Copyright© 2007 by School Services of California, Inc.

                                      Volume 20                   For Publication Date: February 2, 2007             No. 3

Districts May Start Asking Instructors to Check Submitted Grades 

Through an anonymous tip line that authorities setup at the Contra Costa Community College District, a grade-selling scheme was uncovered at Diablo Valley College (DVC). 

Students with access to academic records at Diablo Valley College are suspected of selling better grades to their peers. Basically, the grades that instructors submitted were not the grades actually produced on the transcript or the final grade reported for some students. 

There are students who have been identified as suspects of altering grades and increasing the grade point averages for their peers. According to Charles Gibson, police chief for the Contra Costa Community College District, the students modified “a substantial number of grades” over the past few years in the cash-for-grades scheme. At least two students connected to the plot worked in the college records office, which is where authorities assert that they obtained the access and ability to alter grades. 

Investigators at the campus are preparing to forward the case to county prosecutors for potential criminal charges. As a result, some instructors have been asked to examine their prior years’ records to help authorities identify just how long the scheme may have been going on. College administrators are in the process of contacting schools that may have received fraudulent transcripts of transfer students.   

Bruce Koller, President of the Diablo Valley College Faculty Senate and an Economics professor, checked his submitted grades and found that “several” grades had been changed since they were issued. What Koller found was that all of the students identified with altered grades from his course were also students who had problems academically in his class. 

Contra Costa Community College District officials have not released the names of the students believed to be involved, since it is an ongoing investigation. DVC leaders indicate that they have made changes to prevent this from happening in the future. In addition, district officials have not found evidence that the DVC scheme impacted the other campuses (Contra Costa College or Los Medanos College). 

The DVC case may now be cause for districts to put new policies in place for instructors regarding verification of submitted grades. This situation is saddening, as it may now cast a cloud of suspicion over all DVC students and cause several institutions to question the credibility of their transcripts. 

—Jamillah Moore, E.d.D.