City College of San Francisco Chancellor Kimberlee Messina has been placed on paid administrative leave as an independent investigator examines allegations of financial misconduct, the college’s board president confirmed Oct. 9. The allegations include claims that Messina took vacations without authorization and added stipends, according to a Sept. 11 letter from Board of Trustees President Aliya Chisti. The letter, addressed to Messina’s executive assistant, Mary Grace Esteban, followed a separate Sept. 4 letter from Esteban raising concerns. Messina earns an annual salary of $350,000, Chisti wrote. The allegations have not been established, and the board has not announced findings. Chisti said the leave is “a non-disciplinary, interim step” and “does not reflect any finding.” The board declined to comment further while the review is underway. David Yee, vice chancellor of academic and institutional affairs, is serving as acting chancellor during Messina’s leave, Chisti said. The review comes as CCSF, one of California’s largest community colleges, serves about 19,000 students and continues to face scrutiny over its financial stewardship. In 2016, the state ordered the college to repay $39 million after it could not document instruction for about 16,000 students enrolled from 2011 to 2014. The school also narrowly avoided losing accreditation after years of governance and financial problems; that dispute ended in 2017. More recently, the college confronted online enrollment by so-called ghost students — bots posing as real students to obtain financial aid. The investigation into Messina’s conduct now places the college’s leadership and public accountability under renewed scrutiny.