Students ask UMKC chancellor more questions about the Bloch School controversy

Concerned that a culture of secrecy might be pervasive on campus, University of Missouri-Kansas City students had some lingering questions about the cheating that cost the business school rankings.

On Wednesday they directed those questions at Chancellor Leo Morton — and ultimately said they were satisfied with his answers.

In UMKC Student Government Association meeting chambers, a group of about 40 students asked Morton to assure them that new leadership at the Henry W. Bloch School of Management is hard at work making sure false data submitted for high rankings won’t happen again.

Students questioned whether a lack of transparency and communication among university departments, administration and students was partly at fault and wondered whether having more students on boards and committees might fix that.

Morton denied suggestions that problems at the business school are part of a pervasive culture on campus.

“This was counter-culture,” Morton said.

As for the leadership of the Bloch School, one student said he thought dean David Donnelly, who was appointed to the post last March, was moving far too slowly.

“He is working at it,” Morton said of Donnelly and efforts to repair the school’s tarnished brand. “I am convinced that he is trying to get out in front of it and making changes to turn things around.”

The business school’s integrity was damaged by the rankings controversy. Princeton Review stripped UMKC’s 2014 rankings from the lists of the best college and business school entrepreneurial programs. The university then surrendered the rankings from 2011, 2012 and 2013.

The actions came after an audit conducted by the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers confirmed that university officials had submitted false data related to the number of student clubs and mentorship programs as well as some enrollment information.

The audit was ordered by the University of Missouri Board of Curators at the suggestion of Gov. Jay Nixon after a Kansas City Star story on July 26 raised questions about the validity of top rankings.

The audit revealed that faculty member John Norton admitted falsifying rankings data because he was pressured to do so by his boss, Michael Song.

Song, who started the school’s Regnier Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in 2005, resigned from the university on Feb. 13. Norton, associate director of the institute, announced his resignation a week later, effective March 15.

Wednesday’s meeting was the second Morton has had with students since the rankings were stripped. Last month on a KCUR-FM program, Morton apologized to students, faculty and the community for the rankings mess.

He said then and again on Wednesday that he thinks the root cause was “not having enough eyes on the data.”

A new faculty review committee being formed would oversee all future ranking applications for the business school. Students suggested at Wednesday’s meeting that they have representation on that committee.

“A good point,” Morton said, and he promised to raise the idea to Donnelly.

Students thanked Morton several times for the meeting and his apology.

“I appreciate the chancellor coming here to talk to us today,” said student body president Juan Bettancourt. “This was a marginal issue, but it affected the whole university. I fully believe they are trying now to move the school forward.”

Bettancourt and student body vice president Andrew Miller said they think students are satisfied with answers they have received.

And even if they are not, Miller said, “I think we are ready to move on. I’m ready to close the door.”

This story was originally published March 4, 2015 at 5:36 PM with the headline "Students ask UMKC chancellor more questions about the Bloch School controversy."