Audit shows College of Health Dean failed to manage conflict of interest with spouse
Internal UW documents shared with the Reporter show Dean Jacob Warren was investigated last year for some of the same allegations he still faces.
University of Wyoming College of Health Sciences Dean Jacob Warren was investigated last year for allegations of nepotism, according to an internal university audit completed in April.
The investigation found that neither Warren nor his spouse “self-managed the conflict of interest” created by their relationship. According to the audit, Warren oversaw his spouse’s work in the College of Health without a process in place to avoid special treatment or the appearance of such.
“Both individuals have the opportunity to authorize, influence, or reject items that could be perceived as not being in the best interest of the College or the University,” states a redacted version of the audit shared with the Laramie Reporter. “Conflict of interest has not been self-managed by the individuals or by an institutional management plan.”
The April auditors cleared Warren of other allegations such as that he had abused his power, had limited academic freedom or had created a hostile work environment.
Since becoming dean in the summer of 2022, Warren has come under fire from his own faculty, who have raised concerns about Warren’s vision for the college, his behavior as leader, his communication style or lack thereof, and the allegedly privileged treatment of his spouse.
The struggle between the dean and his faculty has resulted in a string of resignations and ousters, and the chaos at the college has caught the attention of both state lawmakers and funding agencies.
In addition to the audit, a follow-up Human Resources assessment — also completed in April and also shared with the Reporter this month — highlighted rampant failures on the part of the dean to communicate with members of his own college, such as by consistently failing to respond to emails.
The audit and the HR assessment were released through a public records request submitted by Donal O’Toole, a retired UW professor and former faculty senate chair who has been actively following the ongoing conflict in the College of Health Sciences.
Taken together, the documents show that the same concerns being raised by faculty now were identified nearly a year ago.
Some of these concerns, such as the spousal conflict of interest, were identified and addressed to at least some degree by the April audit. Other concerns, such as the creation of a hostile work environment, were dismissed in April — yet those same allegations were raised again months later.
In October — six months after the internal audit was completed — faculty and other employees of the college, including several high-ranking members and division heads, penned a letter calling for a formal dispute resolution process under University Regulation 2-2. In that 12-page letter, the authors spelled out their case that Warren is damaging the College of Health Sciences.
They alleged many of the same problems raised or dismissed during the April audit, including allegations of nepotism and of fostering a hostile work environment.
“The evidence has shown a drastic departure from the collaborative history of CHS leadership whereby the Dean displays a pattern of autocratic leadership style in disregard of shared governance where he consistently abuses a position of administrative power, at times in concert with his spouse, Bryant Smalley, who also holds a high-level administrative position, to gain personal advantages in research funding application and budgetary decisions and also the dispersal of UW resources,” the faculty letter alleges.
It further alleges that despite frequent complaints — such as those that inspired the April audit — the situation has only deteriorated:
“There have been no noticeable changes in the Dean’s behavior following the consistent reporting of unjust, inequitable, and prohibited decision-making.”
Conflict of interest
The April audit examined instances in which Warren signed off on grant proposals that listed his spouse as the principal investigator.
“In three documented instances, Dr. Jacob Warren approved and authorized [redacted] to pursue grants as a principal investigator under the umbrella of the College of Health Sciences.”
Warren’s spouse is Bryant Smalley, who is now a UW administrator. Smalley originally joined the university as an excellence chair in the College of Health Sciences — a posting that put him ultimately under Warren’s supervision.
The audit takes particular interest in one of the grant proposals approved by Warren and overseen by Smalley: the HRSA Community Health Worker Training Program grant.
Originally, the HRSA grant was being eyed by the Wyoming Department of Health and the Wyoming Institute for Disabilities (WIND), who were planning to apply for the grant together.
This was in June 2022 and Warren had not yet taken over as dean, though he had already been hired and was scheduled to start the next month.
“The Dean attempted to keep apprised of the elements of the proposal to ensure that obligations of WIND and college resources were reasonable,” the audit states. “On June 6, 2022, the (Department of Health) withdrew from interest and deferred to the University to apply for the grant.”
At this point, the proposal started to take on a new shape.
“The Dean worked to prepare elements of the proposal by the deadline of June 14, 2022,” the audit states. “During this process, the budget and associated activities originally planned for WIND were reduced to be in alignment with other activities and available budget.”
