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Here is Why LMC Fired Its President

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Following this morning's show cause hearing on the Napier Avenue Campus which resulted in the termination of Lake Michigan College President Dr. Jennifer Spielvogel, the College has issued the following Public Statement:

Public Statement Regarding Spielvogel Hearing
The Lake Michigan College Board of Trustees voted to terminate LMC president Jennifer Spielvogel after a public hearing was held at the college on Thursday, May 5 to determine just cause.

Spielvogel began her tenure on January 1, 2016, succeeding former president Dr. Robert Harrison after 16 years of service to the college including seven as president. On April 8, 2016, the board voted unanimously for her suspension.

The college cited reasons including $20,625 in unapproved and unauthorized costs expensed to the college; multiple policy violations, improper conduct, improper management behavior and lack of professionalism; and inadequate goals and objectives.
The investigation arose after Board Chair Mary Jo Tomasini noticed Spielvogel had failed to turn in expense reports for two consecutive months. Tomasini made an inquiry and after further investigation into financial and communication documents, and interviewing college officers and employees, Tomasini uncovered concerning evidence reflecting job performance issues, policy and procedure violations, interpersonal communication issues and poor management decisions. These were violations to Spielvogel’s employment contract and required the LMC Board of Trustees to investigate, and if merited, take disciplinary action.

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“It was like we pulled the string and all of these other issues began to unravel,” stated Tomasini.

Unapproved and Unauthorized Costs Expensed to the College
In less than three months, a total of $20,625.50 in unauthorized, unapproved costs were expensed to the college.

Spielvogel spent $2,779.09 on architectural design services before asking permission to remodel her office. By contract she also received $6,000.00 toward an executive discretionary fund but did not use the money for its intended purposes including covering community organization membership dues, charity events and other activities that build and strengthen relationships with college partners. Instead, she used the funds to purchase personal items including Kenny Chesney concert tickets for $1,250.00 and to make a $1,000.00 charitable donation to the college in her own name at the annual college scholarship auction. 

Spielvogel spent $7,176.60 planning and purchasing items for an elaborate, unauthorized presidential inauguration. She did not seek prior approval from the board before planning the event, or before ordering materials and utilizing staff time for the event.

Unauthorized inauguration event expenditures include a $3,235.00 custom-made ceremonial chain of office medallion for her to wear at the event; $2,185.20 toward printed invitations and decorations; $365.40 toward unapproved use of LMC staff time; and $1,391.00 for a specially-designed cap and gown for her to wear during the event.

After Board Chair Tomasini confronted her about the event and related non-refundable expenses, Spielvogel attempted to make arrangements to reimburse LMC for the medallion through payroll deductions in $100.00 increments from July, 2016 through June, 2019, however, that repayment schedule would not be completed until after her employment contract reached its original termination date in June, 2018.

Spielvogel was counseled that an event of this nature was unprecedented at LMC and cautioned by former President Dr. Robert Harrison, who was hired by LMC as a consultant to mentor Spielvogel and ease her transition into the presidency during her first 90 days.

Harrison said, “I advised her to get the board involved right away in planning the event because it’s a big deal. I asked her to consider compensating the college for the medallion she’d ordered and suggested payroll deduction. I also advised her to hold off on her office remodel until the complete renovation of the Napier campus had started because so many instructional areas needed investment. I gave her the best advice I could about how to allocate college resources, and that’s to ask yourself, ‘how does each decision benefit the students and taxpayers in our community?’”

Harrison began working with her in December, 2015 and concluded in March, 2016. He conducted four one-on-one sessions, 14 meetings with community leaders, and spent two days traveling to Lansing with her, board members and LMC students. He was available for phone and home consultations, but Spielvogel rarely took up the offer.

Spielvogel spent $5,119.81 in unauthorized travel and payroll expenses and failed to comply with LMC’s Travel and Expense Reimbursement procedure, and Conflict of Interest Procedure even after being provided with copies of both. She failed to obtain prior approval and traveled to two different conferences where she presented on behalf of her former employer on topics unrelated to her experience at LMC. She charged her expenses to LMC and did not use her vacation or personal time. Total costs include $3,153.10 in wages for five days of unauthorized travel, $1,492.18 for a League of Innovation Conference, $336.57 for an Achieve the Dream Conference and a $137.96 airline voucher.

The investigation also found evidence of Improper Management Behavior and Conduct, and actions contributing to a Hostile Work Environment. Spielvogel engaged in inappropriate conduct arising from her frequent negative and possibly defamatory comments regarding board members, community members and college officers and employees. Spielvogel admitted to making a number of inappropriate comments when asked by the board and to LMC’s attorney.

Evidence was also found to support that Spielvogel engaged in behavior that could have potentially placed LMC in substantial jeopardy of constructive discharge lawsuits and that she intentionally and knowingly engaged in activity that created a hostile work environment by altering an employee’s job duties so as to cause her to quit. She also related a plan to force another employee to quit or retire.

Lack of Professionalism and Inadequate Goals and Objectives
A number of college employees reported that Spielvogel repeatedly engaged in unprofessional conduct during meetings by failing to stick to planned agendas, and instead, engaged in conversation related to her personal life or planned Inauguration. She acknowledged to the board and to LMC’s attorney that she did make employees wait to meet with her because she was still meeting with other employees. Although it was reported that she had failed to show up for meetings with employees, she denied this.

The board had concerns about her draft goals and objectives, stating they appeared hastily prepared with little organization; contained no metrics for measuring success; no timeline for completion; no updates; no method for accountability; they were not based upon anything related to LMC’s history or current programs; some were simply not attainable; and generally showed a lack of awareness regarding how the college and the board operate.

After Thursday’s hearing and deliberation, the board unanimously approved two motions. The first was that just cause exists to support the termination of Jennifer Spielvogel from the position of President at Lake Michigan College. The second was a motion to commence action seeking reimbursement from Dr. Spielvogel for $20,625.50 in unauthorized and unapproved expenses.
Tomasini stated, “Even after investing ample resources into helping her navigate and understand our community and organizational culture, Ms. Spielvogel continued to demonstrate shockingly poor judgement and a general disinterest in taking guidance from the individuals both on this board and on her leadership team. After learning what we learned, there was no other choice but to follow due process and take swift action.” 

LMC hired a national executive search firm in 2015 to help them with the presidential search. The firm administered an in-depth vetting process including feedback from multiple interviewers; reference, background and credit checks; and leadership and personality testing. Spielvogel met with dozens of students, employees and community partners during remote and in-person visits to all campuses.

Tomasini added, “Our vetting process was thorough and there were no red flags to indicate anything like what we saw while she was here. But we are learning lessons from this experience that will serve us moving forward.

What I hope people understand is that this is about more than the medallion or a forgotten expense report. It is about fundamental errors in decision making that led to an unbelievable amount of expenses accumulated in less than 90 days.

That medallion and regalia represent a years’ worth of tuition for a student who doesn’t have two nickels to rub together, and at a time when the college is stretching increasingly limited resources to meet increasing demands. We’ve been combing through every line in next year’s budget to see where we can save so we won’t have to skimp on the investments that really impact students.

The bottom line is that LMC’s board and all of our employees are public servants. We have a well-established culture of servant leadership and each of us has the great responsibility to protect one of our community’s most valuable resources. It’s the job of the Board of Trustees to ensure the college is being led with integrity by an individual who can unite people for a higher purpose.”

The board has scheduled a meeting for Monday, May 16 to determine next steps. Spielvogel is now officially off the LMC payroll and the college is fully insured to cover any potential forthcoming legal expenses. “This sad day provides us some closure to heal the damage and move forward,” said Tomasini.

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