Possibly misusing state funds for contract buyouts, again
Essentially, CFCC employees whose contracts are non-renewed have to be notified by June 1, according to the college’s handbook — this gives them the option of using any available leave time for the last month of their contracts, which usually run to the end of the fiscal year on June 30. However, over the past two years, at least eight long-time and high-ranking employees have been walked off campus in late May, weeks before their contracts were up.
These employees tell WHQR that they are not asked to use any of their remaining leave to take off in June, as the college’s employee handbook stipulates. However, they were still paid during the last month of their contract.
According to the college’s own policies, the employee’s last day of work is the ‘date of separation.’ And this date is where there’s a discrepancy between these former employees and the college. The employees who talked to WHQR say this ‘date of separation’ is the end of May, as they were escorted off campus and denied access to their work computers, meaning they were not doing any work for CFCC in June. The college and its documentation say June 30 was the 'day of separation' for these employees.
And why does this matter? Because there is a stipulation in the state board code that states the college cannot use state funds to buy out an employee’s contract:
Board of Trustees shall not use state funds to buy out contracts, unless required by a court of competent jurisdiction. The parties entering into a contract are responsible for implementing the contract. Therefore, should it become necessary to terminate employment prior to the expiration of the contract and if it is necessary to buy out the contract, such payment shall not be paid from state funds.
But budget codes in payroll records for the employees who were walked off campus show their final month of employment — during which they weren’t allowed to do any actual work — were paid for using state funds.
A spokesperson for the state community college system responded, “After consultation with officials from Cape Fear Community College, we are confident that there have been no breaches of either the State Board code or North Carolina general statute in this instance,” but declined to add additional information, citing privacy concerns.
In response to follow-up questions about budget documents, given to WHQR by the state, that showed state money was being used for buyouts, the college system responded, “We cannot and do not comment on college personnel matters or specific personnel-related actions. As to the question on the general practice of annual college contracts, it's not uncommon for colleges to decline the renewal of annual contracts. We have no further comment.”
WHQR is not disputing that colleges typically cannot discuss personnel matters and that CFCC has the right to inform employees that they’re being non-renewed as of June 1, but a remaining question is whether it is against state code to pay employees with state funds when they aren’t working and don’t take leave time in June.
Both CFCC and Board Chair Robby Collins declined to respond to WHQR questions on this issue of contract buyouts.
Without official comment or confirmation, it’s not clear why CFCC ‘non-renews’ employees in this way. College policy requires notification of non-renewal early enough that employees can use any remaining leave time if they wish. However, it’s not clear why the college doesn’t simply allow them to work out the last month of their contract. It’s possible that the college simply wanted certain people gone immediately, and using state funds allowed the college to accomplish this without breaking their contracts while also saving local money — over $100,000, according to WHQR’s estimates.
The record of the last two years
For the 2022 employees, who were walked off and restricted from accessing their computers and emails, effectively ending their employment with the college, their ‘date of separation’ was May 31. This included former Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Jason Chaffin, full-time equivalence (FTE) Compliance Technician Bonnie McGlauflin, FTE Compliance Director Nina Taylor, and Enrollment and Documentation Director Tina Ward.
However, Chaffin did sign a severance agreement with CFCC, which had a non-disparagement clause written into it, one that paid him until the end of August 2022. Former CFCC President Dr. Amanda Lee also signed a non-disparagement agreement in 2017. (Note: You can find that document at the end of this article.)
Related: Part I: CFCC could be violating regulations on using state money for contract buyouts
The 2023 employees, which included General Education & Sciences Dean Lynn Criswell, Career & Technical Education Dean Mark Council, Learning Resource Center Dean Catherine Lee, and Senior Administrative Assistant Robin Metty, were walked off May 23, restricting their access to their jobs. Both Catherine Lee’s and Metty’s social media posts confirmed this was their ‘date of separation.’
The May 23 removals also included Jennifer McBride, assistant vice president of instructional operations. She decided to resign from the college but was escorted out anyway. McBride gave her notice on May 12; her last day was supposed to be June 11.
Both in 2022 and 2023, records show that CFCC has not switched the budget code from state to institutional (a local funding source). Using local funds to ‘buy out’ a contract is allowed under the state code, but using state funds isn’t.
The budget codes are the crux of the situation since they indicate what type of funding was being used during the employees’ final month. CFCC declined to provide the budget codes to WHQR, claiming they are confidential, but the state office provided codes for 2022 and 2023 without issue.
There is one condition that would allow the college to use state funds for these buyouts: employees with ‘unsatisfactory’ job performances can be let go and paid for up to two weeks using state money funds. However, former CFCC employees say they did not receive a negative evaluation score — and the two weeks would not have covered the entire month of June, during which employees were paid but did not work or use leave time.
