Year-over-year, breaches in the Education sector are up nearly 73 percent over 2015 figures, followed by the Business sector up 34 percent, and the Medical / Healthcare field up 16.8 percent. The Government / Military sector continues to show a decline from last year's figures, down 3.3 percent, with the Banking / Financial / Credit category down 64 percent. (link)

Jun 27, 2016: The Internet of Things (IoT) presents a range of opportunities and challenges. One challenge is network security and physical safety. More connections to the Internet, with more sensors and other devices, create access to the network from potential cybersecurity breaches. And physical safety can be one of the most important issues to a campus community. In fact, safety can be the reason a student might select a specific college or university. A variety of sensors, especially cameras, can now be completely integrated into a public safety system. This allows for quicker response times to an incident, making campuses safer. However, higher education institutions should also consider the policy implications of greater visibility into the lives of students and should be sure to balance privacy and safety. Including students in those policy discussions is one of the best practices that I have seen. (link)

Jun 03, 2016: Two-dozen student email addresses at West Virginia State University were "compromised" earlier this year, but the students weren't told that someone else might have gotten into their accounts. WVSU's information technology department received a list in March of about 1,600 email addresses. The person who sent the list said they had been hacked by someone, according to WVSU spokeswoman Kimberly Osborne. Osborne wouldn't say who gave the school the list or how the person got it. (link)

Fraud & Ethics Related Events

Jun 21, 2016: A Suffolk University employee pleads guilty in U.S. District Court in Boston for fraudulently obtaining more than $40,000 in federal student loan funds by falsifying her own records to make it appear that she was a Suffolk University graduate student when she was not. In 2009, Ciampa began working in the Registrar's Office at Suffolk University. In 2013, she enrolled in Suffolk's MBA program free of charge as an employee. In a first semester business ethics class, Ciampa failed to attend any of the classes or complete the required coursework. Rather, she used her compute access in the Registrar's Office to give herself an "A" grade for the course. She continued to do this for subsequent classes, and by maintaining the appearance that she was a graduate student, she was able to borrow $47,453 in federal student loans beginning in 2014. Ciampa spend that money on vacations and other personal expenses. (link)

Jun 19, 2016: The University of Iowa on Saturday joined the dishonorable list of higher education intuitions sanctioned by the American Association of University Professors for its Board of Regents' disregard of faculty opinion in hiring a new UI president. Delegates at the AAUP's 102nd meeting -- including three UI professors representing the association's local chapter -- voted unanimously to sanction the institution "for substantial non-compliance with standards of academic government" in its selection of businessman Bruce Harreld as the University of Iowa's 21st president. (link)

Jun 17, 2016: University of Louisville President James Ramsey will step down and the school's governing board will be reorganized under a leadership shake-up that Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R) announced Friday. The university has come under scrutiny and criticism as it faces multiple investigations. The NCAA and a local grand jury are investigating allegations that a former basketball coach paid to bring in prostitutes for players and recruits at an on-campus residence hall, and the FBI is investigating three senior university officials for alleged Misappropriations of funds. (link)

Jun 07, 2016: A cheating conspiracy at the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine has 85 students facing discipline that could range from a warning to dismissal from the college, which was ranked fifth among the nation's 28 vet schools last year by U.S. News and World Report. An investigation was launched in February after someone alleged that students had worked out a way to share answers on online take-home tests, according to university officials. There are about 650 students in Ohio State's four-year Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program. (link)

Jun 07, 2016: Poor purchasing oversight in Columbia and a superintendent indifferent to mounting deficits allowed a University of Missouri employee to embezzle more than $740,000 over 15 years while working as an office assistant at the Southwest Research Center in Mount Vernon, an internal MU audit found. Carla Rathmann, 54, of Mount Vernon, pleaded guilty Monday to mail fraud and credit-card fraud in federal court in Springfield and agreed to repay $716,665. The internal MU audit found Rathmann had submitted $573,048 in false invoices, made $159,321 in improper purchases on her university-issued credit card and withdrew $11,475 from a bank account that should have been closed years ago. (link)

Compliance/Regulatory & Legal Events

Jun 30, 2016: For nearly four years, NCAA Case No. 189693 trudged on without much notice outside of the state of Mississippi and college football circles. The NCAA's investigation into the University of Mississippi's athletic department includes allegations of academic fraud, illicit booster involvement and significant extra benefits in its football program. As the school shielded NCAA documents from public record and consistently downplayed the severity of the investigation, a veil of mystery hung over the case. (link)

