--- 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