By Cheryl Hehl, Staff Writer
A copy of a letter dated Dec. 16 obtained by LocalSource from Kean Board of Trustees Chair Ada Morell to Kean Federation of Teachers President James Castiglione backed up that the board was reviewing information the union provided at the end of November.
“The letters raise serious issues and have been referred to the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees for handling,” Morell said in her letter to Castiglione, stressing that “at the conclusion of the executive committee’s review, the board will determine what action, if any, is appropriate.”
Morell’s response to Castiglione occurred after the union president had to send a follow-up letter Dec. 13 urging the board to respond to the “serious allegations of potential academic fraud” leveled Nov. 29 by the union about Farahi.
In that letter Castiglione called on the board to order a “complete investigation” of their own into Farahi’s academic credentials.
“Given the seriousness of the allegations and the potential damage to the university, it is incumbent on the board to have an independent academic investigation and address these claims without delay,” the union president said.
LocalSource broke this story online Dec. 9 and in print Dec. 15, noting that the teachers union supplied the Kean Board of Trustees with considerable information supporting their claim that Farahi had falsified his academic credentials.
Among the allegedly bogus claims investigated by the Kean Federation of Teachers included Farahi’s claims on his resume that he published over 50 technical articles in major publications. However, after extensive searches of scholarly databases in and out of state, the faculty union found no evidence to support the university president’s claims.
Also, many of the claims have been refuted by editors of these journals.
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