The News-Gazette.com: Records: UI chancellor discussed applicants pushed by lawmakers

Records: UI chancellor discussed applicants pushed by lawmakers

By Paul Wood

Saturday, May 30, 2009 11:06 AM CDT

URBANA – Legislators applied influence on University of Illinois administrators to win admission for favored prospective students, according to memos obtained by The News-Gazette.

Although such requests were often denied, some legislators had a pipeline to the admissions process through the university's top lobbyists, according to UI documents received through the Freedom of Information Act.

The memos show that Urbana campus Chancellor Richard Herman discussed individual applicants in some of the admissions decisions brought to him by Rick Schoell, executive director for government relations, and by Terry McLennand, the UI's assistant director of state relations.

Some e-mails from this February show how legislators approached McLennand, who in turn used the legislators' names in an attempt to move the applicants along.

UI spokesman Thomas Hardy said admissions professionals shouldn't and don't put undue weight on requests from legislators and trustees. He confirmed earlier Friday that the UI used a "Category I" list to keep track of applicants championed by influential lawmakers, trustees, alumni and others.

"The bottom line is, they shouldn't feel pressure. Chancellor Herman has said he doesn't feel pressure when contacted by trustees, and that should be true" for admissions officers, he said.

Hardy said there's nothing unusual about the UI admissions process and that the UI's statehouse liaisons are natural couriers for requests from legislators.

"There's a similar operation at every big, selective college. They all have lists to keep track of certain kinds of requests. There shouldn't be an expectation that, just because someone is on a list, that person has to be admitted. If there is a perception of pressure, something needs to be done about that," Hardy said.

Schoell said most of his contacts with legislators have been "very straightforward" and he felt no undue pressure.

"I personally have never dealt with any situation that was remotely inappropriate," he said.

"I have dealt with situations where there has been disappointment," particularly if a student is denied admission, he said. "I have never felt pressured nor have I been in any awkward position."

But according to documents, UI lobbyist McLennand conveyed senior lawmakers' concerns about denied admissions to Herman, the Urbana campus' top official.

In a Feb. 23 e-mail to Herman, McLennand wrote:

"Rep. Jim Brosnahan just called to say that the family received a new letter, indicating UIUC has reviewed his appeal, and he is still denied. I would respectfully say our actions on this case do not sit well with several members. [Sen. Maloney, Chair of Senate Higher Education Committee, also called on this case]."

Edward Maloney, a Chicago Democrat, said all he meant to do was get information.

"What I've done is, if I get a request from an applicant who is otherwise qualified, is to ask what the deficiency is. I've never said, 'Let's get this person in.' Their ACT scores may be sufficient to get into one school (at the UI), but not another," he said.

Brosnahan, an Oak Lawn Democrat, was unavailable to speak Friday, as the Legislature was in session.

In a Feb. 27 e-mail to Herman, McLennand wrote, "Yesterday morning I also passed along to Phyllis (Mischo, Herman's assistant), the name of a student Senate President John Cullerton has recently given us who has been wait listed with a (redacted) ACT and a (redacted) class rank, from New Trier. The President (Cullerton) thought this student's scores seemed a little high for wait list and asked if we could intervene and admit the student at this time rather then waiting for the April decision date."

On the same day, the lobbyist thanked Herman for his assistance with the same student.

A few hours later, Associate Provost Keith Marshall, who oversees the admissions office, e-mailed Herman that he was "growing increasingly concerned that Terry (McLennand) is sharing too much information with legislators and the families of kids we're tracking."

He said he was concerned with how the Chicago Democrat, the state Senate's highest-ranking member, could know certain admissions facts.

"In this case, there is no way Cullerton would have known his student has a (redacted score) without Terry telling him. New Trier does not rank students. The (redacted) percent that Terry quotes is the estimated rank we calculated and only exists inside Banner," the UI's computer network, Marshall wrote.

"And this is not the first case this year," he continued. "Terry should not share this information with anyone because 1) it is counterproductive to our efforts and gives people ammunition to use against us, 2) it's a violation of FERPA to share that information, and 3) estimated ranks are often inflated and require expertise he does not possess to interpret them. If I had my druthers, we would take Banner access away from Terry and his staff."

FERPA stands for the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which is a federal law protecting the privacy of student records. The law applies to all schools that receive funding from the U.S. Department of Education.

McLennand said Friday that he hadn't seen Marshall's e-mail nor talked to him about the complaint.

"It's possible I have made a mistake along that front; I'm not aware of it," he said, referring to giving a family the UI's data.

He said he takes calls constantly from families and tries to act as an ombudsman, smoothing out difficulties.

"I may get a call to give a clearer picture of the applicant," he said.

Chief UI lobbyist Schoell said he has instructed his staff "repeatedly" about not violating FERPA and had not heard any concerns raised by administrators.

"Clearly if we were, I'd want to know about it," he said. "We'd address it."

The memos, released to The News-Gazette on Friday, suggest the lobbyists can face serious pressure from legislators.

In one 2006 case, Rep. Lou Jones, D-Chicago, pressed the UI to readmit an architecture student who had been "pushed out" of the university for academic reasons but had reapplied.

"I have received quite a bit of push back from Rep. Lou Jones," McLennand wrote in a Feb. 17, 2006, e-mail. (Jones died later in 2006).

"Please check on this ASAP and let me know why he was denied readmission, but be forewarned Representative Jones told me she finds anything less than admission 'unacceptable,'" McLennand wrote. "It would be helpful if we have proof that we told him he had to successfully complete 'A, B and C' and he has ONLY done A and C."

Schoell said the UI lobbyists get hundreds of inquiries a year from parents, legislators and other constituents asking about everything from admission to financial aid. Admissions calls tend to increase as various deadlines approach and wait-listed students want to know whether they'll be accepted so they can enroll in another school if needed.

He said his office works with admissions to try to get answers but respects the admissions process.

"When the decision is a denial ... and we're told by the chancellor or the admissions office that this person would not succeed at the university or does not meet the criteria, we will let folks know that," Schoell said. "We've always held firm on those decisions. That's what I've always done."

Legislators sometimes follow up on those decisions by asking the chancellor for more information, but "no member should try to link an admission to anything else. In my years, they have not," Schoell said.

At times, admissions officers expressed concerns about the applicants, noting that they were doing no favors admitting an underqualified student to some of the UI's most prestigious and competitive programs, including the law and engineering schools.

"Would you call the representative and let him know we're looking into this and that you will get back to him, but we're sure he understands that if the young man is not qualified, it would not be in his interest to be admitted. We would, of course, be happy to offer alternatives, such as establishing a record at a junior college and then transferring," former Associate Provost Kathleen Pecknold (now Holden) wrote McLennand in February.

News-Gazette reporter Christine des Garennes contributed to this article.