A Conflict on Integrity Surfaces

Faculty members "have the ultimate authority to grade students," Fernandes said, "and changes should not be made lightly."

Substandard Students

Fernandes said she had intended to raise admissions standards but needed to proceed gradually because "if we just cut off a certain level of students, the university's overall enrollment would suffer and probably not recover."

Gallaudet has been recruiting more aggressively to keep enrollment up, Kimmel said. Beyond medical advances, federal laws now enable more deaf students to attend mainstream schools. Those laws have been "a double-edged sword," she said.

Several faculty members said they suspect that the shrinking pool of potential students has resulted in the school admitting some applicants who previously would not have met standards.

This fall, 41 percent of new students were required to take remedial English and 86 percent needed remedial math, according to the office of enrollment services.

Deaf students who grow up communicating with American Sign Language often need extra help with English because ASL is its own language, not a literal translation of English. And the concentration on learning English often overwhelms math instruction, Gallaudet staff members say.

One perspective among the faculty "is we shouldn't be getting so many developmental students," Weinberg said. "The other is we've got to do better with the ones we have." .

The administration in recent years has boosted the school's honors program, Weinberg noted. But he said challenges remain for faculty members in teaching a student population with an enormous range of abilities. And, he said, officials have tried to play down any weaknesses.

Other faculty members express a lack of trust in an administration they say is heavy-handed and dismissive of complaints.

English professor Christopher Heuer said that more checks and balances need to be in place. "Our current system needs to be reformed so that the wishes of the stakeholders of the Gallaudet campus community are heeded, not just heard," Heuer said.

Faculty vice chair Lois Bragg said the administration has been spinning bad news for years, "trying to hide from the public evidence of low academic standards and absolutely risible admissions policies. . . . The administration has lost all credibility in the campus community."

In its review this year, the OMB noted the university's low graduation rates, which have fallen just below targets that the school pledges to meet. Its 42 percent is an estimate meant to include any student who graduates, regardless of how long it takes. Graduation rates are more commonly based on the number of students who graduate within six years. By that measure, Gallaudet says it averages a 28 percent rate.

Budget officer David F. Armstrong said Gallaudet vigorously objected to OMB's conclusions and it has agreed to a reassessment. He added that accrediting agencies have endorsed the university's programs. OMB's "one-size-fits-all approach," he said, disserves Gallaudet.

Gallaudet students, for example, may take eight or nine years to complete degrees, Armstrong said, and go on to graduate school at very high rates.

Hager, at the Department of Education, said his agency was not vigilant about overseeing the university, partly because the money for Gallaudet "is a small part of our operation here."

Gallaudet, Hager said, "likes their independence," but agreed to a two-day visit in April by Education Department staff. He also said his department would be rigorous about getting timely and complete data from Gallaudet.

"When they knuckled down and got over the emotional reaction [to the OMB report] and got factual, they were set to do the hard work with us," Hager said.

News researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.