WHQR estimates CFCC used in excess of $125,000 of state funding over these past two years to buy out these contracts for salaries — and payments for retirement, insurance, social security, & Medicare.
When did this practice start?
Former CFCC budget director Kathy Reeves retired in late 2017. She had worked for CFCC for close to 14 years. One of her jobs was to pay out any remaining leave balances to employees who were non-renewed.
She told WHQR in an interview that prior to President Jim Morton’s arrival, if an employee’s contract was non-renewed, employees were either allowed to work through June 30, use their remaining leave to take off in June, or in rare cases when necessary, were “discreetly” walked off campus.
During her tenure as budget director, employees were only paid for hours worked or leave used, saying, “No employee was paid if they did not work.”
But that practice changed in May 2017 when a number of employees’ contracts were not renewed. She said Morton, who was executive vice president at the time, informed her these non-renewed employees would be paid out through June 30. She said she then informed him of the language in the state code that prohibited this practice — but it appears to have continued after she left the college.
“I am aware that at least seven employees' contracts were terminated in May 2017, but I believe there were more,” Reeves said.
She added, “I believe this practice has continued in May and June every year since 2017.”
Former Dean Catherine Lee’s exit
The departure of former Learning Resource Center Dean Catherine Lee, an employee of nearly 18 years, in May was unexpected. She said she told Vice President of Academic Affairs Brandon Gutherie that she wanted to retire in December 2023.
However, she was abruptly walked out by Lynn Sylvia, the campus safety coordinator, on May 23. Earlier that morning, she called into a meeting with Vice President of Human Resources & College Safety Anne Smith and CFCC’s attorney, Ken Gray. They informed her that her position was being dissolved and reorganized. The college has since hired the Director of the Learning Resource Center; Lee’s job when she was first hired in 2005.
“I was in shock. I felt disappointment and a profound sadness. A place that I was loyal and devoted to would do this,” Catherine Lee said.
Lee also held significant leadership roles at the college. She was the chair overseeing all of the college’s committees for 12 years. She also served on the president’s College Council before being removed as a member more recently. Lee’s evaluation records, which she shared with WHQR, show her consistently achieving an “advanced” designation. She received evaluations that said her work was “exceptional,” and “above expectations.”
Lee says she believes she was pushed out because of her support for marine technology students who protested a change in CFCC payroll policy — a change that led to the resignation of the captain of the Cape Hatteras, the college’s research vessel. The debacle cost many marine tech students valuable research opportunities, but eventually pressure from students and local media led to the college walking back its decision. In the aftermath, Lee sent an email to two students, congratulating them on effectively mobilizing — and crediting them with getting policy change overturned.
Lee told WHQR that during this time someone in the IT Department said her emails were being closely monitored by upper administration. She added she understands that public employees can have their emails inspected, but it came at a time when she was helping support the marine tech students who continued to question why the leave policy was changed in the first place.
Related: Deep Dive: What caused the disruption at CFCC’s marine tech program
The other 2023 employees who were walked off
Mark Council, former dean of career and technical education, also was caught up in the marine tech debacle. WHQR received emails showing Council asking Anne Smith of CFCC human resources twice what she and the college used as a basis for the changes to the compensatory leave policy for the Cape Hatteras R/V crew.
As for Criswell, she showed up in the lawsuit filed by former Trustee Ray Funderburk III in June. Funderburk said he was removed from the board in early March under false pretenses.
The Board of Trustees, led by former Chair Bill Cherry and Vice Chair Jason McLeod, accused Funderburk of pressuring an instructor to change a grade, something he vehemently denies.
Funderburk’s suit alleges that Gutherie had interviewed Criswell about Funderburk’s interaction with the instructor; Criswell had said the conversation between the two was not about a grade change but a policy discussion. The complaint said the instructor, Alvin Coleman, said the same.
This information flew in the face of Cherry and McLeod’s arguments at Funderburk’s removal hearing.
At last month’s board meeting, Coleman was recently given the ‘President’s Award’ for faculty, with a stipend worth $250.
As for Robin Metty, she was Criswell’s administrative assistant. She worked for the college for over 23 years.
Follow-up on FTE reversion story
After WHQR published a story on September 28 about the college having to revert back full-time equivalency (FTE) funds, a sum of over $18,000, to the state, neither the Board of Trustees nor the college staff made mention at their September board meeting of the reversion of funding or the ‘material finding’.
Related: After gutting the oversight department, CFCC had to repay state funds for miscalculating FTE
They didn’t make public mention of the reversion at the July meeting either.
CFCC documentation by Ben Schachtman on Scribd
