Rough times at USC

A former lecturer at the University of the Southern Caribbean (USC) is threatening to sue the institution after accusing them of fraud. This is only one among a sea of troubles the St Joseph-based institution is now weathering from both students and lecturers with claims of exam fraud and negligence among others.

In a four-page pre-action protocol letter, the former lecturer through her then attorney Samantha Ramsaran, alleges that the university asked her to allow a student to retroactively sign a register and falsely input grades into the school’s system for the student. Additionally, the lecturer claims that two of her final exams were not given to her students, but another test written by a colleague was, and her name was attached to that test.

“On or about April 24, 2018, my client instructs that examination scripts for the course FMST 310 and FMST 115 bearing her name as the sole author, were administered,” Ramsaran’s letter states. “My client subsequently learnt that these scripts were not the scripts drafted by her and instead were drafted by (name called), despite the fact that she submitted her own drafted examination scripts and delivered them by hand on a flash drive to the university registrar on March 6, 2018.”

The letter says that this “negligence” on the part of USC caused the lecturer to suffer verbal abuse from students, through telephone calls and emails as well as death threats. Sunday Newsday was provided with a police receipt where the lecturer reported the death threats to the Arima Police Station on April 30, 2018.

To bolster the point that she was asked to do fraudulent acts, the lecturer provided screenshots showing that the student who she was asked to enter into the attendance roll, attended class twice throughout the semester and never took any examination, and therefore will not have had any test results to enter into the school's record. The lecturer also produced screenshots of emails between her and senior staff who requested that she back date the student’s attendance and enter a passing grade into the system.

The experience, according to the letter, caused the lecturer to suffer distress and anxiety. The lecturer requested that a memorandum be circulated throughout the university consisting of a formal apology which must be copied to all staff and students. The memo must also include a clause exonerating the lecturer from inputting false grades on the physical and electronic registers and have her name removed from the examination which she did not set. Lastly, the lecturer is seeking damages for distress and anxiety and legal costs totalling $15,000.

The letter was addressed to then acting director of USC Ebony Burton, acting registrar Ayanna Antoine, and acting chairman Terrance Browne.

Sunday Newsday was also given email correspondences between USC faculty and students regarding the examination. In one of the emails sent to Dr LeRoy Hill, dean of School of Distance Education, he acknowledged what he referred to as an “exam error” and promised that the university is “working to resolve the situation”. He then apologised to the student for any inconvenience.

USC responded to the pre-action letter on September 7, 2018. In the letter they apologised to the students but did not address the concerns raised by the lecturer who responded by letter, dated January 7, requesting that she be exonerated by way of a school-wide emailed apology to students and staff, and her name removed from the exams. The apology, in lieu of her $15,000, should be carried in all three daily newspapers for seven days.

Following the January letter being delivered by hand to USC’s attorney, the university asked for and received extensions with the most recent extension being granted in August. The lecturer is now planning to take the matter to court.

In an email thread, the aggrieved lecturer addressed the affected students telling them the mix-up is being investigated. In another email thread to students by Burton, the students were asked to either re-do the exam prepared by their lecturer or accept the grade they received from the exam with their lecturer’s name although it was not set nor marked by her.

This intended lawsuit is one of a few issues lecturers and students are facing with the university. Earlier this year, students were told that they will not receive their degrees unless the school is paid outstanding fees. In August, graduates claimed they were being made to sign contracts making them liable to pay if their Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses (GATE) weren’t paid. This came after the university made students sign promissory notes to pay their GATE fees before they are allowed to graduate. Students who did sign the contracts and graduated were then told that they will not get their degrees until GATE fees are paid to the school.

On another issue, students of the south campus told Sunday Newsday that they are not being afforded classes available at the north campus. They also alleged that courses are being made available to the nursing students that other students are supposed to do but are not being allowed to enroll. Sunday Newsday was given a copy of a petition sent to the school signed by 56 students in October 2018, detailing their frustration regarding the south campus. To date, the students claim, their concerns have not been addressed.

In the petition addressed to the vice president for academic admission, Dr Wanda Chesney, the students said they registered for classes between 8 am and 4 pm but classes are only available beginning at 4.30 pm ending at 7 pm and later. The students said when they contacted officials at USC they were told “welcome to university life”. The students complained that with a high crime rate, especially against women, they feel unsafe leaving campus at night for courses that they were told will be available at day prior to registration.

On September 11, Sunday Newsday emailed USC regarding the misinformation on registration and allegations of sexual misconduct by staff towards students. As of September 27, no response was received. Follow-up calls to the office of the president were not returned either.