To: JRI who wrote (183506 ) 7/25/2002 4:20:33 PM From: stan_hughes Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 436258 Tomorrow's captains of industry in training -Grades scam found at college Fla. Memorial fires 2 workers BY LUISA YANEZ lyanez@herald.com Two Florida Memorial College employees have been fired, three students expelled and 69 others face disciplinary action in connection with a cash-for-grade-change scandal at the private, four-year school in Northwest Miami-Dade, officials said. They also contacted the Miami-Dade state attorney's office. Barbara Edwards, vice president of institutional advancement, said Wednesday that this is the first time in recent history that the historically black college, which serves 2,300 undergraduate students, has been confronted with grade fraud. ''I've been here 18 years, and I've never seen anything like this before,'' she said. Students allegedly paid employees in the registrar's office to improve their grades in the school's computer system. The grade-altering was an inside job committed by people who had valid passwords to log into the computer network, school officials said. It was not the work of a hacker, they said. The transcripts of 12 students were ''altered substantially,'' officials said, and as many as 60 others may have had lesser changes made to their grades. ''The changes included everything from turning C's to A's to F's to C's,'' Edwards said. Most of the grade changes were made during the 2002 spring semester, but a handful were done as long ago as 1992. In addition, some of the doctored transcripts may have been sent to employers or others colleges the students planned to attend. Florida Memorial has notified those institutions. The wrongdoing was uncovered back in mid-May during a routine audit of grades. Registrar Lourdes Silva launched an internal investigation. It was unclear how much money the students paid to the unidentified employees. The two employees terminated were let go for not following policy, Edwards said. Several other staffers originally suspended with pay were cleared of wrongdoing and have been reinstated, she said. This week, the college began hearings for all students implicated. Disciplinary action could range from expulsion to suspension, loss of academic credit and criminal charges. So far, only three students have been punished. They have five days to appeal the college's action. Two seniors and an undergraduate student were expelled. The college said it plans to push for the prosecution of those responsible for the academic fraud. ''We absolutely will not tolerate this assault on the integrity of Florida Memorial College,'' college president Albert E. Smith said. ``Perpetrators will be prosecuted to the fullest extend of the law.'' Ed Griffith, spokesman for the state attorney's office, said he could not confirm or deny the existence of an investigation into the grade fraud. In the wake of the scandal, procedures have been adopted to prevent such fraud in the future, Edwards said. miami.com