It appears (according to the news paper article) that the dean did have a 10 min collegial chat with the professor (and other administrators) and then suspended her. I wonder how the university determined that she was a threat (and such a threat that a security guard escorted her off the premises). I don't know anything about this case specifically. I worry that throwing the book on every possible incidence is a distraction away from the actual serious (and extremely rare) incidence of workplace violence.
Marie **************************************************** Marie Helweg-Larsen, Ph.D. Department Chair and Associate Professor of Psychology Kaufman 168, Dickinson College Carlisle, PA 17013, office (717) 245-1562, fax (717) 245-1971 Office hours: Mon & Wed 2-3:30 http://users.dickinson.edu/~helwegm/index.html **************************************************** -----Original Message----- From: Anthony Golden [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, March 01, 2010 5:54 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: RE: [tips] Professor Suspended Over Facebook Venting While I was sitting in the waiting area at a small regional airport in Virginia in the early 1970s, two young men sitting next to me were talking in hushed tones about the bomb they were carrying. I could see them smiling and looking upward at a rather large microphone hanging from the ceiling by a cord (airport security in the early days of our loss of innocence). Within minutes both were handcuffed and being led away by police. Laughing and winking (actually or virtually) while making a threat do not necessarily make it any less real and we know how difficult it is to interpret emotional intent even with adequate context. Imagine how one of us would feel if a student we barely knew walked into our office after class, smiled, and while making a mock gun out of hand and fingers says "Well Professor, that was a much better class today and I've decided to hold off killing you for a while." If a trained psychologist is unable to accurately evaluate the potential for sudden aggressive violent behavior during an extensive interview or protracted treatment, why should we expect a dean to be able to do so in a collegial conversation. Imagine trying to explain after the fact why no action was taken toward an individual who made a threat and subsequently carried it out. Tony Anthony Golden, Ph.D. PACAT Incorporated / NOMESys 866-680-2228 www.collegeoutcomes.com -----Original Message----- From: Helweg-Larsen, Marie [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, March 01, 2010 3:11 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: RE: [tips] Professor Suspended Over Facebook Venting Yes it is surprising that people don't have common sense (my daughter's high school FB friends repeatedly post detailed pictures on FB of their underage drinking and drug use). But is suspension for the professor (or any employee) really necessary! What about just a normal "chat" by the dean (or whomever) reminding the professor about how public facebook is. Gesh - imagine if people had to be suspended every time they didn't make a good choice or made a minor error. Marie **************************************************** Marie Helweg-Larsen, Ph.D. Department Chair and Associate Professor of Psychology Kaufman 168, Dickinson College Carlisle, PA 17013, office (717) 245-1562, fax (717) 245-1971 Office hours: Mon & Wed 2-3:30 http://users.dickinson.edu/~helwegm/index.html **************************************************** -----Original Message----- From: Penley, Julie [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, March 01, 2010 3:56 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: RE: [tips] Professor Suspended Over Facebook Venting It's like that old commercial...they tell two friends, and they tell two friends, and so on and so on. I'm not a FB expert but, while Gadsden's posts wouldn't be seen by non-friends, I believe comments to her posts would be visible to the poster's friends. Right? Depending on where she's doing her FB'ing, universities have the legal authority to monitor employee's computer use. Although a lack of common sense isn't a crime, this case is a good example of why people should think twice about what they post on social networking sites. It's hard to convey humor (or sarcasm or whatever she was going for) in writing. Julie Julie A. Penley, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Psychology Special Assistant to the Dean El Paso Community College PO Box 20500 El Paso, TX 79998-0500 Office phone: (915) 831-3210 Department fax: (915) 831-2324 email: [email protected] webpage: http://www.epcc.edu/facultypages/jpenley -----Original Message----- From: Michael Smith [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, March 01, 2010 1:44 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: Re: [tips] Professor Suspended Over Facebook Venting I suppose one of her 'friends' must have supplied the postings to the relevant people otherwise how would they have it if it was only visible to her friends? (admitting I don't really know much about facebook). Is freedom of speech still alive? --Mike On Mon, Mar 1, 2010 at 12:44 PM, Pollak, Edward <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Professor Suspended Over Facebook Venting > > East Stroudsburg University has suspended Gloria Gadsden, a sociology > professor, for joking comments she posted on her Facebook page that > apparently were taken seriously, The Pocono Record reported. One comment was > about wanting to hire a hit man. Another said "had a good day today, DIDN'T > want to kill even one student :-). Now Friday was a different story." > Gadsden said that in the meeting where she was told of the suspension, a > dean referenced last month's murders at the University of Alabama in > Huntsville. Gadsden said that the humor was clear to her Facebook friends > and she doesn't know why the university was monitoring her account. > University officials said that they did not routinely monitor Facebook > accounts and that they couldn't discuss details of Gadsden's case. > > See > http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100226/NEWS/2260344 > > > > Edward I. Pollak, Ph.D. > > Department of Psychology > > West Chester University of Pennsylvania > > [email protected] > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > Husband, father, grandfather, biopsychologist, & bluegrass fiddler...... in > approximate order of importance. > > > > --- > > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13541.42a7e8017ab9578358f118300f4720fb&n=T &l=tips&o=959 > > (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) > > or send a blank email to > leave-959-13541.42a7e8017ab9578358f118300f472...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13295.327efb45357264e0d764058cad59bba0&n=T &l=tips&o=962 or send a blank email to leave-962-13295.327efb45357264e0d764058cad59b...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. 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