Huntsville, AL – The Alabama A&M Board of Trustees voted today to fire university President Robert Jennings.
University spokesman Jerome Saintjones said in a statement the board voted 7-1 to fire Jennings immediately for allegedly not properly documenting more than $2,000 that was paid to an assistant.
A special board committee has been looking into allegations that Jennings had improperly arranged to pay a former executive assistant for time that was spent attending a graduate course in Minnesota.
The board did not name an interim president or a permanent replacement for Jennings.
Jennings, who had been president of the Huntsville college since January 2006, quietly left the meeting after the board's vote without commenting.
Jennings has maintained the payment was not improper and that the assistant made up for the hours he was away with extra work.
Jennings had also been accused by an assistant professor of being involved in having some students' grades changed without the teacher's consent. Jennings has denied directing anyone to change the grades.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)