Quote:By Jodi S. Cohen | Tribune reporter

July 21, 2009

University of Illinois board chair Niranjan Shah used his connection with the chancellor in 2007 to get a high-paying university job for his future son-in-law, a Dutch citizen seeking work in the United States.

Campus officials went to great lengths to comply with his request, creating a position for Maarten de Jeu without conducting the usual search, securing a visa so he could work in the country and paying him a salary of $115,000 a year -- more than most other employees with the same title.

The chancellor also dipped into campus reserves to pay his salary because the position wasn't otherwise funded in the department that hired him.

"Trustee Shah urged us to explore a job for Mr. de Jeu. Accordingly I made efforts to see if there was an appropriate position within the university community for which he was well-suited," Chancellor Richard Herman wrote to the Tribune.

Shah and Herman did not agree to interviews for this story, but provided written responses to questions.

Shah said he "encouraged" the university to hire de Jeu, now 34, who graduated first in his class from the executive MBA program at Oxford University. "I thought he would be an excellent hire for U. of I. as it expanded its international research and consulting programs," Shah wrote. "I believed he was exceptionally well-qualified."

The Chicago Tribune has requested all communications including e-mail exchanges related to the hiring, but as of late Monday the university had not provided them. Campus officials had provided some documentation, including de Jeu's salary and forms related to his visa application and job search waiver.

This latest revelation comes as university trustees are under fire for their involvement in admissions decisions. Shah is expected to testify Tuesday before the state's Admissions Review Commission, impaneled by Gov. Pat Quinn in response to an ongoing investigation by the Chicago Tribune into admissions abuses.

Shah was appointed to the university board in 2003 by Gov. Rod Blagojevich and named chairman earlier this year. He is the chief executive of one of the state's most successful engineering firms and a prolific political donor who hosted a fundraiser for Blagojevich in his Oak Brook home.

Commissioners on Tuesday are likely to ask Shah how two of his family members got admitted to the university's College of Law.

The first relative was admitted in 2004. Said Shah on Monday: "I had no role in that and wasn't even aware that he had applied."

Indeed, records seem to indicate that Shah didn't directly pressure campus officials, but that they were aware that the applicant was Shah's relative.

Herman made sure the relative had a spot in the class even though a staffer wrote in a memo that the relative's academic record made him "the lowest ranking individual in the 2004 class."

A second relative was admitted in 2006, the Tribune previously reported. "I didn't know until she signed up and somebody else mentioned to me that she was at the law school," Shah said. "I never requested special treatment for anybody."

Shah said he did not think de Jeu was given special treatment either.

De Jeu moved to Illinois from London in fall 2007 to work in the university's division of Business and Industry Services, a Naperville-based unit that provides consulting and training services to businesses. BIS, a self-sustaining department funded by grants and client fees, falls under the University of Illinois Extension program.

Herman agreed to pay de Jeu's salary from a discretionary fund accessible to the chancellor and provost, even though salaries for all other BIS employees are funded from its own budget, the program's director said. "Given that BIS did not have adequate resources but considered him a well-suited and meritorious candidate, I chose to use reserves to pay his salary for one year," Herman wrote.

Herman said he expected de Jeu to generate enough business to cover his salary in subsequent years, but acknowledged Monday he did not know whether de Jeu accomplished that.

The university also paid $7,458 to cover expenses related to de Jeu's move from London to Chicago, including two plane tickets, moving expenses, temporary housing and furniture rental. University policy allows for $7,500 in moving expenses for faculty, administrators and professional staff.

Herman said he did not feel pressure to hire de Jeu, but felt "an obligation to explore avenues to ascertain whether an appropriate position within the university community could be found." ...

Quote:University of Illinois board chair Niranjan Shah

ham Wrote:

Quote:University of Illinois board chair Niranjan Shah

PFFT!
HAHAHA!
PRRT!
HAHAHA!
Agh!
Puech!
God bless America...the land of opportunity...

Don Dresden Wrote:Nepotism gone wild at UIUC!  Sounds like the University Conflict of Interest Officer has fallen down on the job:

ham Wrote:Remember Ward Churchill?
The day Gollin minds business he's not supposed to, you bet some 'concerned officer' will feel his conscience's call to investigate old George's career...you know...

ham Wrote:Remember Ernst Zundel?

Quote:Enough on Ernst. Nobody defended him for fear of being tarred with the same brush.