Gamble pleaded guilty to the felony charge of Conspiracy to
Defraud the United States in 2010 and received three years of probation. He was
also required to pay a restitution amount of more than $122,000. Last year,
FAMU Vice-President for Communications and External Relations Jimmy Miller
hired Gamble to a $75,000 “special assistant” job.
The inspector general of the Florida Board of Governors
asked the university in a September 9 email: “Has there been any review of this
matter to confirm that FAMU followed the background and hiring process in
hiring Gamble? If so, what was the result?”
“We found that the hiring process was followed,” Givens told
the BOT.
Givens added that: “We saw some areas that could be
improved…It related to the instances where the advertisement for the position
is waived.” He said that “in a year there were about 30 or so” hirings that took place without advertising the jobs.
That statement led to a number of follow-up questions from
FAMU trustees.
“In the case of non-advertised, who is the final signing
authority?” asked Trustee Matt Carter.
Givens told him that either the president or the president’s
designee is the final authority.
Trustee Robert Woody then asked: “Is there a requirement
that everybody that is interested in applying for a position submit an
application to HR?”
“If it’s advertised, then yes,” Givens told him. “But an
application is not required in the process where advertising is waived.”
“This whole discussion opens a Pandora’s Box on nepotism,”
Chairman Cleve Warren commented after Woody’s question.
An Oct. 21 story by WFSU reported that Brittanian Gamble,
the wife of Dee Gamble, received a signing bonus of $5,000 from the
administration. FAMU.edu lists Brittanian Gamble as the director for academic
excellence at the university.
Members of President Elmira Mangum’s staff stated that they
would review the current procedures regarding non-advertised jobs and report
back to the BOT.
This isn’t the first time that concerns about non-advertised
positions have come up among the BOT members.
Back in June 2015, then-Chairman Rufus Montgomery questioned
the process that was used to create a new $130,000 salary assistant
vice-president for alumni affairs and university relations job. He said Mangum
didn’t advertise the position before hiring John Michael Lee.
The chairman added that the BOT might need to revise the “FAMU BOT
Regulation 10.015, Recruitment, Selection, and Employment of University Faculty,
Administrative and Professional, Executive Service, University Support
Personnel System, and Other Personal Services Employees and, specifically,
Section (2), Announcement of Vacant Positions.”
He said the rule gives the president the option “to waive the
announcement of a position when a waiver is in the best interest of the
University” and if it pays $200,000 or less, per year.
“We’re not involved in specific personnel decisions, but the
authority to waive the announcement of a position, especially in this time when
we have budget challenges, it just doesn’t make sense,” the then-chairman said.