Rutgers University investigates ethics complaint against dean who billed the university for services offered by her company

From Camden and Cherry Hill to Trenton and the Jersey Shore, what about life in New Jersey do you want WHYY News to cover? Let us know.

Rutgers University is investigating a dean at its Newark campus for allegedly making thousands of dollars by doing business with the university through a company she co-owns with her sister.

Jacqueline S. Mattis, dean of the Rutgers-Newark School of Arts and Sciences, SASN, was paid $145,295 for services provided to Rutgers by her company, Easton’s Nook LLC, since she began her job in July 2020, according to records reviewed by WHYY News. The funds went to pay for writing workshops and retreats, some of which took place in Jamaica.

Her company received $33,625 for services provided to the Newark School of Arts and Sciences. The bulk of the services went to the school’s urban education department.

The New Brunswick campus also paid Mattis’ company $50,770 for retreats, mostly provided to the School of Arts and Sciences. That is more than half of the $62,220 the campus paid overall. Mattis’ company was also paid for retreats for the New Brunswick School of Social Work and the Graduate School of Education.

Prior to becoming dean, Mattis’ company was paid $11,450 between March 2017 and May 2020 by Rutgers New Brunswick’s schools of Arts and Sciences and Social Work. In total, over nine years, Rutgers paid Easton’s Nook $158,470.

Mattis’ current salary is $396,594. She did not respond to a request for comment.

WHYY News obtained the records through a third party who submitted an Open Public Records Act request. Rutgers University Ethics and Compliance refers to New Jersey’s Conflicts of Interest Law, which prohibits companies partially or wholly owned by state employees from selling goods or services to the university.

Rutgers spokesperson Dory Devlin said in a statement that the university is investigating an ethics complaint and has suspended the acceptance and implementation of new services involving Easton’s Nook.

“The university takes all complaints of alleged violations of university policy seriously and handles such complaints in accordance with the applicable university policies,” she said. Devlin declined to comment further.

Mattis returned to Newark from the University of Michigan

Mattis’ educational background is in psychology. She received her bachelor’s degree from New York University and her master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Michigan, where she was a professor and associate department chair for diversity initiatives in the psychology department.

Mattis was announced as the dean of SASN in 2020. She said she owned a home and a business in Newark before joining the University of Michigan. She remains affiliated with the University of Michigan as a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council for the university’s College of Literature, Science, and the Arts.

In 2015, with her sister, Nadine Mattis Knox, she founded Easton’s Nook, named for their mother, according to an online state database. The website describes it as “a warm, comfortable, beautiful space where scholars, artists, and activists can meet, and can pursue their work individually or as a part of small, supportive, collaborative groups.” Easton’s Nook also hosts workshops to prepare candidates for the academic job market.