University system grew too quickly, official says

Cy Ryan and Ed Koch

Tuesday, March 20, 2001 | 11:16 a.m.

The official who called for an investigation of the Community College of Southern Nevada that has resulted in potential criminal charges says the institution grew too large too quickly and needs stronger leadership.

University and Community College System of Nevada Chancellor Jane Nichols said today that the attorney general's office, which conducted the probe, could consider criminal charges of nepotism against a former administrator and theft under false pretenses by a counselor. Nichols also said those issues also could be addressed on a personnel level.

The seven-month investigation of the college by the attorney general's office also found other loose practices, including irregularities in the awarding of purchasing and construction contracts involving ex-President Richard Moore, founding president of the yet-to-be-funded college in Henderson.

"CCSN is a very fine institution and these incidents represent a small number of the many decisions that are made every day," said Nichols, who called for the investigation to "rule out or verify" suspicions of employee misconduct.

"I don't see a sick institution. I see an insitution that grew too large at such a rapid rate its infrastructure could not meet that growth. This underscores the need for hiring a good president who can put in place a good administration to meet CCSN's needs."

The search for a president is expected to be completed by late summer.

Moore said despite interpretations of the findings of the report, he is proud of the work he did in meeting incredible growth at CCSN during his tenure.

"In five years, we doubled from 16,000 students to more than 35,000 and, sure, there were growing pains," Moore said. "But I got $120 million worth of buildings built on time and without cost overruns. There are other projects that have two-year delays and $9 million overruns and there is no AG investigations of them."

Moore said the report makes "helpful suggestions" to better run the college but does not give credit that his school operated on 36 percent less money than other community colleges in the state.

The inquiry was handled by investigator Greg Smith. More than 500 hours were spent looking at allegations from a number of sources, and Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa "strongly recommended" a complete outside audit of CCSN.

Del Papa commended Nichols and others for taking steps to remedy the problems by changing policies and procedures.

The AG report released Monday found no evidence of kickbacks in construction projects, but it did allege nepotism involving former Associate Vice President Orlando Sandoval -- now the No. 2 man under Moore at the Henderson college -- and false enrollment issues involving instructor and counselor Vince Ricci.

The report says, "The problems ... result from a system in which too much discretion is given to the campus president, or where there exists a failure to adhere to established policies and procedures."

Nichols said she will be making recommendations to the Board of Regents regarding potential policies or procedure changes in light of the attorney general's findings.

"This (report) is just the first step in the process," she said, noting that the matters involving Sandoval and Ricci are personnel issues that could be handled at the campus level. The matter involving Moore could come before the Board of Regents.

The probe found that Sandoval was responsible for the promotion and salary increases for his father-in-law, who was initially hired as a heating, ventilation and air conditioning specialist. Personnel files were discovered showing Sandoval was "intimately involved with personnel actions" of his father-in-law.

Sandoval approved the promotion of his father-in-law to a special-projects manager and each year approved renewal of the contract. "During the five-year period between 1995 and 1999 during which Sandoval recommended renewal of his father-in-law's contract, the salary was increased 43 percent, from $42,000 to $60,000 per year."

The report said, "Violations of state nepotism laws cannot be avoided by the claim that others in the system approved his hire."

Attempts to reach Sandoval at his office today were not successful. However, Moore said he will continue to stand behind Sandoval, who he says was the catalyst behind the success of new CCSN buildings being built on time and under cost.

"I don't know about this nepotism thing and that will be for the courts to decide, but Richard is a fine man who served nine months in Cambodia as a medic saving people's lives -- a true American hero. I admire the man."

Enrollment irregularities were found in the classes of Ricci, a former instructor and current counselor. Ricci taught Italian and had to enroll a certain number of students to be paid. Three of the students who received an A were Ricci's wife and two daughters. In other instances, students said they did not attend the class but received an A grade.

In the fall semester of 1997, only 11 of the students received passing grades. Of those, only five appeared to have actually attended the class, according to the report. And students would drop out but would never officially withdraw, which resulted in continued payment to Ricci, the report says.

Of the six classes Ricci taught from 1997 to 1999, he received $10,125.

"Based on the transcripts of the students who were allegedly enrolled in Ricci's Italian classes, it appears that class enrollments were falsified in order to 'make' the classes, otherwise CCSN would not have approved the course and Ricci would not have been paid," the report said.

Attempts to reach Ricci at his home and office today were not successful. Moore said he encouraged the attorney general's office to look into the matter after an internal investigation by the school was "botched."

"When it was brought to my attention, I was incensed, and I sent a memo saying the practice of having a relative take a class (taught by another relative) should be stopped."

The probe uncovered about $1 million in construction projects and several hundred thousand dollars worth of equipment purchases made by the school without the required bidding.

In one instance, the college paid STG Enterprises Inc., more than $1 million for carpet and tile without going out to bid.

Administrators at the college at first told investigations bids were solicited but then changed their story when no documentation could be found. The school officials then said they piggybacked on a contract of the Clark County School District.

The investigators, however, found that the school district's contract had a price of $3.50 per square yard, which was increased to $3.80 per square yard.

CCSN consistently paid $4.50 per square yard. There were six companies in Southern Nevada that could have supplied the same materials, but the contract was not let out to bid, according to the report.

Moore changed how the contracts with STG were to be handled, directing that they were to be done under the Department of Planning and Administrative services headed by Sandoval, rather than by the Financial Department as required by university regulations.

Other contracts were awarded to Machabee Office Environments for more than $600,000 in 1999 and 2000 without bids. School administrators again told investigators the contracts were put out to bid. They later changed their story when no documents could be found.

"The most questionable action involved the purchase of office furniture for the executive offices at the West Charleston campus," said the report. "A table costing $6,000 and chairs with imported Italian fabric were found in Dr. Moore's office. These are not items covered by state contract," which sets forth what can be purchased.

The college purchasing policy also was not followed in the cases of Inline electrical and Facilitec of Nevada.

The investigation also found:

* Taxpayers paid for classes that were neither taught at CCSN nor by school personnel. The school had contracts with nine unions to offer apprenticeship programs. The school paid for the use of union halls and for the union instructors. In return, the unions returned some of the money.

* It was impossible to determine how computers and other equipment were disposed of when considered surplus. Most of the discarded items did not require tracking, according to the regents' policy. And in getting rid of computers, the attorney general's report says, "There was no indication that any one company benefited more than others with regard to computer purchases."

* A number of large bonuses given college executives. Senior Vice President Robert Silverman in 1998 authorized $3,000 bonuses for Arlie Stops, associate vice president for admissions and records, and Marion Littlepage, associate vice president for curriculum development. In November 1999 Moore gave bonuses of $6,000 to Stops, Littlepage and Al Daniels, interim dean of community, rural & distance education, and $2,000 to Erika Dixon, associate director of recruitment.

* An increasing number of "emergency hires" at CCSN, leading to the suspicion that proper procedures were bypassed. The report says that it could not find any documentation that the procedure was followed for any emergency hire.

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