This is a sad moment for our university. This morning's Tribune article further exposes the depth of administrative corruption here at Chicago State. The university's administration is unable to substantively respond to the plagiarism charges against Angela Henderson and once again attacks the persons bringing the message. For certain persons employed at this school no infamous deed is sufficient to subject them to any risk of termination. Lying on your resume or application? No problem as long as you are a friend of Wayne Watson. Plagiarizing your dissertation while you occupy a top management position and will later become the top academic official at the school? No problem as long as you are a friend of Wayne Watson. Performing your duties at a dazzling level of incompetence? No problem as long as you are a friend of Wayne Watson.
In the next few days and weeks, administrative mouthpieces will either try to ignore this scandal or they will spin the story as much as they can. I expect the usual round of personal attacks, coming anonymously or through surrogates. I expect an angry response from the supporters of Wayne Watson who have so much invested in his continuing presidency at Chicago State. Unfortunately, these reactions will do nothing more than diminish the reputation of the school.
No amount of feigned righteous indignation on the part of the Chicago State administration and/or the acolytes of Wayne Watson can alter the simple fact that Angela Henderson plagiarized her dissertation. What she produced violated the academic integrity standards of both the University of Illinois Chicago's College of Nursing and the citation standards of the American Psychological Association. If anyone wishes to debate this point, I would be happy to speak with them. If anyone would like to offer an affirmative defense of her actions, I would be happy to hear it.
In my estimation, this current public embarrassment is a predictable result of hiring, retaining and even promoting people who lie and cheat to gain positions for which they are demonstrably unqualified. The presence in the administration of Angela Henderson demonstrates the contempt with which Wayne Watson views the entire academic enterprise. I wonder how you, my colleagues, will react to this. Will you put your heads down and try to closet yourself in your offices believing that you can weather the storm? Will you acquiesce again to the outrageous behavior of our top administrators? Will you temporize and rationalize behavior that would earn students in your classes an "F" while at the same time it is tolerated from the university's Provost? Is this what we stand for? If so, does this university even exist as a viable institution? I await your answer.
And now the news has made the Chronicle of Higher Education. http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/chicago-state-u-s-interim-provost-is-accused-of-plagiarism/71383. When will Lil Wayne and his minions stop destroying this university and go away?
ReplyDeleteI don't mean this sarcastically in any way. Why do you continue to work for this University?
ReplyDeleteIf every faculty member who is disgusted with the 'doings' of vapid administrators just packed up and left then the administration would have won rather easily, no?
DeleteCorrect me if I am wrong, but wasn't Dr.(HA!) Henderson, Wayne Watson's longtime secretary when he was ruining, er, running City Colleges? Forget hard work, skills, and qualifications everyone....cronyism rules the day in the public sector in Cook County, and now, sadly, at Chicago State.
ReplyDeleteForgot another important attribute consistently ignored by Chicago State Board....ETHICS!
DeleteWill UIC get ANY backlash regarding the approval of her dissertation? hmmmmm, hasn't gotten any thus far, so maybe not.
ReplyDeleteTribune editorial tonight:
Deletehttp://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-did-chicago-provost-plagiarize-edit-0115-jm-20140115,0,4761404.story
Why has the Chicago State Board not removed Watson? Fish rots from the head first.
ReplyDeleteRob - Jobs as history professors aren't exactly plentiful (http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/01/02/number-jobs-history-drops-73).
ReplyDeleteIn addition, the students at CSU are truly wonderful--eager to learn and to improve their lives. They deserve so much better than the political patronage dumping ground the ranks of CSU upper administration has become. And with the exception of some recent crony hires, the faculty is outstanding. CSU could and should be a shining light, an example of what a state university in a less prosperous area of a major city can be.
If the governor would appoint a qualified and forward-thinking board of trustees, CSU could still fulfill this dream. Some faculty members think it's worth sticking with the institution and the students, and working toward that dream.
Couldn't have said it better myself, other than to add that jobs in ANY field of academia are not exactly plentiful. Thank you, moyenage.
DeleteThank you, moyenage, for saying so well what I have always believed. I am retiring in June at the end of my 27th year as a tenure-track/tenured professor (twenty-nine years counting adjunct teaching). I hope I have given my students as much as they have given me. It has been a privilege to teach so many inspiring people. I am about to be 71 and am moving on to focus more on my research and writing.
ReplyDeleteExactly, Paul and moyenage, the students deserve so much better than the current administration. When I heard about Henderson's plagiarism, I was outraged and offended at the deepest level. I know that I spent years completing my dissertation, and while it's not perfect, it represents some significant hard work and I hope some scholarly achievement.
ReplyDeleteI cannot support Henderson in her position as interim provost in any way. I don't know what more we, as faculty, can do, but I urge my colleagues (including those in the provost's office) to oppose her and the Watson administration. This administration cannot continue at CSU -- they are rapidly destroying the university.
It is an embarrassment to have a provost who just recently completed her terminal degree in her profession. It is a scandal that she may not have have even done that successfully. But then, there is Glenn Poshard...
DeleteAs an older student at CSU I have seen ineptitude elevated to a grand scale. I am troubled by the low enrollment resulting in the cancellation of two of my classes and the poor notification of such.
ReplyDeleteWhat has kept me at the University has been cost, and that in my three years here I have had many good professors, even some inspiring ones (I am a little cynical by nature) that have made my studies interesting and challenging at times. Illinois resembles an old Soviet state. Staunch one party rule bestowing favors on the Nomenklatura with people eager to curry favors from those above. But what really makes it insulting to me as a student is the fact that academic integrity is sacrosanct. I am subject to great punishment if guilty of such an act in any paper that is turned in by me.This institution does not need to be further ridiculed by actions best described as purely dishonest by members of the administration. Maybe younger minds here are not aware of the of the depth that we are sinking to; but I do ask kind of price will Ms. Henderson wil have to pay if the allegations are true? Resignation would then be the most honorable course.
How can we attract more students when they can read up on the reputation of this University? The time for change has to be near. I want my diploma to have some meaning, while this is not a career move for myself but rather a personal quest I really do not want to think of anyone having to comment on where I went to college with some sort of a snide remark or some sort of wink, or even an oh dear Chicago State...oh I see. Change needs to come. We need to attract a diverse group of students from ALL parts of the city, thus to bring forth a true diversity reflective of our entire city. There really is so much potential to this place....