President Abare to address students on ‘misreported’ data

By Alexa Epitropoulos | gargoyle@flagler.edu

Feb. 18, 3:42 p.m.

In the wake of revelations about ‘misreported’ freshman data, President William Abare Jr. is set to address student concerns on Feb. 18 at 5 p.m. in the Lewis Auditorium.

Students were informed on Feb. 17 of the misreported data, which included incoming students’ GPAs, SAT scores and class rankings. The inflation of data began in 2010, according to a statement issued by President Abare. The revelations led to the resignation of Marc Williar, Flagler College’s vice president of enrollment management, who has taken responsibility for the discrepancies in data.

The reports have also led to concerns about the reputation of the school, especially for graduating seniors who are in the process of sending out applications for jobs and graduate school. It has also prompted fears about the future of Flagler’s accreditation. Faculty senate chairwoman Rachel Cremona, associate professor of political science, Ph.D,  said she has encountered student fears firsthand.

“Some are indifferent; others are worried that it somehow will make their degree from Flagler less valuable, which is certainly not true,” Cremona said. “I think it’s an understandable reaction to suddenly be hearing this, but hopefully it will not affect students staying at Flagler. It would be a shame if they were to have a knee jerk reaction.”

It’s not just students who are shocked. Faculty members, who were in meetings most of Feb. 17, are part of the fallout.

“We feel like our students have been misrepresented to us,” Cremona said.

Cremona said that the misreported data does not represent Flagler’s standard of education as a whole or professors’ commitment to students.

“It’s not reflective of who we are as a college. It’s not reflective of the standard of education we are giving. It’s not reflective of the commitment we have to students,” Cremona said. “We are working to refocus our efforts to tell students that the standard of education they signed up for is what they are getting.”

More information will be posted as it becomes available.