Jun 27, 2016: For the third time in as many months, Ball State University police have arrested a staff member in a child pornography investigation. Robert Yadon -- until recently a professor of information and communications sciences -- was taken into custody Monday, preliminarily charged with 10 counts of child exploitation. In a press release, campus officials said Yadon had been barred from the campus on June 21 as a result of the investigation. Monday's arrest followed two others of Ball State staffers in recent weeks. (link)

Jun 27, 2016: Last Wednesday, Georgia Tech Police arrested a 52-year-old man employed by the school's Department of Housing and charged him with sexual battery and aggravated sexual battery. A police report indicated the associated incident occurred between 52-year-old Ernest Olivares of Powder Springs and a female subordinate employee on campus on the afternoon of June 8. No students were involved in the incident. (link)

Jun 26, 2016: A former Indiana University student who was charged in connection with two rape cases in September 2015 accepted a plea deal and was sentenced Thursday, June 23rd. John Enochs will serve one year of probation after accepting the plea deal. Enochs agreed to plead guilty to battery with moderate bodily injury (a class A misdemeanor) and his two rape charges were dismissed. Court records show he spent one day in jail. According to court documents, the victim told police she'd been raped at the Delta Tau Delta fraternity house, but didn't know her alleged attacker. (link)

Jun 24, 2016: A former University of Arizona professor plans to file a $3.6 million lawsuit against the school for releasing a confidential report that alleged he violated the school's sexual harassment policy. Timothy Slater, a professor at the University of Wyoming and former professor of astronomy at the UA from 2001-2008, denies allegations included in the 2005 report from the UA's Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Office. The report found he created a sexually charged environment among his students. (link)

Jun 23, 2016: The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a challenge to a race-conscious admissions program at the University of Texas, Austin, handing supporters of affirmative action a major victory. The case concerned the University of Texas's idiosyncratic admissions program. Most applicants from within the state are admitted under a part of the program that guarantees admission to top students in every high school in the state. (This is often called the Top 10 Percent program, though the percentage cutoff can vary by year.) (link)

Jun 21, 2016: A new lawsuit filed on Monday by a former Baylor student -- the third of its kind -- claims that Baylor "created a hunting ground for sexual predators to freely prey upon innocent, unsuspecting female students, with no concern of reprisal or consequences." This specific suit involves a woman who says she was drugged and abducted in February 2015 at an off-campus residence called the Rugby House. (The alleged assailant was not a member of the rugby team.) (link)

Jun 21, 2016: A former employee of Skidmore College will serve 4-12 years in prison and pay more than $258,000 in restitution after pleading guilty to stealing from the college. Clifford Williams admitted in April that he stole more than $258,000 in electronics from Skidmore between January 2011 and September 2015. State police say the Rensselaer County resident would order and purchase the equipment using a college credit card, and then take the items home. They say he manipulated business records at the college to cover up the thefts. (link)

Jun 11, 2016: As lawmakers across the United States battle over whether to allow transgender Americans to use public restrooms that match their gender identities, universities are scrambling to ensure that dorms meet federal standards. At a time of year when the nation's 2,100 residential colleges and universities are sorting out student housing assignments, they also are poring over a May letter from the Obama administration that thrusts them into the national debate on transgender rights. (link)

Jun 19, 2016: A Tennessee jury has found former Vanderbilt football player Brandon Vandenburg guilty of multiple counts of aggravated rape and aggravated sexual battery in a case that stems from the 2013 gang rape of a woman he had been dating. Vandenburg and another former player, Corey Batey, had been convicted in January 2015, as The Two-Way reported. But a judge declared a mistrial last June, after it emerged that one of the jurors had not disclosed that he had been raped. Batey was convicted again in April, The Associated Press reported. Two other defendants are awaiting trial. (link)

Jun 18, 2016: Though Baylor University has made national headlines for mishandling sexual assault complaints and neglecting related laws, it is not one of 195 institutions of higher education under federal Title IX investigation. (link)

Jun 17, 2016: A recent University of Virginia law school graduate is challenging a federal directive that transformed the way colleges evaluate allegations of sexual assault on campus. In a lawsuit filed Thursday, the plaintiff -- who was accused of and found responsible for sexual misconduct, and who uses the pseudonym "John Doe" in court papers to protect his identity and that of his accuser -- argues that a 2011 letter from the U.S. Department of Education was a mandate improperly imposed on universities. (link)

