Embattled college placed on probation

NEWARK -- Essex County College's accrediting agency issued its most severe rebuke yet to the institution on Monday, citing the college's ongoing troubles and placing it on probation.

The escalated action moves the college one step closer toward having its accreditation revoked, which would mean students are no longer eligible for federal financial aid and in most cases would be unable to afford attending the school and ending a revenue stream that could shut the college's doors.

Losing accreditation is very rare but for Essex County College, which serves more than 10,000 students and employs 500 people, the consequences could be heavy-felt in the community.

Some College!! (Part of it occupies an old elementary school building near where I live. Below is a sample class that I picked from their catalogue) NJ Taxpayer Dollars at work!

MTH 113 – College Algebra with Trigonometry

Course Outline

Course Number & Name: MTH 113 College Algebra with Trigonometry

Credit Hours: 4.0 Contact Hours: 4.0 Lecture: 4.0 Lab: N/A Other: N/A

Prerequisites: Grade of “C” or better in MTH 100 or placement

Co-requisites: None Concurrent Courses: None

Course Description: This course covers topics from algebra and trigonometry at a level and emphasis appropriate for applied technology majors who will continue on with at least one semester of applied calculus. Topics are chosen from the following: functions and their graphs, angles and triangles, systems of linear equations with determinants, trigonometric functions, equations and identities, exponential and logarithmic functions, and a general treatment of conic sections.

General Education Goals: MTH 113 is affirmed in the following General Education Foundation Category: Quantitative Knowledge and Skills. The corresponding General Education Goal is as follows: Students will use appropriate mathematical and statistical concepts and operations to interpret data and to solve problems.

Course Goals: Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to do the following:

demonstrate knowledge of the fundamental concepts and theories from algebra, geometry and pre-calculus;
utilize various algebra and pre-calculus, problem-solving and critical-thinking techniques to set up and solve applied problems in geometry, sciences, and other fields;
communicate accurate mathematical terminology and notation in written and/or oral form in order to explain strategies to solve problems as well as to interpret found solutions; and
use calculators effectively as a tool to solve such problems as those described above.

Timeline: The scandals that rocked Essex County College in 2016

December 11, 2016

March 25 -- Officials suspended President Gale Gibson amid an investigation into an alleged misuse of school resources. Details of the allegations were scarce at the time, and rumored to have been politically-motivated.
March 31 -- Officials named A. Zachary Yamba, a past ECC president who had retired in 2010, acting president during Gibson's suspension. Though he was initially hired to fill the position for only 90 days, he remains at the head of the school now, and is set to stay in the position until a new permanent president is hired.
April 6 -- A letter from Gibson's attorney revealed that the allegations against her revolved around accusations that she overstepped her authority by tampering with emails between staff members and board members, and attempting to block employees from complaining about her, among other alleged actions.
Gibson denied the allegations, arguing that they were part of a politically-motivated hunt for her job prompted by her questioning of financial irregularities at the school.
Gibson claimed she had attempted to gather information about a campus print shop that she believed was performing hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid services. She claimed Vice President for Administration & Finance Joyce Harley -- a former county administrator who was backed by Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo for the president's job when Gibson was ultimately hired instead -- blocked her from questioning the spending.
It was also revealed that the school's General Counsel and Vice President for Human Resources Rashidah Hasan was suspended, too, though the reasons for her suspension were unclear.
April 7 -- College officials revealed that the school had received subpoenas from the state's Attorney General's office for documents related to a credit card spending scandal in the athletic department. A report Hasan authored on the issue said that "while no employee charged with the duty of financial oversight was aware of any accounting irregularities, they neither reviewed, assessed, recommended nor revised any existing policies or procedures." She said employees had a "total disregard" for financial oversight and proper fiscal procedures.
Hasan and Gibson's suspensions came a week after they issued the report, which questioned the actions of Harley and members of the athletic staff. Harley called the report "smear," and an attempt to "deflect" attention from the other scandals going on at the school.
December 9 -- Former Essex County track and field coach Michael Smart admitted to stealing $150,000 from the athletic department over three years. Authorities say he will likely be sentenced to three years in prison.
April 19 -- The school confirmed it was also being investigated by U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman's office, though it declined to say exactly what documents the federal agency requested in a subpoena.
Yamba said last week that the school has not received any notice from state or federal agencies about any progress made in either the state or federal investigation.
April 20 -- The school fired both Gibson and Hasan.
In light of the terminations, Gibson's attorney Alan Zargas said "Dr. Gibson's name has been wrongly dragged through the mud and she has been relieved from her employment by persons with a political agenda."
April 27 -- Yamba authorized the firing of 21 other school employees, ranging from cabinet members to adjunct professors. He said the upheaval was meant to restore order.
"You have to look at how resources are being deployed," Yamba said at the time. "Somebody has to be held accountable for that."
May 12 -- In light of the controversies at the school, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, which manages the accreditation of area colleges, requested the school submit to it by this date a report detailing the procedures it has in place in several areas of school governance, including leadership, administration, and integrity.
June 23 -- The Middle States commission rejected the college's report, saying that it did not contain enough specific information. It requested a more detailed report, due Sept. 1.
The school worked most of the summer to replace the more than 20 employees it fired during the spring semester. By the start of this school year, Yamba said "all of the critical position" like the empty dean and CFO positions, had been filled.
November 17 -- The Middle States commission issued a warning to the school, saying that its accreditation status could be in jeopardy because it is not in compliance with several of the organization's accreditation standards. The school was ordered to create a report, due to the agency on Sept. 1, 2017, showing that it is in compliance with the standards. The commission will also visit the school next year, before determining whether or not the warning is lifted.
December 8 -- After starting up the search for the new president, Yamba said the school is working toward addressing the commission's concerns about governance at the school.
"Things have gone awry, I'm not going to deny that. We are fixing the problems, and in the meantime the faculty is strong, and our students are doing incredible things," he said.

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