Copyright© 2007 by School Services of California, Inc.

                                      Volume 20                   For Publication Date: August 3, 2007             No. 17

Contra Costa County District Attorney Takes
Next Step in Diablo Valley College Grade Fixing 

Contra Costa County District Attorney Robert Kochly has filed 65 counts of computer fraud and conspiracy charges following the investigation at Diablo Valley College in which some employees were paid to change or add grades for students. Of the 65 counts, 34 current and former students were also charged with computer fraud in connection with the scam. Those charged in the case face up to three years in state prison for each felony. 

According to the district attorney’s office, over a five-year period ending in February of 2006, at least four student employees used computers in the admissions office to change grades. Students involved changed their own grades and made thousands of dollars changing as many as 400 grades for other students. According to previous news reports by the San Francisco Chronicle and Los Angeles Times, it is estimated that an A grade went for as much as $600. 

Diablo Valley College is one of three colleges within the Contra Costa Community College District. The district started an investigation into the incident last year, when a professor alerted the District to the problem after he tried to drop a student from his class, but his name kept reappearing on the roster.  

Diablo Valley College officials provided prosecutors with the names of 55 potential suspects involved. The state is still investigating several suspects in this case. In an effort to prevent this type of incident from taking place in the future, the college has made changes. The number of student workers with access to computerized records has been reduced and, through a self-monitoring and accountability process, the college now produces monthly grade change reports. 

According to college officials, what is most disturbing about this scandal is not just the money involved but the fact that many students used their fraudulent grades to transfer to four-year universities like the University of California, Davis, Los Angeles, and Berkeley. Through a written statement, the district indicated that college officials have corrected all of the altered transcripts and rescinded the degrees of some students involved.  

This incident will have a lasting impact on the college and can affect all who are connected to the institution, specifically innocent students. From this moment forward, students with legitimate grades connected to the institution could be looked on suspiciously, and it could have a lasting effect on the integrity of the college and the system.  

To dispel myths that this scheme called into question Diablo Valley College’s accreditation, the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) and the Chancellor of the District both issued statements confirming that the institution remains fully accredited and is addressing the issue within the commission guidelines (go to (http://www.4cd.net/dvc_message.pdf) (http://www.4cd.net/DVCPressRelease.pdf to read the statements).  

            —Jamillah Moore, Ed.D.