Jun 17, 2016: The Blacksburg Police Department has reopened a criminal investigation into hazing allegations at Virginia Tech after details of repeated beatings within the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity were made public. Tech completed its own investigation in April, found the fraternity in violation and barred it from campus for 10 years. But the university did not report its findings to the county prosecutor -- as required by Virginia law -- for two months, according to emails obtained through the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. (link)

Jun 16, 2016: Six Ferrum College students are indicted by a grand jury after a death investigation of 20-year-old Ferrum College student Michael Walker. Charges show his death could be related to fraternity hazing. According to search warrants, Michael Walker of Cumberland, Virginia was found unresponsive on a porch on April 17th, 2016 after witnesses say he had been heavily drinking all that day. (link)

Jun 09, 2016: Former Yale basketball captain Jack Montague filed a civil complaint against the university and two school officials in U.S. District Court Thursday, alleging he was wrongfully expelled this year amid allegations he engaged in nonconsensual sex. Montague was expelled on Feb. 10 because the university said he had "unconsented-to sex" in fall 2014, according to his Boston attorney, Max Stern. (link)

Jun 09, 2016: Occidental College failed to address some sexual misconduct complaints promptly but did not otherwise violate federal civil rights laws and voluntarily agreed to reforms, U.S. education officials announced Thursday. The long-awaited resolution of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Education's civil rights office came three years after about 50 students and faculty members filed federal complaints that administrators at the Eagle Rock liberal arts school had fostered a hostile environment for victims of sexual assault. (link)

Jun 09, 2016: A new law signed by Governor Nikki Haley will require colleges to publicly post conduct violations for on-campus organizations. Haley signed the "Tucker Hipps Transparency Act" on Thursday, which is named for the Clemson University student whose body was found in Lake Hartwell in 2014. The bill unanimously passed the state Senate earlier this week. (link)

Jun 07, 2016: UA professor Franco Parisi is now at the center of a Title IX investigation launched against Lance Nail, a former dean of the Rawls College of Business at Texas Tech University, according to a report from TV station KCBD in Lubbock, Texas. The investigation comes as a result of allegations stating that Nail knew about and hid multiple incidences of sexual harassment committed by Parisi, who served as a visiting International Scholar from Chile in 2014. Parisi is now a professor of finance at The University of Alabama. (link)

Jun 07, 2016: Widespread outrage has erupted over a California judge's decision to give a former Stanford University swimmer a six-month jail sentence for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman. Critics are blasting the decision as far too lenient. Prosecutors had asked that Brock Turner be sentenced to six years in prison for the January 2015 assault. Turner, 20, was convicted in March of the intent to commit rape of an intoxicated/unconscious person, penetration of an intoxicated person and penetration of an unconscious person. (link)

Jun 07, 2016: Worcester Polytechnic Institute is alleging that a student who was raped during a study abroad program in Puerto Rico in 2012 is partially responsible because she had been drinking that night and chose to follow a stranger onto a dark rooftop, according to recently filed court documents. The college made the arguments in response to a civil suit filed last year in Worcester Superior Court on behalf of the victim. The woman's suit alleges the college failed to provide a safe environment for students. (link)

Jun 01, 2016: Former University of South Carolina assistant soccer coach Roberto "Bert" Molinary Jr. pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to possessing child pornography obtained over the Internet. It was a co-worker's tip to university officials that led to a SLED and FBI investigation that resulted in Molinary's guilty plea, assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Day told U.S. Judge Mary Lewis in a hearing at the U.S. federal courthouse in Columbia. The co-worker, an assistant coach, had observed pornography on Molinary's school laptop and told school officials, Day told the judge. At the time, Molinary was a trainer for USC's men's soccer team. (link)

Jun 01, 2016: Kenneth Starr is resigning as chancellor at Baylor in the wake of a huge shakeup at the university, but he will continue to teach in the law school, Starr told ESPN's Joe Schad on Wednesday. Starr said in an interview with Outside the Lines that he was resigning effective immediately "as a matter of conscience." After an independent review of Baylor's response to sexual assault allegations, many of them against athletes, Starr had been removed as school president last week, but he was being transitioned into a full-time chancellor role and was allowed to continue to teach at the law school. (link)

