At 03:27 PM 9/2/00 -0500, you wrote:
>My question is what is your professional and ethical
>obligation? Do you have an obligation to the student to try to provide
>corrective feedback? Do you suggest that perhaps they may be better served
>by not working in a clinical area? Do you refuse to work with them should
>they ask you to work on one of your research projects? I would be very
>interested in obtaining opinions and would like to hear from others who may
>have faced this type of situation since i am relatively new at this. I am
>concerned.
In their Casebook "The Ethics of Teaching", Keith Spiegel, et al., have a
section on writing letters of reference with 5 cases. One such case is titled:
"Reference Letters: To whom is one loyal?" The authors write, in part:
"Would it be appropriate for Purple (pseudo name of the professor) to agree to
write a letter and then recount detailed, verifiable, behavior-based
observations of Slick (pseudo name of student) (as opposed to a string of
negative adjectives)? Although this option should be exercised only after
considerable soul-searching, protection of the public - especially when the
student will be entering a position that will confer power over vulnerable
consumers - can be a compelling reason to act in favor of the public good. If
you are in doubt when this issue arises, consult the institution's attorney."
In the past, I have had a couple of similar cases. In one earlier case I
simply wrote a general letter of recommendation; one that had a high chance of
simply being discounted in a competitive graduate program. In another case, I
simply informed the student that I could not write a sufficiently supportive
letter for her benefit. The advantage of writing a general letter is that it
will not carry the weight that a strong, supportive letter would have. On the
other hand, I often wonder whether such general letters ultimately establish
you, the letter writer, as not being very helpful possibly tainting any future
letters that you might write.
Those are tough cases and I wish there were clearer guidelines out there to
guide us.
Reference
Keith-Spiegel, P., Wittig, A. F., Perkins, D. V., Balogh, D. W., & Whitely,
Jr., B. E. (1993). The Ethics of Teaching: A Casebook. Muncie, IN: Ball State
University
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Miguel Roig, Ph.D. Voice: (718) 390-4513
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