UC Berkeley Fires Registrar After Spending Improprieties

UC Berkeley has dismissed its registrar after an internal audit found spending improprieties of more than $12,000, including calls to adult phone lines and airline tickets for his fiancee.

Robert L. Bailey, 54, used his campus office and staff to help run a private consulting firm and pay for personal expenses, according to the report, which found widespread use of university resources.

Bailey could not be reached Monday and his attorney, Michael Ciraolo of Oakland, did not return a phone call Monday afternoon.

University spokesman Jesus Mena said Bailey’s dismissal was effective July 31, after an appeals process, but refused to comment on whether the university would file charges. He referred a reporter to the report, which indicated that UC Berkeley reviewed records from fiscal 1989 to 1992 and interviewed various employees during its investigation.

“When considered in its entirety, the scale and degree of policy violations, personal use of staff and other resources, and circumvention of directives substantially exceeds anything similar observed in our other audits and, in our opinion, represents serious misuse of University assets,” the report said.

That included use of university staff, computers, telephones, vehicles and supplies, as well as purchases of items for personal use, such as a laptop computer that he kept at his home most of the time.

The report, dated Nov. 17, 1992, also documented policy violations in telephone, travel and conflict-of-interest regulations and recommended that UC Berkeley bill Bailey $12,788 for all non-university related expenses he charged the campus.

Bailey is president of Records Management and Training Consultants, based in Walnut Creek, which helps businesses manage information records systems. One of Bailey’s consulting clients is a vendor who provides records storage services to the registrar’s office, the report said.

Bailey had headed admissions and enrollment since 1974. He was ordered to work from his home in June, 1992, after allegations of possible misuse of university funds were raised.

The report concluded that Bailey improperly directed his staff to work on his outside consulting business, including preparing letters, meeting agendas and personal manuscripts.

Other spending improprieties detailed in the audit included 3,434 long-distance telephone calls inappropriately billed to Bailey’s office lines and credit card, including 900 numbers that were listed on the bill as entertainment, adult and romance services.

The review found that Bailey repaid the personal phone calls after the inquiry began. He told authorities that most of the unauthorized calls were made by his son.

The audit also found that Bailey improperly charged the university for lodging and meals while on military reserve duty in Colorado, billed the university for expenses incurred at job-related conferences on days he did not attend, failed to put in for vacation leave while teaching a course at Golden Gate University, and used university time to meet with his tax adviser, insurance agent, attorney, consulting firm partner and clients.