Jun 01, 2016: Kean University flouted state law and its own policies in spending $250,000 for a custom Chinese-made conference table, a state investigation has found. The purchase, first detailed in The Record, was made without needed board approval or competitive bidding at the public university, according to a report issued Wednesday by the Office of the State Comptroller. (link)

Campus Life & Safety Events

Jun 23, 2016: The University of South Carolina says they plan on ending pledging at its fraternities and sororities. The school held a summit last month with National Greek Life Leaders to introduce that plan. They say their goal now is to get the school's fraternities and sororities to back the plan which could be put in place as early as next year. They say that ending the months-long pledging process would steer the organizations back to their founding principles. (link)

Jun 08, 2016: Starting this year Vanderbilt University's student insurance plan will cover transgender-related surgeries, a move school officials say will make the campus a more inclusive environment for students who previously had gone without necessary care. The change was part of a routine annual review of the university's health care plan for students. (link)

Jun 07, 2016: A man whose criminal history includes convictions for rape, voyeurism and domestic assault and battery is in jail for stealing women's underwear from an Oklahoma City University laundry room. Howard Edward Payton, 36, has been charged with two counts of petit larceny, arrested after Oklahoma City University police said he snuck into an on-campus housing facility and stole panties on at least three occasions. (link)

Jun 06, 2016: An aggressive campaign to recruit graduate students from India to study at Western Kentucky University has ended badly, with more than one-third of the students asked to leave the program after their first semester, a university official said. The university used international recruiters to find the students, compensating the services based on how many students they enrolled. The outcome, which will force the students to return to India or find placement in another university or program in the United States, illustrates a pitfall of using such recruiters. (link)

Jun 06, 2016: After more than a year of arguing, two TCU maintenance workers decided to leave campus last week and settle their dispute with a fistfight, according to a police report. The men, who have had an ongoing feud the last year and a half, were arguing at work Friday morning when their boss called them into his office, the police report states. The boss told them to go off campus and "fight it out" or quit, according to the report. (link)

Jun 01, 2016: Seattle University's interim provost has placed Jodi Kelly, dean of the school's Matteo Ricci College, on administrative leave amid a student protest over the college's culture and curriculum. The college's chaplain and co-founder, John Foster, also was placed on leave. In an email to the college's community, Interim Provost Bob Dullea said Kelly will remain on leave pending the outcome of complaints filed in the school's Office of Institutional Equity and a "broader review of issues" regarding her position. No details were available. (link)

Jun 02, 2016: A UCLA student reportedly upset about his grades fatally shot a mechanical engineering professor in a campus building Wednesday morning before turning the gun on himself. The Associated Press and multiple local outlets identified the victim as William S. Klug, a married father of two young children. The shooter was not immediately identified except as a male. KTTV and the Los Angeles Daily News reported that the gunman may have been a graduate student, while KNX radio, citing a law enforcement source, reported that the gunman was "despondent" about his grades. (link)

May 31, 2016: Plans to end a decades-old policy of concealing the first-semester grades of freshman at Johns Hopkins University from graduate school admissions officers and future employers are drawing outrage from students. Hopkins has been one of the few schools nationwide that "cover" the grades of their newest students, shielding them on transcripts and keeping them out of grade-point averages as the freshmen make the transition to college. Still, two dozen student groups have united in opposition to the change. Students say the university's mental health services are inadequate to meet the needs of those who will be stressed out by the change. Students held a demonstration this month outside an academic council meeting, demanded the university reverse its decision and apologize for not including more students in the process. (link)

Other News & Events

Jun 06, 2016: College students are the latest target of fraud schemes. The Better Business Bureau warns scammers are calling students, pretending to be the IRS, in order to get their money. "They recognize college students are under stress and may be confused about finances and financial obligations," said Greg Dunn of Better Business Bureau Hawaii. Last year, scammers stole $26 million out of unsuspecting students using this fraud. The so-called "federal student tax" doesn't even exist. (link)

If you have any suggestions, questions or feedback, please e-mail me at robinmk@auburn.edu. We hope you find this information useful and would appreciate hearing your thoughts. Feel free to forward this email to your direct reports, colleagues, employees or others who might find it of value. Back issues of this newsletter are available on our web site at https://www.auburn.edu/administration/oacp.

If you have any suggestions for items to include in future newsletters, please e-mail Robert Gottesman at gotterw@auburn.edu.

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