Professor Challenges Charges Of Academic Dishonesty

F.Y.I: The average North American car contains 300 pounds of plastics.• THE METROPOLITAN • NOVEMBER 12, 2009 • NEWS • A7

Professor challenges charges of academic dishonesty Continued from A3 The National Social Science Association, a group that promotes exchanges of ideas between academics by holding several conferences each year, has two publications: the NSSA Journal and the NSS Perspectives Journal. De La Torre attended the October 2005 conference, presented a paper and wrote a $25 check in order for her paper to be published. De La Torre made several mistakes in reporting the issue number she claimed to have been published in and failed to properly confirm that the article had been published, the file says. The proceedings of the conference De La Torre attended were published in Vol.31, Issue 1, of the NSS Perspectives Journal: wrong volume, and wrong publication.

Communication breakdown De La Torre said she called the NSSA in 2008 when she was completing her dossier to ask what volume and issue contained her article, and NSSA Director Jerry Baydo told her the numbers she included in her record. The school investigation says it is doubtful the NSSA director would have told her the wrong volume and journal name. De La Torre had published in 1994 with the NSSA, and though the association’s publishing rules had changed, the NSSA would have advised De La Torre of the new rules, the investigation report said. The new rules stated papers submitted would not be included unless the prescribed format was used, and that the

NSSA would provide no notification to the author if guidelines were not followed. Nancy Connick, the faculty dismissal hearing officer concluded De La Torre “either knew” or “that she made no effort to determine publication and simply invented citations.” De La Torre has a copy of her Metro phone record showing the

30, Issue 1, contains an article published by a professor, Nena Torrez, a name which could have been confused with Angelina De La Torre, with the accent falling on the second half of the words—as is done in Spanish, and on the telephone, De La Torre said in her defense. Nina Torrez wrote a letter in support of De La Torre, saying their names could have

Reasons cited by metro for termination

In the “Handbook for profession Personnel,” the conduct book for Metro faculty, section XIII outlines the grounds for termination of faculty. Angelina De La Torre was cited with the following three infractions of the handbook.

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h. Failure to fulfill any written provision of any employment contract. i. Unprofessional conduct as described below if the nature, gravity and/or frequency of the unprofessional conduct justifies termination j. Failure to abide by any policy set forth in this handbook.

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The Handbook for Professional Personnel can be found online at http:// www.mscd.edu/trustees/policies/ phone in her office was used to call the NSSA’s number in California for 3 minutes and 20 seconds on the day she testified she did. She has a copy of the check that NSSA cashed in 2005, dated when she said she submitted the article for publication. The investigation report said Baydo did not testify in the case, and the college’s report misspells his name as Baxdo throughout the document. Baydo responded to an e-mail declining to comment on the matter on legal grounds. Another contention is that Vol.

been confused. Put in charge of the investigation, Professor Luis Torres also included the name-confusion idea as a possible reason for the mistake in a report about the investigation of De La Torre. Connick’s report does not mention the issue of name confusion, and De La Torre stated in her written appeal to the board of trustees that the issue hadn’t been taken seriously. As of press time, Torres had not responded to attempts to contact him. De La Torre cites the fact that

she did publish the article in question with the NSS Perspectives Journal in the August 2008 issue after she found out that it hadn’t been published in 2005. The investigation report also does not mention this.

Proving intent “By intentionally and clearly misrepresenting in her dossier that she had published an article as part of her professional development when she had not done so, Dr. De La Torre did not practice intellectual honesty, in violation of the handbook…,” the college’s initial decision, which the board agreed, said. The ruling, focused on De La Torre’s intent to misrepresent, said, “Sloppiness is an inadequate explanation … leading the hearing officer to conclude that the misrepresentation here is intentional.” The number of mistakes De La Torre made in reporting the publication prove she intended to deceive the school, Connick’s report said. De La Torre’s motive, the school’s file says, was promotion. President Stephen Jordan met with De La Torre after the initial investigation. “She had sought benefit in the post-tenure review process,” the file said Jordan concluded from the meeting. De La Torre said she had little to win from the publication, the publication was not required by her department, and she had enough other material to put in her review. The trustees heard a final appeal by De La Torre’s lawyer, followed by a counter-argument from the college’s legal consul, before voting unanimously to terminate her contract.