The audit does not specify why the Department of Health withdrew or why WIND’s activities related to the grant were reduced. But after Warren’s edits, the grant was ultimately submitted — and eventually awarded — with Smalley, Warren’s spouse, listed as the principal investigator.
The audit itself doesn’t specifically connect the dots, but later faculty communications are more direct.
Claims of nepotism
The October faculty letter invoking the university’s formal dispute resolution process made various accusations about Warren’s leadership of the college, including a charge of nepotism.
The letter describes some of the same events covered by the audit and details Warren’s reworking of the HRSA grant. The authors outline a clearer, unredacted allegation that Warren used his position to benefit his spouse.
“In June, the Dean instructed WIND to cease and desist work on the grant and turn over their resources to him,” the letter alleges. “The grant was submitted to HRSA on June 22nd, with Dr. Smalley (the Dean’s spouse) listed as the Principal Investigator.”
All of this occurred before either Warren or Smalley officially started working at UW in July.
The April audit does not use the word “nepotism” — and does not specifically find that Warren used his position to benefit Smalley. But its authors reviewed job responsibilities for both men and found “real and apparent conflict of interest exists,” and further that this conflict of interest had not been appropriately managed.
“Financial, reputational, compliance, and strategic risks are present if real or apparent conflict of interests are not identified and managed,” the audit states.
The auditors recommended developing a conflict of interest management plan with the assistance of UW’s general counsel. In his response to the audit, Dean Warren wrote that just such a plan was in the works.
In October, Provost Kevin Carman wrote in a message to campus that a conflict of interest management plan was now in place. Carman’s message addressed the various allegations outlined by the faculty letter, informing readers that “a number of these claims” had already been investigated by “the appropriate campus offices and entities.”
Carman wrote that those investigations, which included the audit, found no wrongdoing.
“To date, there have been no violations of any university policy, no unethical conduct, and no findings of wrongdoing by the dean,” Carman wrote. “Specifically: Claims of nepotism regarding the dean’s spouse have been reviewed by the University, with no violations found.”
Smalley now serves as the director of the new Rural Health Institute, which is housed in the College of Health Sciences.
Communication issues
The audit and the human resources assessment show that severe failures of communication on the part of Dean Warren have caused problems in the College of Health Sciences. Some examples from the HR assessment include:
“She stated that even though Dean Warren had asked her to email him if any time-sensitive matters needed to be addressed, she had emailed Dean Warren multiple times over a few days to get his approval for a grant and had yet to receive a response.”
“Email chains that showed [redacted] emailing Dean Warren multiple times to arrange meetings and not receiving a response.”
“Multiple email chains were provided showing WIND’s inability to get feedback from Dean Warren regarding promotional materials that needed to be created.”
Details like these are numerous in the HR assessment, and the assessment’s author recommends that: “Academic Affairs (provide) Dean Jacob Warren with communication training to help improve communications within his office and with his departments.”
The communication failures, according to the HR assessment, play into the other allegations and concerns raised by faculty. It notes: “Some issues stem from Dean Warren’s lack of response.”
According to the assessment, Warren failing to clearly communicate his vision for the future of WIND has led to confusion about what grants will or won’t be submitted under his leadership. This in turn leads to frustration when grant proposals are rejected by the dean, or not submitted, because they don’t “fall within the department’s mission.”
In one such example:
“The employee repeatedly asked Dean Warren to clarify which types of grants he would allow their department to apply for, but no answer was provided … The employee explained that their work conditions have been altered by Dean Warren because they have been denied the opportunity to apply for grants and secure funding for their work, which affects the conditions of their employment.”
Throughout the current struggle in the College of Health Sciences, administrators have reiterated that they are prioritizing communication.
“When new leadership comes in, there’s always changes that are going to occur,” Dean Warren told concerned state lawmakers earlier this month. “There were some changes that were made in leadership and there are always opinions when those items happen. But we’re continuing to make good progress. We’re working with WIND very closely to ensure that nothing that we’re doing is jeopardizing any type of programmatic support within Wyoming.”
Faculty have reiterated they do not feel heard. Yesterday, the WIND advisory council chair told the UW Board of Trustees that the dean’s actions are an active threat to the future viability of WIND.