--- Forwarded Message from <[log in to unmask]> --- >From: <[log in to unmask]> >To: "Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum" <[log in to unmask]> >References: <[log in to unmask]> >Subject: Re: #7574 LangLab director with "fraudulent" PhD >Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2004 15:38:43 -0500 My Suggestion? Put her on as adminstrator or staff. I myself may be one of the few Civil Service staff lab directors with a BA. We at NEIU used to have PHD professors run it in the 1970s. The school found it was cheaper to hire staff. I personally know my five predecessors who moved on to other administrative or academic persuits. We are a small instituition less then 13K students but it seems to work and I am satisfied enough to be here for almost 12 years. Some campuses call such people academic support professionals. If your institution can manufacture a budget and position then it will kill the "plagarism case". Of course in my case I am not part of any teaching faculty for obvous reasons (BA only). The school gets off cheap so no one has ever thought it was any other way. Got a BA in Secondary Ed French teaching but never looked back once I got a job in the "alma mater". Just a thought. Tom Griffin Northeastern Illinois University FL Lab ----- Original Message ----- From: "LLTI-Editor" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Thursday, July 01, 2004 3:12 PM Subject: #7574 LangLab director with "fraudulent" PhD > --- Forwarded Message from Nina Garrett <[log in to unmask]> --- > > >Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2004 11:27:09 -0400 > >To: "'Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum'" > <[log in to unmask]> > >From: Nina Garrett <[log in to unmask]> > >Subject: LangLab director with "fraudulent" PhD > > Hi all -- > > This is in this week's Chronicle of Higher Education, for which > "Ms. Mentor" writes a regular column. The tone of the letter of inquiry > irritates me very much indeed*, but I think Ms. Mentor's advice is at least > thoughtful and humane. What do you think? > > Best, > Nina > > * e.g., phrases like "she does what we don't want to -- she runs the > language lab" and "We suspect that the dean and other administrators > already know, but don't want to be bothered" and "if we get rid of her, we > may wind up with someone" ... etc. > > > A Fraud and a Great Teacher > Ms. Mentor > > Words of wisdom about academic culture > > Question: My colleague "Phoebe" is a fraud, and the rest of us in the > department have known it for years. Her dissertation, which she claimed was > original work, is actually a translation of another scholar's dissertation > in an obscure language, with a few extra pieces thrown in. > > But no one confronts Phoebe, because she does what we don't want to -- she > runs the language lab. She also does it superbly, serving as a mentor to > countless students. Still, she doesn't have an honest Ph.D., and some new > colleagues believe we ought to expose her to somebody -- her grad school, > our department chair, our human resources staff, our dean, the local > sensationalist paper.... > > We suspect that the dean and other administrators already know, but don't > want to be bothered. She's now coming up for contract renewal -- but if we > get rid of her, we may wind up with someone who won't run the language lab > so conscientiously and cheerfully. Sometimes we think we should just > continue our silence, since we don't have tenure, and the only reason to > speak out is for Justice and Fairness, things that we've seen don't exist > anyway. > > Answer: Ms. Mentor hears a chorus of her readers bellowing: "Fire Phoebe!" > > After all, if Phoebe is a vile plagiarist, and if we condone such academic > dishonesty, we are violating the most sacred canons of truth and original > inquiry and throwing offal on the ivory tower. > > But.... > > Phoebe does her job magnificently, and the world of language teaching needs > Phoebes to inspire students. Would an outsider with a pristine Ph.D. do better? > > Ms. Mentor, in her perfect wisdom, sees two competing ethical systems in > your letter. One is the role of rules in academe, the abstract absolutes > that are supposed to govern our lives. The other is the ethic of care for > others, the responsibility to students. (Scholars of ethics will recognize > these competing beliefs from Carol Gilligan's A Different Voice, as well as > Portia's speech on justice and mercy in The Merchant of Venice.) > > If Phoebe is fired, the rule-mongers will be satisfied -- but students will > lose. > > And yet, can you simply ignore what you know about Phoebe's dissertation? > > You already have. Stringent academics might view you and your colleagues as > accessories, handmaidens to a coverup. If you do decide to denounce her, > how can you explain your silence in the past? And won't the bad publicity > make your dean very, very angry? And if your dean is the punitive sort, and > you come up for tenure...? > > By now Ms. Mentor's readers are frothing and fuming in all directions. She > urges them to sit down, have a cold drink, think deep ethical thoughts, and > ponder parallel situations. > > Jayson Blair, for instance, famously fabricated stories in The New York > Times, misleading his readers about the Washington-area snipers, Jessica > Lynch, and much more. He was fired, as were his bosses. > > Meanwhile Quincy Troupe, named as the first poet laureate of California, > was discovered not to have the college degree that he claimed -- though he > had published 13 books and served as a mentor to hundreds of budding > writers. He was fired as poet laureate. > > Ms. Mentor agrees that Jayson Blair should have been bounced, but wonders > about Quincy Troupe, 62 years old, with decades of accomplishments. Did a > degree matter at that point? Why didn't his undergraduate college simply > award him an honorary degree? > > She returns now, more calmly, to creative solutions for Phoebe and the > colleagues who know that her dissertation is less than original, but who > value her contributions to teaching. > > Phoebe is not exactly a plagiarist. She is an appropriator. Since her > degree is in foreign languages, a field where translations are acceptable > dissertation topics, it could be said that her dissertation is merely > mislabeled. Instead of calling it an original piece of work, she and her > committee should have called it a translation with commentary. Ms. Mentor > wonders if Phoebe's graduate school would be amenable to such a labeling > change. > > Meanwhile, Phoebe's job may also be mislabeled. Since language-lab > coordinators are not always required to hold Ph.D.'s, perhaps the job could > be readvertised as a master's-level position. Phoebe would then qualify as > an outstanding internal candidate. > > Ms. Mentor, with infinite tact, rarely tells people what they must do. But > she insists that they consider alternatives, and envision where each path > will lead them. Often what seems to be the path of righteousness is also > the path of shooting oneself in the foot. > > Phoebe has made a mistake, but she may very well be a sinner worth saving > for a higher good. > > > > Nina Garrett, Director > Center for Language Study > Yale University > P.O. Box 208349 > New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8349 > Tel: (203) 432-8196 > Fax. (203) 432-4485 > > [log in to unmask] > http://www.cls.yale.edu