Investigation clears COD faculty association

An internal investigation has determined the College of DuPage faculty association did not misuse college resources by listing its campus office as the address for its political action committee.

The results of the nearly two-month long investigation were announced Thursday in a brief news release. The accusations were leveled by former COD trustee Kory Atkinson.

"The Board, through its legal counsel, has conducted an extensive review of the issues raised by Mr. Atkinson and has concluded that the College has acted in a manner consistent with the (Illinois State Officials and Employees Ethics) Act," the release stated.

Faculty association leaders and officials from the association's Friends for Education political action committee denied any wrongdoing all along. They said the campus address was used to provide better access to the committee for election officials.

"We work very hard to follow all College of DuPage policies and all state ethics regulations," said Jackie McGrath, communications director of Friends for Education. "I am glad that the board review found this to be true."

While the investigation was underway, Friends for Education filed paperwork with the state election board changing its address to a post office box in Wheaton.

"If everything was on the up and up, they shouldn't have felt the need to make that change," Atkinson said. "The college's statement is self-serving and doesn't address the issues that were raised in my complaint."

Atkinson has been at odds with the current board ever since the April election when two of his allies - former board Chairman Mike McKinnon and former Vice Chairman Mark Nowak - were voted out of office. Atkinson didn't seek re-election, opting instead to run unopposed for a Roselle village board seat.

Atkinson contends three of the new trustees and current Chairman Kathy Wessel should recuse themselves for voting on faculty-related issues because Friends for Education spent thousands of dollars on their campaigns.

Wessel and the others said they won't recuse themselves because there's no basis for a conflict and note Atkinson didn't have a problem with McKinnon voting on faculty issues when he was endorsed by the faculty during his first campaign.