Crow’s Nest file photo
By Emily Wunderlich
The university staff member who helped oversee the budget and purchases made in the department of Student Life and Engagement has been fired for falsification of documents, willful violation of university rules and incompetence.
Timothy Oetinger, 61, was dismissed from his post as fiscal and business specialist on Nov. 18.
He could not be reached for comment.
His responsibilities included overseeing purchases made with Activities and Services fees and training Student Life and Engagement staff in budgetary operations. He earned an annual salary of $33,000.
The department of Student Life and Engagement acts as the administrative umbrella under which Student Government, Harborside Activities Board, the Office of Multicultural Affairs and The Crow’s Nest operate.
According to a memo from Dwayne Isaacs, director of Student Life and Engagement, Oetinger falsely signed financial paperwork by copying a previous signature of Brandy Heinrich, the university’s business and fiscal analyst.
The university declined to disclose the number and monetary value of the affected purchases.
“That material is currently being reviewed by general counsel,” Isaacs said in an email to The Crow’s Nest on Nov. 22.
An email thread between Oetinger and Heinrich, dated Nov. 5, shows Heinrich asking Oetinger who had been signing his paperwork for the past couple of months.
“You have,” Oetinger wrote. “Some time ago I copied your signature and I use that. I thought it was a bother to ask you every time.”
In a follow-up meeting with Isaacs, Oetinger “re-emphasized that he did not think it was a big deal for him to falsely use another staff member’s signature and that he only did so because he did not want to bother (Heinrich),” according to the memo.
“This is the third documented incident of which I have had to move through disciplinary action steps with Tim, and this incident is far too egregious for Tim to continue his employment with the university,” Isaacs wrote in the memo. “Tim has been in this role for over 10 years and is more than familiar with the reconciliation process and has been trained multiple times on the correct procedures to follow.”
In November 2018, Oetinger was reprimanded for “unsatisfactory job performance.”
“Most recently a student organization leader came to seek out your assistance in solving a problem and did not receive the help and support needed in order for the event to be successful,” Isaacs wrote in the reprimand. “I have also received complaints from Student Life staff of your lack of communication and support in assisting them to navigate through fiscal and business matters.”
Isaacs evaluated Oetinger’s performance for the following six months, noting that Oetinger was improving but had “a long road ahead to get where he would like to be.” The two worked out a plan for Oetinger to continue making progress.
Oetinger was hired by the university in 2006 as a program assistant for Student Life and Engagement. He was promoted to fiscal and business specialist in 2013.
In January 2014, he was nominated for the university’s “Outstanding Employee” award. Matt Morrin, then-director of Student Life and Engagement, called Oetinger “the backbone of the department” in his nomination.
“Tim has the reputation of being a person who ‘can make things happen,’” Morrin wrote in the nomination. “The students are great fans of Tim’s and respect him and the work he does for them. They know that working with Tim is integral to a program’s success and they appreciate all that he does for them.”
