Rutgers University is investigating an ethics complaint against Jacqueline S. Mattis, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University-Newark (SASN), over university payments made to a writing-retreat company she co-owns. The case, first reported by WHYY and confirmed by Inside Higher Ed in mid-July 2026, turns on whether the arrangement violates New Jersey’s Conflicts of Interest Law, which bars companies owned by state employees from selling goods or services to the state entity that employs them.
What is alleged
Mattis co-owns Easton’s Nook LLC, a Newark-based writing-workshop and retreat business founded in 2015, with her sister, Nadine Mattis Knox. Rutgers units — including SASN, which Mattis has led since July 2020, and the university’s New Brunswick campus — paid Easton’s Nook for writing workshops and retreats, some of which were held in Jamaica. The New Jersey Conflicts of Interest Law generally prohibits a company partially owned by a state employee from selling goods or services to the state agency or institution that employs them, which is the specific provision the complaint invokes.
Where the reported dollar figures diverge
The two outlets that have reported this story give figures that are close but not identical, and CASRAI has not independently reconciled them — both are cited here with attribution rather than merged into a single number. WHYY reported payments to Easton’s Nook totaling $155,015 since March 2017, of which $142,515 was paid since Mattis became dean in July 2020. Inside Higher Ed reported a total of $145,295, broken out as $62,220 to the New Brunswick campus, $33,625 to Mattis’s own school (SASN), and $11,450 solicited before she became dean. Both figures describe payments spanning roughly nine years (2017 through 2026), with the large majority occurring after Mattis’s 2020 appointment as dean. Readers should treat the underlying total as reported in the $145,000-$155,000 range rather than a single settled figure until Rutgers’ investigation produces its own accounting.
Rutgers’ response and current status
As of mid-July 2026, the investigation is ongoing — Rutgers has not announced findings or a conclusion. The university has suspended acceptance of new services from Easton’s Nook while the complaint is reviewed. A Rutgers spokesperson, Dory Devlin, told WHYY: “The university takes all complaints of alleged violations of university policy seriously and handles such complaints in accordance with the applicable university policies.” Mattis did not respond to reporters’ requests for comment. No determination of wrongdoing has been made public, and this article does not assert one — it reports the complaint, the payments as documented by the two outlets, and the university’s stated response.
Why this matters for research administration and compliance offices
Regardless of how the Rutgers case resolves, it illustrates a recurring institutional-conflict-of-interest exposure that research administration and procurement offices manage routinely: payments from a university unit to a vendor entity owned, in whole or part, by a university employee with authority over that unit’s budget. Most state conflict-of-interest statutes and institutional policies — not only New Jersey’s — restrict or require disclosure and prior approval for exactly this fact pattern, precisely because the employee sits on both sides of the transaction: as an approver of institutional spending and as a beneficiary of the vendor relationship. A dean’s authority to direct discretionary programming funds toward vendors of her own choosing is what makes the underlying appearance of a conflict of interest substantial even before any investigation reaches a conclusion.
Standard institutional controls for this exposure typically include: a financial-disclosure requirement that captures outside business ownership by employees with budget or procurement authority, a prior-approval or waiver process before a unit contracts with an employee-owned vendor, recusal from approval of payments to one’s own company, and periodic audit of vendor payments against employee ownership disclosures. CASRAI’s guide to building a conflict-of-interest disclosure process covers what a disclosure form needs to capture to catch this kind of relationship before payments accumulate over multiple years, and the related concept of conflict of commitment covers the parallel question of whether outside business activity draws on an employee’s university-compensated time.
Frequently asked questions
Has Rutgers concluded that Jacqueline Mattis violated ethics policy?
No. As of this article’s publication, Rutgers’ investigation is ongoing and no findings have been made public. The university has suspended new services from Easton’s Nook pending the outcome.
What company is at the center of the investigation?
Easton’s Nook LLC, a Newark-based writing-workshop and retreat business founded in 2015 and co-owned by Mattis and her sister, Nadine Mattis Knox.
What law does the complaint invoke?
New Jersey’s Conflicts of Interest Law, which generally bars a company owned in whole or part by a state employee from selling goods or services to the state entity that employs them — in this case, Rutgers, a state university.
How much has Rutgers paid Easton’s Nook?
Reported totals differ slightly by outlet: WHYY reported $155,015 since March 2017 ($142,515 of it since Mattis became dean in July 2020); Inside Higher Ed reported a total of $145,295. Both describe payments spanning roughly nine years, concentrated after her 2020 appointment.
Sources: WHYY, “Rutgers University-Newark dean under ethics investigation,” updated July 15, 2026; Inside Higher Ed, “Rutgers Investigates Dean for Selling Services to University,” July 16, 2026.
