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Latest victims of Argosy meltdown: Staff and faculty don't get final paycheck

Argosy University, Hawaii campus
Source: AZ Central

Phoenix, AZ — Employees of the now-shuttered Argosy University system were supposed to get paid Friday.  They didn't.

A note from the court-appointed receiver in charge of Argosy’s finances on Thursday told employees their March 15 paychecks would not arrive as expected. It gave no indication of when they would, if ever.

It’s unclear exactly how many employees missed their paychecks Friday — or how many were still on staff until the closure.

The receiver, Mark Dottore, wrote that he’s working with parent company Dream Center Education Holdings to “identify and secure the financial resources need to fund your paycheck.”

“Given the financial circumstances at present in the receivership, those funds have not yet been secured and your pay is delayed,” he wrote.

The situation is reminiscent of how Argosy's true financial situation finally came to light: the university stopped financial aid payments to students, many of whom were counting on the money for living expenses. 

Dottore apologized for the missed paycheck and said the receivership is doing everything possible to get employees the money they are owed.

The school was massively downsized since the receiver took over in January. Hundreds of employees were laid off at a Dream Center site in Chandler shortly after Dottore was appointed.

The unpaid employees are just the latest casualties of Argosy University and Dream Center. Argosy shut down its campuses mid-semester last week, and other Dream Center sites affiliated with the Art Institute brand also abruptly closed.

A separate filing from the receivership on Friday makes clear that there’s no money to go around.

The only remaining member of the Argosy University Board of Trustees, Joseph Harbaugh, wrote to the judge on March 13 and said that he was concerned for more than 1,000 clinical psychology students at five campuses: Hawaii, Atlanta, Tampa, Minneapolis and Phoenix.

Because there’s no “viable options” for these students, Harbaugh suggested the university keep employed a “skeleton team” of counselors, with at least one at each of the five locations, for 30 to 60 days.

Read more at AZ Central