Font ResizeThe Utah College of Applied Technology board has rehired its former president, who resigned two years ago after a state audit implicated him in the use of public funds for political purposes and found he accepted an unjustified early retirement package.
The board voted Thursday to rehire Robert Brems for his old job.
The audit found that Brems accepted an "unreasonable" $157,782 transition package in 2006 to take over the job of UCAT president. The audit implicated him in the use of public funds for political purposes, and also found he underreported his income to the IRS.
Thomas Bingham, chairman of the UCAT board, said the board was aware of the allegations but was not worried by them.
"We think he's qualified, and we're not concerned about what happened in the past," Bingham said. "We're ready to move forward."
He said board members believe Brems was unfairly forced out in 2007.
"There were some extenuating circumstances the audit really did not take into consideration," Bingham said.
Attempts to reach Brems on Thursday for comment were unsuccessful. Brems resigned in September 2007 to "alleviate further disruption" after the audit was revealed, according to his resignation letter at the time, though he admitted no wrongdoing. In his response to the 2007 audit, Brems wrote, "I wish to apologize for any mistakes I may have made, and state that I at no time had any intention or belief that my actions were
According to the audit, the president of the Mountainland Applied Technology College, which is part of UCAT, used college money to initially pay for some expenses to produce a parade float requested by the Utah Republican Party, and then falsified some accounting records to hide the purpose of the expenditures.
Brems said, in his response to the audit, that the Mountainland president asked him if he could use college money to pay for the float. He said he told the Mountainland president he should ask a private donor to pay for the costs, and Brems contacted a donor. But Mountainland had already paid for some of the costs, so the donor reimbursed the college for the expenses and paid two college employees for additional labor.
Auditors recommended, based on the incident, that complaints be investigated and resolved in a timely manner and that management work harder to make sure employees follow law and policies.
He said his transition package, when he decided to go from being Mountainland president to UCAT president, was approved by the Mountainland board and supported by the then-Commissioner of Higher Education, though the commissioner said he took no position on the package. The money was meant to compensate Brems for an early retirement package he could have received had he remained Mountainland president one more year rather than take the position of UCAT president, he said.
Also, he said the decision not to include part of his transition package, which was put toward an endowment, in his tax returns was made by Mountainland and UCAT staff.
Bingham said Brems, who has more than 30 years of experience in career and technical education, was simply the best candidate for the position.
But not everyone is happy with the choice.
William Sederburg, the Utah Commissioner of Higher Education who also sits on the UCAT board, said he's "concerned" about both the board's selection and the process by which Brems was chosen. He said the board did not disclose the names of finalists for the position as required by state law.
"This prevented the public any opportunity for input or discussion prior to this important decision," Sederburg said in a statement Thursday.
Bingham said he wasn't aware disclosing finalists' names was a legal requirement for the UCAT board, and the board worked with counsel from the Attorney General's Office, which he said also did not advise the board of any such legal requirement. He said Sederburg never discussed his concerns with the board.
"He made no expression of those kinds of concerns until he calls you folks and starts raising issues because he has a problem with that candidate," Bingham said. "That simply is not right."
In 2007, the State Board of Regents was in charge of hiring UCAT presidents. Now, because of a change in state law, the UCAT board has that responsibility.
Brems will replace Richard White, who submitted his letter of resignation as UCAT president to the board in August. In his letter, he said he was leaving to pursue other higher education opportunities that would allow him to work more closely with faculty members and campus administrators.
The college, known as UCAT, consists of a number of campuses and programs across the state that provide technical education to both secondary and adult students. UCAT is part of the Utah System of Higher Education.
