Assistant Registrar Fired After Southern U. Finds Grade Changes

Administrators at Southern University have fired an assistant registrar and undertaken a review that covers four years of records after finding unauthorized changes in grades.

Cleo Carroll, the former assistant registrar, was placed on involuntary leave without pay on March 21 after university administrators, following up on a tip, became convinced that someone in the registrar’s office was tampering with grades. Carroll received a letter of termination of employment for cause. He had no comment for this article.

Ralph Slaughter, Southern University system vice president for administration and management, said the administration’s sources included faculty members. Slaughter and others in the administration said they had not identified the sources nor the students whose grades were changed. Neither did they reveal the number of students involved. Slaughter said that because the student record system is confidential, disclosing students’ names would violate federal law.

“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 the only person named and terminated after the administrators’ review, Slaughter stressed that everyone in the office is under scrutiny. Once the audit is final, a process that could take months, administrators say they will determine whether other employees were involved and whether names should be referred to the parish (county) district attorney’s office for possible criminal prosecution. A copy of the audit report and all recommendations are to be presented to all the appropriate external agencies.

“Certain things can be dealt with internally, but we can’t have Southern University’s academic integrity questioned,” Slaughter said.

Slaughter says the motive behind the grade changes has not been determined. Although he does not think that money was exchanged, all options are being explored, he said.

“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.”

Kasandra Woods, an employee in the registrar’s office, added that, “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,”

Meanwhile, a number of new procedures have been set in motion. Regular audits of grade changes and postings, and periodic samplings of grades are to take place so that grade postings can be verified with faculty members.

Within the registrar’s office, employee duties are to be sorted by responsibility. For example, multiple employees are not to be able to post grades, grade changes and class schedules.

Additional auditors are to be hired to review academic areas, financial aid, the athletic department, accounting and the physical plant, among others.

Ethics training is to be provided to employees. And the administration is considering setting up a confidential hot line where violations could be reported.

Nikki G. Bannister, a student at Southern University, is an editor at Southern Digest