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'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Oakville, Ontario, Canada, eh?
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Topic Author's Original Post - Aug 4, 2006 - 01:57pm PT
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I need your input on this asap please! This story is true. Can you please offer your input right now? We seem to have a great cross-section of thinking people here, and your input is highly valued. Thanks.
I have a friend who is in a huge moral dilemma. His entire career and livelihood are on the line. Most likely he will be required to provide an answer on Monday, so there is a deadline.
My friend is an associate professor of philosophy at a university. He's only been working there for three or four years, I believe, so he does not have tenure. In academic circles, I understand this to mean that he can fired more easily. If you have tenure, you can get away with a lot more.
Recently he called a student into his office. It seems she had produced an essay that was uncharacteristic of her previous work - uncharacteristically good. My professor friend accused her of plagiarizing it.
At first she denied it, but when pressed, she admitted that the work was not her own.
"You realize I have no option but to give you a mark of zero for this," he told her. "It's the sort of thing that could get you tossed out of the university, so don't do it again."
She seemed to accept this, and left.
Well get this, McTopo fans - it turns out that her dad is a huge benefactor to the university! I'm not talking RURPs here, OK - I'm talking big frickin' 4-inch bongs! This student's dad has given the university millions of dollars!
You might be able to guess what happened next. Scary, but true. My professor friend has been approached by the dean - or whoever the hell is in charge of this kind of crap - and been told to "let it slide"! The dad is incensed that his daughter has been given a zero, and has threatened to cut off future funding to the college!
My professor friend has refused. He is, after all, a professor of philosophy, and it's wrong, dammit. The dean has basically told him ["in so many words"] that if he doesn't let it go and let this girl pass dishonestly, they'll fire his ass!
But get this - he's talked it over with his wife, and he is prepared to stand his ground! He is actually prepared to get fired over this!
Now here's the other bit - there ain't exactly a hundred want-ads in the newspaper for professors of philosophy. The chances of him getting a job as a university prof. are dismal at best. In all probability, he will be unable to get a job anywhere as a philosphy professor, no matter what. Standing his ground, and doing what he feels to be right, is pretty much going to cost him his career, and at this point he is prepared to go down for his cause.
When he told me he is unwilling to let it slide, I looked him straight in the eye and said,
"Do you just LOOK stupid, or were you BORN that way?!"
If it were me, I would most likely be prepared to apply "situational ethics" - "Yes, I believe it is wrong ethically to not give her a zero, but in my unique situation, I will let it slide because ...."
This is an extremely tough call. Obviously, my friend is a man of great integrity. I see his point, but I also think he's being stupid.
"Are you nuts?! Just freakin' pass the chick!" is what I told him. "You'll probably end up as just another computer geek struggling to make half the money you used to! You've worked your entire life to achieve the position you have, and you're ready to throw it away just because it's the 'right' thing to do?!"
Arg.
I see his point, I really do, but maybe he should be prepared to bend his rules just this one time.
Or should he?
What would you say to my friend?
What would you do if you were in his situation?
I can't believe that anyone would be man enough, or stupid enough, to lose his job rather than cave in, but I verily fear he is about to do just that.
Responses please, and hurry!
Pete
P.S. Before you write a response, [url="http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=232647&f=0&b=0#msg233072"]please click here for further information I have added.[/url]
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James
climber
A tent in the redwoods
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What philosophy would he be teaching if he acquiesced?
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landcruiserbob
Trad climber
the ville, colorado
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Tell your friend to tape the Dean asking him to dismiss the allegations. Guys like him suck the life out of academician. Sue the f*#k out of the school.rg
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Landgolier
climber
the flatness
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Any chance of compromise? Let her write the paper over or something?
BTW, is this in the US or Canada? In the US he could sue for his job back easily, and would win for sure or at least settle under threat of going public. Not sure about Canada.
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Crimpergirl
Sport climber
St. Louis
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He should stand his ground. Tell her she can talk the issue over with the chair of the dept. Let that individual deal with it. They can/will change her grade further up the food-chain regardless of what the prof says.
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caughtinside
Social climber
Davis, CA
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Sounds like a rotten situation, but it sounds like he does have some options...
Does he have any support from the philosophy department?
He could go public and make the school/dean look bad.
I also like that idea to let her rewrite the paper... and then give her a C- no matter what! hahaha (of course that means no tenure down the road!)
And he'd have a winning legal remedy I think... although I don't know all the internal rules of a university. Although I thought 'academic honesty/integrity' was held dear.
Hmm.
