Citing concerns about the appearance of nepotism, ASUO President Adam Petkun has banned University graduate Dean Neiwert from performing contracted work for the ASUO, after Neiwert was paid more than $850 in incidental fee funds for contracted Web site work.
Neiwert — the husband of ASUO Accounting Coordinator Jennifer Creighton-Neiwert — received two ASUO contracts this year and in 2003, prompting Petkun’s decision to restrict ASUO employees from giving contracts to Neiwert, Petkun said. The contracts were first brought to his
attention when he took office in May, he said.
According to ASUO purchase orders, Neiwert was paid $500 in July 2003 to update the ASUO Controllers’ Web site and at least $350 in April 2004 to work on the ASUO’s rental Web site.
“Someone can lodge an argument that maybe even though he did a good job, and he was paid less than he should have been, they could still say that it might have been nepotism,” Petkun said. “Jen and I have talked about it and we’ve decided that — we understand the concerns that other people have — so it’s best not to hire him.”
Petkun stopped short of instituting an official rule or order regarding possible conflicts of interest resulting from family members performing work for ASUO.
“It’s not something that I see coming up necessarily, so I’m kind of taking it on a case-by-case basis when someone mentions it,” Petkun said. “If we realize a person’s related to someone, then we’ll talk about it.

“Our office doesn’t usually hire like this, so it shouldn’t be an issue.
“I haven’t been around when something like that comes up, so I guess I’m trying to address it when it happens,” Petkun added.
EMU Director Dusty Miller, Creighton-Neiwert’s direct supervisor, said Creighton-Neiwert would not be penalized because, to his knowledge, no ASUO or University rule or state law has been broken.
“The state is very concerned when spouses supervise each other. They are less concerned when spouses work in the same unit, but do not report to each other,” Miller said. “If my information is accurate, Jen was never in the position of supervising her partner.”
Miller said supervision is defined as directing work and evaluating the outcome. Using those standards, Creighton-Neiwert would not be seen as her husband’s supervisor over that work, he said.
According to her job description, Creighton-Neiwert’s duties, among others, are to “train and assist ASUO student controllers in providing
accounting services for all ASUO Incidental Fee-funded programs and student government, including but not limited to, approving and processing purchase orders … “
Creighton-Neiwert declined to comment on the purchase orders.
Emerald phone calls to Dean Neiwert’s telephone number were not returned.
Petkun — who is not Creighton-Neiwert’s boss, but collaborates with her — said that because Neiwert performed the work before Petkun took office, he didn’t know who suggested Neiwert perform the work and the pay Neiwert would receive.
Miller said he understands that Neiwert began the Web site work for the ASUO when he was a student, and after he graduated he was invited back to do more work.
Neiwert graduated with a B.S. in computer and information science in fall 2001; however, records show he also attended the University during spring term of this year, according to the registrar’s office.
According to the ASUO Term of Employment/Appointment Statements for Neiwert’s rental Web site work, “Dean was selected due to his previous experience and expertise with ASUO websites,” but that space is left blank on the form for the Controllers’ Web site work.
On both papers, Neiwert’s rate of pay is written inside a box that reads “To be Filled In By The Accounting Coordinator Only.”
According to ASUO ledgers, Neiwert was paid $350 on April 28 for the Web site work and the purchase order for that payment states, “Dean added two new sections to the rental website. This is a one time payment the above mentioned technical services.”
However, the ledgers show that on June 10 Neiwert was paid an additional $32.37 in an entry referencing the original purchase order.
Petkun said he didn’t know why Neiwert was paid this additional money.
Petkun did say Creighton-Neiwert told him the ASUO got a good deal, taking into account the quality of the work and the cost.
According to the term of employment statement for Neiwert’s rental Web site work, Neiwert worked from March 1 to April 26, putting in 30-40 hours per week. Taking into account the original payment and the $32.37 adjustment, Neiwert was paid between $1.17 and $1.57 per hour for the rental Web site work.
However, the statement for the Controllers’ Web site work shows that Neiwert worked between July 1, 2003 and Aug. 31, 2003 for five hours per week, earning about $11.29 per hour for his work.
According to the statements, Neiwert’s immediate supervisor for the rental Web site work was ASUO Program Administrative Assistant Brandy Ota and his immediate supervisor for the Controllers’ Web site work was former Controller Sara Henderson.
Ota declined to talk to the Emerald. The Emerald could not reach Sara Henderson, who has since left the ASUO.
ASUO Public Relations Coordinator Nathan Strauss said he is spearheading an effort to redo the Executive’s Web site by Sept. 27, and said he will use only students for that project.
“We looked for the most qualified people to do the work and decided to go a different direction than previous administrations,” Strauss said. “We validate concerns about nepotism and decided to avoid that issue.”
Petkun said the Executive’s programs administrator will look into the issue when that person is hired. Until then, he said he feels he’s handled the situation well.
“I think we’ve handled it pretty well,” Petkun said. “We talked about it early and luckily we came to a clear conclusion.”
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