A University of Central Florida director and author of an ethics textbook has resigned after accusations of misusing funds and university resources, according to documents obtained by KnightNews.com.
Dr. Robert Chandler, the Nicholson School of Communication director in the College of Sciences, turned in his letter of resignation on March 25 after a six-month investigation by UCF.
In a March 18 letter to Chandler, College of Sciences Dean Michael Johnson outlined a number of accusations brought against Chandler such as the misuse of travel reimbursements.
Out of 113 trips he has taken since his start at UCF in 2009, he is being accused of “double-dipping” on travel expenses for 40 trips by asking for payments from both UCF and a third party organization. As a result of the investigation, Chandler reimbursed UCF about $30,000 for the “overpayments and double payments” he received, according to Johnson.
UCF was helping to pay for trips that Chandler was taking all around the world, including to India and Hawaii. Chandler received funds for airline tickets, hotel, meals, taxis, tolls and parking.
In a July 2010 trip to Hawaii, he received over $4,000 from a third party organization to present a paper at the 2010 Disaster preparedness Conference in Honolulu. His airfare ticket was over $1,000, where he charged an additional $330 ticket upgrade fee, according to records.
In February of this year, he reimbursed UCF over $1,800 for the Hawaii trip, according to records.
“With roughly 40 counts of ‘double-dipping’ on your travel expenses, it is impossible for me to accept an explanation of ‘sloppiness’ on your part,” Johnson said in the letter.
In addition to Chandler’s travel expenses, Johnson accused Chandler of using UCF employees to work on his outside projects, including having an employee “author” at least one chapter in Chandler’s book of which UCF did not benefit from, according to records.
He was also accused of hiring family members, which violates university regulations.
In a 10-page letter Chandler sent with his resignation notice to Johnson, Chandler addressed and denied all the accusations made against him.
“…I deny your claims that my delays arose from a purposeful fraudulent intent,” Chandler said. “I deny your claim that I had ‘never’ previously reimbursed or not sought reimbursement from UCF for expenses paid by other parties until December 2014.”
Johnson announced Chandler’s resignation to faculty in a meeting on March 27, according to NSC Area Coordinator and Associate Professor Steve Collins. Collins said Johnson told faculty Chandler’s resignation involved financial issues but were given no more details.
“[Johnson] said this is not the first time someone has resigned from investigation,” Collins said. “I specifically asked if he thought, hindsight being 20/20, there were signs or someone could have found out sooner and he said he didn’t think so.”
Collins continued: “I can tell you I am skeptical of that but I am not in a position to say.”
This is not the first time a UCF administrator was accused of misusing university funds.
In 2009, College of Engineering Dean Jamal Nayfeh was accused of using a UCF credit card to buy more than $40,000 in electronics for his home. Nayfeh turned himself into the Orange County Jail on theft charges, UCF said. In Chandler’s case, the investigation is ongoing and no criminal charges have been filed.
KnightNews.com reached out to Chandler through multiple avenues, including knocking on his door, to comment on these accusations. When KnightNews.com arrived at his home Wednesday evening to ask for comment, Chandler refused to open the door, fleeing from his home’s patio to the upstairs.
Chandler is a Crisis and Emergency Communication Scholar and professor of communication, and makes a yearly salary of $201,058.72. Chandler is currently on administrative leave. In the meantime, College of Science Associate Dean Dr. Arlen F. Chase, who specializes in anthropological archaeology, is acting director.
Christal Hayes contributed to this report.
