CCSN officials scrutinized

Jennifer Knight

Friday, March 23, 2001 | 11:22 a.m.

Allegations of nepotism and padding enrollment outlined in a state attorney general's report this week could result in criminal charges being filed against Community College of Southern Nevada officials as early as next week, an investigator said.

Other practices outlined in the report also could carry penalties from the U.S. Education Department, federal regulations show.

Under former President Richard Moore's leadership, four administrators at CCSN were offered financial rewards if they met enrollment goals, former and present officials at the college said.

"If the college hit these enrollment targets, these people got bonuses," said Robert Silverman, former interim president of the college.

Silverman was also cited in the report as having signed off on a few of the bonuses.

State investigators said that incentives were paid to administrators under a project that was called "Enrollment Management Special Project."

Both Arlie Stops, associate vice president for admissions and records, and Marion Littlepage, the associate vice president for curriculum development, received bonuses on two occasions. The bonuses totaled $9,000 per person.

Al Daniels, an interim dean for distance education, and Erika Dixon, associate director of recruitment, also received one-time bonuses, the report says. Dixon received $2,000 and Daniels received $6,000.

Since CCSN receives federal funding, it must follow certain bylaws, a source with the Education Department said.

Under the Higher Education Act, the federal government will not provide nor contract with any institution that engages in "any commission, bonus or other incentive payment based directly or indirectly on success in securing enrollments or financial aid to any persons or entities engaged in any student recruiting or admission activities ... "

Violation of that law is what led the federal government to pull $187 million in aid from Computer Learning Centers, forcing it to file for bankruptcy. The Centers' financial instability also played a role in the government's decision to cut funding, the Education Department source said.

Stops said he "took the money and saw nothing wrong with it."

"We were told that, yes, we would have the incentive (if enrollment numbers went up)," Stops said. "The bonuses that they're talking about ended up being an adjustment. Sure, it was tied to working extra hard. The pressure was put on us to work extra hard and to juggle 20 extra things."

Silverman said that pressure drove all the administrators.

"It was a lot of pressure," Silverman said. "We were told to use all strategies and anything we could think of to double enrollment."

After reviewing the allegations brought by the attorney general, University System Chancellor Jane Nichols said the question of whether the school's federal funding is at risk was brought up by University System administrators.

"We have not come to a definitive answer on that yet," she said.

Moore, who is now the founding president of the proposed state college in Henderson, defended his actions, saying the bonuses were justified.

"Several of those people (who got the bonuses) were invovled in doubling the enrollment of the college. They succeeded in raising the number of enrollment from 1,100 to over 2,200."

Both Vince Ricci, a CCSN faculty member, and Orlando Sandoval, a former CCSN employee and current vice president for the state college, face criminal charges on other matters, said Greg Smith, deputy chief of investigations in the attorney general's office.

Ricci allegedly "falsified student grades and enrollments in order to receive funding for classes he taught," the attorney general's report says.

Ricci's only comment on the allegations was that he had "been vilified." He said he has hired an attorney to represent him.

Sandoval's activities allegedly involved personnel matters. As vice president for planning and campus sites, Sandoval hired his father-in-law as a heating/air conditioning specialist and placed him on a fast-track promotion which, over a four-year period, resulted in salary raises that totaled $18,000.

Those promotions violate the state's anti-nepotism laws, the report says.

Sandoval refused comment Thursday, citing the pending criminal investigation.

Nichols said that the attorney general's investigation may have a far-reaching effect on efforts to win approval for the state college.

"I think it places a cloud over the founding of the institution, and I think therefore we have to look at the report in its entirety and its impact on the staff and the operations of the new college," she said.

Regents will deal with the implications of the report at their next meeting on April 19. Many of the loopholes that were exploited by administrators will be addressed to avoid future problems.

The attorney general's investigation is expected to wind up next week, Smith said.

"We will be interviewing more witnesses next week and hope to have some criminal charges filed within a week to 10 days," he said.