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ha-ha
climber
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another vote to out daddy's little girl.
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TradIsGood
Trad climber
Gunks end of country
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Take your example out of the university setting.
Let him be the number two man at say Enron.
Now the only difference is one of legal versus ethical.
The president of the university could potentially charge the alumnus with a crime? Not sure. Is the president guilty of conspiracy? Not sure. See lawyer fast!
Also see university ombudsman if one exists fast.
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andanother
climber
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trouble is, even if your friend fails the student the dean still has the ability to just override that grade and pass her.
Then your friend gets fired, and doesn't even get to prove his point.
Have your friend "leak" this information to some students and other faculty. Then, have him sit back and watch how the hard working students feel about this. Probably won't take too long for it to work itself out.
If he's gonna get fired, at least have him take some people down with him.
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Landgolier
climber
the flatness
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Also, this better not be some WoS related troll meant to show us all what a bunch of moral hypocrites we are.
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Landgolier
climber
the flatness
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Another facet of this: a few years down the line when he comes up for tenure review (assuming his present job is tenure track), are the dept head and others going to forget what wusses they were but chastise him for his lack of integrity?
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golsen
Social climber
kennewick, wa
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I like this quote, “There is always a BETTER way!” Who the hell wrote that?
Right now, you may have a he-said she-said situation. When pressed with witnesses, the student will of course lie and say she wrote a great term paper. How can the Prof. prove otherwise? This gets dicey. Unless he has absolute proof that she plagiarized the paper, he may have a hard time showing the proof.
I would suggest that he gather a meeting with the Dean, the father, the student, the head of the philosophy department, and a tenured member of faculty that your friend knows and trusts (or if there is a faculty representative, like union kind of thing?). The meeting starts out with a discussion about WHY the university is even in existence (no the answer is not to give degrees like cracker jack box diplomas) then goes through philosophy. Your Prof friend must follow any procedures that the University has with regards to this. He then lays out the evidence, with no mention of the Deans threats. He tries to be as partial as possible, but he also acknowledges that the student told him that she was cheating. She may lie at this point, hard to say. If she does, then the prof refers to his procedures and says that he is obligated to report such incidents of plagiarism. At this point regardless of what the student may have already said, the professor can say that it is his job to help students (note that this can be done even if she says she is guilty). By writing an additional assignment, he is providing the student with an opportunity to prove herself, and at the same time offering up a chance for her to realize the error of her ways. (We all screw up sometimes, maybe she needs another chance). The prof reiterates that it is his job to try and help young people and sometimes this help is beyond normal teaching boundaries. Can the Univ really fire him then for wanting to help? If I were the father I would later admonish the student and thank the Univ for helping my misguided daughter out. If they do not agree with that then the Prof must have already decided just how far to push and how good his proof his. If they are adamant about not writing an additional assignment, then he has to have decided which course of action to take. The point during the meeting is for him to be supportive of students learning philosophy and that this may be a valuable lesson for all involved.
If your friend does not want to do this, maybe he can just tell her to put out for an A….
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Elcapinyoazz
Mountain climber
Anchorage, Alaska
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Step 1: Prove that the paper is plaigarized. If the student admitted it, get her admission in writing or on tape(do not stealth tape, get her permission.)There are some really good search type software application specfically made to root out plaigarizers. Someone at the University should be able to provide him/her with details of the software applications.
Step 2: Provide the proof to the Dean and stand your ground.
Step 3: If fired, SUE THEIR ASS.
The key is to prove the case either via hard evidence, or an admission of guilt. If he has either, stand firm.
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Jerry Dodrill
climber
Bodega, CA
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Have your friend call the father directly and calmly explain the situation and dilema. Ask the father directly if he wants his daughter to slide through by cheating, or do the work to succeed by fair means. Then you get to find out how pops made his millions and what values he is teaching his children. Would any good father, especially a successful business man, want his daughter to cheat her way through life? I doubt it.
Depending on the outcome, he has to decide how hard to fight and whether to stand up or shut up.
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susan peplow
climber
Queen of the Sh^t talkers!
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I'm not saying this is the RIGHT thing to do but....
Play along. If the dean of the University and the father want to handle this girl with kid gloves let it go. Grade the paper on the PAPERS MERITS and don't worry about the true author.
The girl admitted it - the professor knows she plagiarized. Your buddy can go drink a beer in disgust of the situation but nonetheless, he'll still be employed.
Sucks but hey that's life. Not like she's the first student to cheat, maybe only the first one he caught.
-Susan
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dank
Trad climber
the pitch above you!
