Program creator: UI broke promise
University says it never intended to award all immediately
Monday, March 12, 2007
CHAMPAIGN - Last spring, the University of Illinois made a promise to veterans and members of the military interested in getting an MBA: It would provide 110 full-ride scholarships to those who qualified.What happened next is a matter of dispute.
The man who created the program - which got national attention and praise from then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld - claims the university abruptly scaled back the plan after some officials worried privately about the cost and diluting the master's of business administration program with too many "jar heads" - slang for Marines.
The university denies that claim and says it never intended to award all the scholarships immediately.
A year ago, some 70 people thought they would be accepted into the program, but about half later were told that they weren't - including Michael Purvis.
At 43, Purvis had been regular Army for 17 years and a National Guardsman for another eight. A first sergeant in the Guard, he spent 2005 north of Baghdad leading 150 military police. With a wife, two young sons and a job as an analyst at an information technology company, he said his transition to full-time civilian life was rocky.
"You're coming back in and you're trying to figure out what you want to do," he said.
The prospect of working toward an MBA on weekends - meaning he could keep his job - gave Purvis something to look forward to. Each scholarship is worth approximately $74,000, with 70 percent paid by the state and the rest by the university.
Purvis said he was told by letter last June that he wouldn't be accepted after all.
"That letter was just such a shock," he said.
Purvis was one of 34 veterans to get those letters, according to a complaint filed with the state Court of Claims by Robert Van Der Hooning.
Van Der Hooning created the program, was promoted last year to assistant dean and then lost his job in what he calls retaliation for complaining about the scholarship changes. In his complaint, Van Der Hooning, whose contract ended last month, is asking for his job back and unspecified damages.
He contends school officials told him to use military scholarships to build up attendance and revenue in the Chicago-based executive MBA program, then ordered him to cut it back.
"You feel so good about it, right?" Van Der Hooning said. "You look at these guys and you just see a life changed by what they've gone through in Iraq and Afghanistan."
Citing the complaint, Associate Chancellor Robin Kaler declined to address most of the allegations. But she said the school never intended to award all of scholarships right away or limit them to the executive MBA program.
"We made a commitment to accept 110 military veterans over several years at our three master's programs" - one in Chicago and two at the Champaign-Urbana campus, Kaler said.
Van Der Hooning announced the scholarships a year ago at two university events and in a March news release. College of Business Dean Avijit Ghosh, Van Der Hooning's complaint says, was at both events and approved the release.
The university enjoyed good publicity in the weeks that followed.
Rumsfeld contrasted the University of Illinois and its scholarships with schools that sought to close their campuses to military recruiters.
"What a wonderful demonstration of support for those folks who have stepped up and volunteered to help protect the American people," he said, according to a Defense Department transcript of an April news conference.
About that time, the university's board of trustees OK'd Van Der Hooning's promotion and raised his annual pay from $156,000 to $172,000, according to board documents.
Soon, though, Ghosh; Larry DeBrock, the college's associate dean of academic affairs, and Sandy Frank, the College of Business' associate dean for administration, worried that the Veterans Grant program might fall short, according to Van Der Hooning's complaint. He claims Ghosh also said students with military backgrounds might hurt the quality of the executive MBA class. In later meetings, Ghosh and DeBrock both referred to them as "jar heads," the complaint says.
Kaler said that Ghosh and DeBrock deny calling the military applicants "jar heads." Ghosh's office referred questions to Kaler. DeBrock did not return a message left at his office.
"I know Larry DeBrock and I know Avijit Ghosh, and I know they do not speak that way," Kaler said.
Van Der Hooning claims he was told by Ghosh to admit no more than 55 executive MBA students for the fall, with no more than 17 on military scholarships.
According to Van Der Hooning's complaint, Ghosh, DeBrock and Frank then created new, tighter deadlines for conditionally approved applicants - those who still needed to provide transcripts and other supporting materials - to finish applying, according to the complaint.
"They reverse-engineered the time limits to get 35, 40 of these guys out of the program," Van Der Hooning said.
Eventually, U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel and Illinois Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, who both publicly supported the program, pressured the university to expand the pool.
"It is my expectation that the admissions policy remains consistent with the program I endorsed - and that the university is using my name to support," Emanuel wrote June 12 after hearing from an Army captain who'd been accepted and then turned away.
Two days later, the university decided to honor conditional admissions, according to the complaint.
Forty-one applicants, including Purvis, were given scholarships and enrolled in Chicago, and eight were enrolled in the Champaign-Urbana programs, Kaler said. The number in Chicago later dropped to 35 after some students decided not to attend, the university said.
Spokesmen for Emanuel and Quinn said the two would like to see the program or one like it continue. Eric Schuller, Quinn's senior policy adviser, said the lieutenant governor will watch closely to see that the university lives up to its commitment.
"They promised 110 spots," Schuller said. "We're kind of disappointed that they didn't do it all in the first year. What we're expecting is that they be done as quickly as possible, meaning in the next coming year."
The university, Kaler says, will continue offering the scholarships until it reaches 110, but future plans are uncertain. No date has been set to hear Van Der Hooning's complaint.
The issues
THE PROGRAM: The University of Illinois last year offered up to 110 scholarships to veterans and members of the military interested in a master's of business administration degree. Each is worth $74,000.
THE DISAGREEMENT: Robert Van Der Hooning, who set up the program, says it was intended for the school's Chicago-based executive MBA program, with all scholarships available in 2006. The university says the scholarships were for any of the school's three MBA programs and weren't intended to be awarded in a single year.
THE FALLOUT: Van Der Hooning filed a complaint with the state Court of Claims, contending he lost his job this year because he complained about how the program was scaled back. The university declines to address details of his allegations.
WHAT'S NEXT: The university says the scholarship program will continue at least until 110 have been awarded. So far, 41 have been awarded.
