CONWAY — All 11 students whose records at the University of Central Arkansas were reviewed because of their association with former Chief of Staff Jack Gillean received financial aid to attend UCA, documents show.
The university’s Office of Internal Audit began an audit, completed last month, of Gillean-related matters after he resigned abruptly June 15.
Gillean, 56, was charged in October with three felony counts of commercial burglary, one felony count of fraudulent insurance acts and one misdemeanor count of issuing a false financial statement. He has pleaded innocent in Faulkner County Circuit Court and is free on bond.
“UCA did not know until after the audit began” that all 11 students had received financial aid, UCA spokesman Fredricka Sharkey said in a recent e-mail interview.
One of the students, Cameron Stark - the former Marine who UCA police say used Gillean’s keys to burglarize campus offices for tests and, on at least one occasion, prescription pills - was offered tens of thousands of dollars in scholarships, grants and loans.
Stark, 24, has been granted limited immunity from prosecution in exchange for his cooperation in the Gillean case.
It is unclear exactly how much of the financial aid Stark or any of the other 10 students actually used. UCA does not discuss such information because of federal privacy law. However, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette obtained records showing the amounts of aid that each of the 11 students was offered.
The records show financial aid offered to the 11 students from the 2008-09 academic year through the current one.
In the case of Stark, a former dean’s list honoree who no longer attends UCA, the records show he was offered $30,887.50 in presidential scholarship funds, $28,485 for room and board, $13,795 for transportation, $28,003 for tuition and fees, $13,000 in Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarships, $21,968 in federal Pell grant funds, plus other aid and loans.
While not addressing any specific students, Sharkey said, “Some students are awarded more financial aid than they are eligible to receive and as such, the funds must be returned.”
It also was unclear whether there might be some duplication among the sums - whether money listed for tuition and fees, for instance, might have come in part or in full from other listed scholarships or funding sources.
The financial-aid records also list $9,440 in personal expenses for Stark.
Sharkey, again speaking in generalities, said personal expenses refer to “whatever the student considered indirect costs. That would typically be food, shelter, clothing, medical, transportation, etc.”
In the 2011-12 academic year, UCA had 10,254 students who received “some form of financial aid,” including work study, according to UCA’s Office of Institutional Research. The total enrollment for that same academic year was 12,939, the office said.
Of the 11 students whose records were reviewed, just four participated in work-study programs at UCA. Stark was not listed among them, although he worked in the president’s office for a time.
Also among the 11 students were Stuart Gaddy, a former student worker for whom Gillean had a resume stored on his work computer; and Tylor Banks, whom Gillean represented in a criminal case and who later went to prison.
In addition to loans, records list $500 for Banks for books and supplies, $1,180 for personal expenses, $4,050 for room and board, $1,550 for transportation, $3,558 for tuition and fees, and $1,250 in Pell grant funds.
According to a circuit-court filing Wednesday by one of Gillean’s three attorneys, Timothy Dudley, a “Statement of Tylor Banks” was among prosecution evidence given to the defense.
That court filing also indicates that the defense had received copies of prosecution interviews conducted with various people, including Gillean and someone identified only by the surname of Barber. One of the 11 students whose aid was reviewed was Zachary Barber.
Prosecuting Attorney Cody Hiland declined to confirm on whether the person interviewed was Zachary Barber.
Records show that Zachary Barber was offered $10,000 in Arkansas Challenge scholarship funds, $47,213.50 in a full honors scholarship, $1,400 in an “Honors Special Scholarship,” $2,360 in personal expenses, $5,349 for room and board, $3,100 for transportation and $6,899 for tuition and fees.
Again, it was unclear whether Barber got all of that money or if some of it involved duplications.
The internal audit findings, released to the board of trustees in December, said in part, “Financial Aid files of eleven students were reviewed due to their association with Mr. Gillean.”
In the report, dated Dec. 6, Pam Massey, director of the Office of Internal Audit, said there was “no evidence of Mr. Gillean’s direct involvement” in any of the problems she found in regard to financial aid for the 11.
The audit report did not address the full extent of financial aid that the 11 students received. Asked if UCA had advised Hiland of the large sums involved for some students, Hiland said, “It would be inappropriate for me to comment.”
In that report, Massey questioned an adjustment to financial aid for transportation given to one student upon the authorization of Andrew Linn, a financial-aid employee who knew the student.
Massey has not publicly identified the student, and copies of the review released to the news media had all students’ names blacked out.
The Democrat-Gazette, however, has confirmed that the student was Stark. He got an unspecified amount of money from UCA in March 2010 as reimbursement for what he had reportedly said was damage to his car’s wheels while the vehicle was stolen.
The audit discovered that at the time, Stark had not yet recovered his car or even talked with police about it and could not, therefore, have realized the wheels were damaged.
The audit report also questioned the renewal of one student’s presidential scholarship because of a medical exception that was not documented. The report noted that the scholarship was at one point placed on hold because of the unidentified student’s military service.
Stark did not reply to a request seeking comment that was sent to him through Facebook. In a previous message, however, he said he was awarded a scholarship in 2005 because of his “3.9 high school GPA/29 ACT score composite.” GPA refers to grade-point average.
The prosecution contends that Gillean gave Stark two of his UCA-issued keys and a key card with the knowledge that Stark intended to use them to steal tests for the purpose of cheating. Gillean resigned about a week after police said Stark broke into the financial-aid office and stole four prescription pills from Linn.
No one has been charged with any drug-related crimes.
Among other financial-aid recipients were at least two former walk-on members of UCA’s football team, Gaddy and Barrett Blaylock.
Blaylock was a backup defensive tackle for the UCA football team in 2008, 2009 and 2010, UCA sports information director Steve East said in an e-mail. As a walk-on, Blaylock was not a scholarship athlete, East said.
“He quit the team during the 2010 season, returned in the spring of 2011 but quit again before the 2011 season,” East added.
Separate from his role in athletics, Blaylock was offered substantial financial aid while at UCA. For room and board alone, he got $33,283, records show.
Records also list the following for Blaylock: $14,860 in transportation; $34,266 in tuition and fees; a total of $30,268 in federal Pell grants; and other assistance. The total he actually used is unclear.
The internal audit also reviewed records relating to Adam Henderson, director of UCA’s Office of Environmental Health and Safety until shortly after Gillean resigned.
Henderson, who had received a $20,000 pay increase in one year at Gillean’s behest, lost most of that raise after Gillean’s departure and then resigned in July. Henderson is not charged with any wrongdoing.
A copy of an interview with Henderson was also among evidence the prosecution provided the defense in Gillean’s case.
Gaddy, a former student worker in Henderson’s office, was a field technician responsible for fire extinguishers, according to the resume that auditors found on Gillean’s UCA owned computer. At $2,120 in nonfederal work-study funds, Gaddy’s aid was relatively modest, records show.
The undated resume indicated that Gaddy began working there in August 2011 and had been a UCA student since August 2009.
Gaddy transferred to UCA from Mississippi State University in the fall of 2009. He also had previously attended Missouri Southern. At UCA, Gaddy was a football-team walk-on but was not eligible to play because of his transfer, UCA Athletic Director Brad Teague said in an e-mail.
Gaddy never received athletic-related financial aid, Teague said, and quit the team after the fall 2010 season.
Gillean was scheduled for a pretrial hearing Jan. 14, but it has been postponed to a date yet to be determined.
Front Section, Pages 1 on 01/06/2013