Posted by Eugene Volokh:
"Texas A&M International University in Laredo Fired a Professor for Publishing
the Names of Students Accused of Plagiarism":
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2008_11_16-2008_11_22.shtml#1227044226
So reports [1]the Daily Texan. The post at issue is [2]here. The
syllabus for the course stated, "No form of dishonesty is acceptable.
I will promptly and publicly fail and humiliate anyone caught lying,
cheating, or stealing. That includes academic dishonesty, copyright
violations, software piracy, or any other form of dishonesty." True to
his word, the professor -- an untenured and apparently part-time
adjunct professor -- was indeed "promptly and publicly ...
humiliat[ing]" the students who he believed were cheating; the
university is paraphrased as stating that the professor "was
terminated for violating the Family Educational Rights and Privacy
Act, a federal law that prohibits the release of students� educational
records without consent."
I can't speak to whether FERPA indeed applies here. But I'm inclined
to say that a university wouldn't be violating academic freedom -- or,
as to public universities, the First Amendment -- if it provided that
a faculty member generally may not publicize embarrassing things he
learns about specific named students as a result of his teaching, even
including dishonest conduct by those students. [3]Inside Higher Ed has
more, including this:
Adding to the buzz has been an e-mail message sent to department
chairs by someone in the administration (the provost denies knowing
anything about it, and an article Wednesday in the Laredo Morning
Times attributed it to deans) in which the chairs were reminded to
tell faculty members that any F grades for plagiarism should be
reviewed by the honors council and that professors need to always
think about students� due process rights before seeking to punish
them.
Several faculty members, speaking privately because they didn�t
want to anger administrators, said that they were taken aback by
the way the university appeared to be viewing plagiarism as an
issue requiring more due process for students, not more support for
professors. For the university to follow the dismissal of an
adjunct with this reminder, they said, left them feeling that they
couldn�t bring plagiarism charges. Further, many said that they
believed it was a professor�s right to award an F to a plagiarizer
and that this should not require an honors council review.
Several e-mail messages are circulating among faculty members,
expressing concern that their right to assure academic integrity is
being undercut. Despite how widespread a problem plagiarism is
among students, these e-mail messages say, the university is
looking the other way and sending a public message to students that
they are the victims when a professor takes plagiarism
seriously....
Pablo Arenaz, provost at the university, said he was distressed
that some faculty members are concerned about the university�s
commitment to academic integrity. Asked whether a professor has the
right to award an F to someone caught copying, Arenaz said that was
�up to interpretation.�
It seems to me that if it's just "up to interpretation" whether a
professor could give a student an F for cheating, then there is indeed
reason to be "concerned about the university's commitment to academic
integrity."
Thanks to [4]Paul Caron (TaxProf Blog) for the pointer; follow that
link to see links to the professor's defenses of his position (for
instance, [5]this one.
References
1.
http://www.dailytexanonline.com/topstories/university_fires_teacher_for_blog_post
2. http://www.iycc.org/node/347
3. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/11/13/tamiu
4. http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2008/11/university-fires.html
5. http://www.iycc.org/node/370
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