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I teach 6th grade and deal with this every year.
The problem is that some parents refuse to parent, which involves teaching your kid to do the right thing no matter what.
Crazy fookin' parents!
This is why I try to stand my ground with them
so sh*t like this doesn't happen down the road.
My principal says, "What hill do you want to die on?"
Do you want to fail this beeotch and say f'U to her lame ass donating dad?...or do you want to 'let it slide' and continue
living your life as a professor that is dedicated to those students who are truly there to learn from you?
IMHO...wait until your tenured then stand your ground...this is not a battle worth fighting for at this time and place in his career...pass the bitch with A's and let her think her sh#t don't stink.
This little daddy's girl is gonna get what's coming to her some day regardless of some "mean philosophy professor's" grade on her plagiarized paper.
Definitely make her re-write the paper no matter what!
She should obviously be sent to the school's judiciary committee and be found guilty of plagiarism and slapped on the wrist and/or expelled for good.
Option 1:
If he is going to actually fight this battle and possibly die on this hill for this one paper written by this one little rich girl whose daddy has ties, he needs to try and "get in good" with the dean first to ensure victory. Not very plausible.
Option 2:
Get backing from the entire Philosophy Dept. at the university so that if he stands his ground and gets fired the faculty will help expose the dean, daddy, et. al...hmmmm...do we all want to lose our jobs??? yeah right.
Option 3:
Put your coals in the fire! Go lookin' for other jobs ASAP and try to get hired on somewhere else so that once you give the stupid student the heave ho you're outta there and sittin' pretty somewhere else where the grass is a little greener.
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Brian
Trad climber
Cali
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As an assistant professor of philosophy (untenured), I can tell you that the job market is G-R-I-M. Pete is right in his assessment that, if his friend loses this job, he may not find another one. Of course, he might find another job. If your really good, things can happen, and this person already beat the odds by getting the first job. On the philosophy job market you have to be very good and very lucky, and you can't really control the latter.
That being said, I promised myself that, if I got a tenure-track job at a 4-year university, I would simply act as if I already had tenure--call it like I see it. So far I have kept that promise. I have certainly done my share of rocking the boat in the four years I have been working and, while I have never had a dilemma like Pete's friend, I would fail the kid.
I warn kids the first day of class that plagiarism in my class means failing the class, not the assignment, and I have enforced this policy pretty much every semester since I got out of grad school. One "F" won't ruin your life, but it may teach you a good lesson.
This being said, as someone noted above, the Dean can change the grade anyway. So failing the kid may result in being dismissed and, adding insult to injury, seeing the kid pass anyway.
It's a tough call for sure, and I won't gainsay Pete's friend if he caves in; however, I think the kid should fail. If this actually results in Pete's friend being dismissed, I would encourage him to try to get the press involved (on campus and off campus)--nobody likes it when this sort of stuff happens.
Brian
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TradIsGood
Trad climber
Gunks end of country
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He could cave. And make it the final exam question next semester.
Hey, Pete, is that Canadian dollars or American dollars.
Have him marry her. Then after a few years go for alimony.
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G_Gnome
Social climber
Tendonitis City
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While he could probably win a case and get reinstated, he would never attain tenured status at that college and would probably get bad reviews should he aim for employment anywhere else. Sooner or later they will find a reason to terminate his employment even if they have to downsize the department. Bureaucrats can be pretty vindictive and the chance of them letting things slide is about nil. So, if it was me, I would stfu and give her a C and turn my efforts to people who matter.
So, maybe your friend needs to decide what he really wants out of his job and life, to teach and mold as many young adults as he can reach, or to make an ethical stand that likely will cost him his career? After all, teachers all the time need to decide who they can reach and who they can't. There isn't enough time or energy in this world to teach someone something they don't want to learn.
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Jeffo
Trad climber
Virginia
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Hey,
Kudos to your buddy for standing his ground. If he stands strong, and they fire him, he can sue them for retaliation over this issue. At that point he should go to the newspapers and get the media involved. Hopefully, if it gets publicized enough, other universities will seek him out for his impeccable ethics.
Alternatively, he could rally support from fellow professors.
On an even more riskier business is using reverse blackmail. Have him tell the dean, give me tenure immediately and I'll let it slide. I am a fan of Machiavelli!
Good luck in whatever decision you make senor!
Cheers,
J
PS. If you do decide to go public...contact the Chronicle of Higher Education and or the regional accrediting agency that accredits your institution. I am positive that they have mechanisms for grievances against institutions.
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