On the street By Adriana Carlson

“How thoroughly should a college check a professor’s credentials before he or she is hired?”

“They need to check the credentials and not just take them at face value. They should also check with previous employers.” - Lindy Hargrave Metro Junior

“They should check up on the roots of where she came from, like the school she graduated from.” -Johnny Burkin Metro Freshman

Attorney views firing as retaliation for earlier case Continued from A3 Lane said there was a connection between the cases, that the college would have a hard time avoiding. De La Torre said in a Nov. 8 interview, her firing was retaliation for standing up against discrimination within the criminal justice department. “The college does not and cannot discuss any personnel matter,” college spokesperson, Cathy Lucas, said in response to the accusation of discrimination toward De La Torre. Lucas said Metro was committed to diversity, citing statistics that 25 percent of all new faculty hired since 2004 has been people of color. “The college is very committed to diversity,” Lucas said. “It is one of our key planning themes.” During her appeal of the decision to fire her, however, De La Torre submitted several letters from professors in support of the college retaining her. Two of the letters specifically mention unfair treatment by the college towards her: Professor Jackson and History’s Charles Angeletti’s dated in May.

“It seems to me …Dr. De La Torre was given less consideration, support and mentoring than other faculty members,” Angeletti’s letter says. “I am uncertain why the college continues to harass Dr. De La Torre, who I have always found to be a capable, professional and honest to a fault.” Jackson’s letter says De La Torre is an “outstanding colleague” and “a highly professional faculty member.” As to the department climate, Jackson, who has been at Metro for 27 years, is less subtle. “I believe this whole process is grounded in retaliation, vindictiveness, and pettiness, is both a travesty and an embarrassment to MSCD,” Jackson writes. “I see De La Torre’s case as purely retribution for testifying in my case,” Jackson said in an interview. Both Jackson and Angeletti agreed to allow their letters to be quoted by the Metropolitan. The accusations come as the college is trying to receive designation as a Hispanic Serving Institution, a Federally funded program that supports colleges that have at least a 25 percent Hispanic population as well

as fulfilling several other requirements, including an open and receptive environment for minorities.

“If you fire her today … it opens up a giant can of worms and I make a living with giant cans of worms.”

-David Lane, attorney

“The interest in diversity does not match with the way Metro treats its diverse community,” political science professor Zia Meranto said. Meranto, a Native American, said while few professors dared to speak out, “in a lot of minority minds, especially women, they see they are treated different.” De La Torre said she will take a case to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency that investigates claims of job discrimination because of race, religion, sex, age, disability and retaliation for reporting discriminatory practice. “When you look at professor De

La Torre’s career—she has given almost 20 years to Metro…the plausible reason that is being grasped for termination, in my best judgment, is not that plausible,” Lane said. “And this is coming out of the criminal justice department which is the same department that got tagged last time,” he said. “If you fire her today … it opens up a giant can of worms and I make a living with giant cans of worms.” Fred Kuhlwild, the colleges legal counsel, said that the investigation finding that De La Torre committed intentional dishonesty, “ essentially lying about ones credentials” and “can’t be tolerated.” Kuhlwild said that professors must be held to a standard of conduct and truthfulness. “The problems with failing to uphold academic integrity with flow down and infect the institution if they are not dealt with,” Kuhlwild said. He said the college should not be “held hostage by the fear of litigation” and had to protect the schools integrity. The board voted unanimously to uphold the termination.

“Just enough so that you know for sure they’re able to do their job.” -Kameron Martinez Metro Freshman

“I think all professors should go into a background check, not a criminal background check, but just to make sure their credentials are true. If the university doesn’t do a good job the student could sue for getting false information.” -Larissa Harvey UCD Sophomore