There is a need to tighten up policies and procedures regarding conference calls. An assistant to CU’s fundraising officer listened in on conference call of a closed door executive session of the Board of Directors. The story is not even so much about what was heard, but more about the cost of investigating the incident (estimated at $40,000) and whether the official may have instructed the assistant to eavesdrop.
from the Daily Camera, Boulder, Co.
Less than a year after being hired as the University of Colorado system’s top fundraising officer, Kelly Cronin is leaving the university in the wake of a $40,000 investigation into an allegation her assistant eavesdropped on a closed-door meeting…
Eavesdropping investigation
At a meeting in Denver between the CU Foundation’s Board of Directors and several university employees, the board moved into executive session, which is closed to all non-board members.
All university employees either left the room or left the conference call, McConnellogue said.
It was later discovered that Cronin’s assistant had been listening in to the meeting on the conference call, McConnellogue said.
The assistant’s name has not been released by the university.
“What we decided was we needed to investigate this incident, was it intentional or not?” McConnellogue said. “(The investigation) found that (the assistant) participated in this call that he shouldn’t have. It also found that there’s no evidence that (Cronin) directed him to do so.”
Of the CU Foundation, McConnellogue said, “It’s an important relationship with us and I would say it’s safe to say the incident damaged the relationship, but not fatally.”
The university hired Patrick Ridley, an outside attorney, to conduct the investigation. Though numbers aren’t finalized, the cost for the inquiry is expected to be around $40,000, McConnellogue said.