Glenn Poshard, a three-degree graduate of SIU and former member of the Illinois Senate is a truly good man. After he left Congress, Poshard and his wife founded the Poshard Foundation for Abused Children which raises more than $100,000 annually to fund care for abused children and other victims of domestic abuse throughout Southern Illinois. The Poshard Foudation even led efforts to construct a $600,000 women’s shelter in Cairo that opened December 2003. Poshard also has a deep understanding of higher education since all three of his degrees are in education. With all his congressional leadership and public service after congress, it is a proven fact that Glenn Poshard is a really good man. Also SIU has grown significantly and prospered since he was selected to serve as President of the SIU system.
My point that Poshard is a good man is that sometimes good people make bad choices. He may be a great leader for our university but he did make the mistake of plagiarism. With Poshard making the mistake of plagiarizing on master's thesis and his doctoral dissertation, I feel that he should step down and take full responsibility for his mistake.
This past week in the news, there was a girl from my high school who graduated a year ahead of me accused of first degree murder. She had even been in a couple of my classes during high school and I got to know her fairly well. I found her to be a goody goody who would never do anything wrong or dare to harm a fly, I found myself to be very wrong about her. You can not underestimate any person ever, no matter how good of a person he or she may be. I believe she made a mistake, the mistake of hanging around the wrong people. Now here is my question, have we underestimated Glenn Poshard's leadership because of how good of a man he is? What resolution should come out of this issue about plagiarism? Should the plagiarism policy be changed so that students can have a second chance to revise their work before they recieve a failing grade or should we be able to take Poshards PhD away from him? What is a good resolution for the outcome of this?
I wrote this blog not in support of Poshard, but to recognize some of his great deeds. As I said earlier good men can make bad choices as well and I believe Poshard made a bad decision and didn't think twice before he did it.
Erik I got to tell you that this blog was created by us students as well as maintained by us. We did it with the support of our instructor. He is not "tarnishing" our minds of us "fresh out of high school kids." Not every person in English 101 is necessarily fresh out of high school. I know of adults who go back to college in their middle ages that have to take English 101. Also Keith encourages us to think objectively about this issue. The assignment was to write about our thoughts on plagiarism, he did not tell us to write about Poshard. Also he told us to research, he did not feed us "cherry-picked facts" we made our own judgment from all the facts we found in our research.
J.L.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
We weren't censored
Apparently the censorship issue mentioned earlier was not censorship. A spray chalk was used and the university assumed our chalking wasn't chalk, but paint. That is why it was removed. Just thought I'd update everyone on the issue.
-Colby Gower
-Colby Gower
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Censorship at SIUE?
Someone posted a comment in colby's last post about two of the three chalk spots we had being washed away and a third being "gaurded" by a cop. A few hours later colby and I went out to see what had happend, and all three spots were washed away. So this does lead me to believe that we are trying to be censored for what we are doing. We were going to go to Kimmel office to see what had happend, but when we had gotten there it was already closed, so we will have to wait until tommarrow to see what has happend. If anyone has futher information on what happend with this, respond so we know what is really going on.
-Kevin
-Kevin
Board of Trustees Meeting On the 8th
Some of us are planning on going to the BOT meeting at SIUC on the 8th of November and welcome anyone who wants to go and support our cause. It is a two and a half hour drive from SIUE, so if anyone wants to volunteer to carpool that would be awesome. Some of us going want to make shirts so if anyone is interested in doing that let me know. If you want to email me, cgower@siue.edu. If you aren't at SIUE but want to go, any support would be appreciated.
-Colby Gower
-Colby Gower
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Higher standards
The professors and teachers employed in any school or university are expected to be held to higher standards than those of their students. They need this to have the moral authority to judge a students work. The rules concerning plagiarism are recited to all students when we are given a writing assignment. The teachers make sure that we understand that – whether it is intentional or not – plagiarism will not be tolerated, and that we should take great care to avoid it when writing our papers. This year, students have received failing grades for plagiarism and the rules do not permit them to revise their original submitted work. It is expected that a university student should have taken the extra time to review her paper and correctly cite all sources.
It is unethical to plagiarize according the SIUE web site:
“Philosophically, it is morally wrong to claim to do work that one has not done. One goal of the University is to encourage students to consider issues of ethics when making decisions. Thus, it is only fair that we uphold this goal by enforcing rules about plagiarism” (http://www.siue.edu/~lmarkow/plagairsm.htm).
The website also provides detailed examples of different ways of committing plagiarism. For example:
“Here is an example:
1. Russell Schutt of Investigating the Social World defines a survey as, "Research in which information is obtained from a sample of individuals through their responses to questions about themselves or others" (p. 592: 1996).
A student would be plagiarizing if they did … the following in a paper:
2. According to Russell Schutt a survey is research in which information is obtained from a sample (p. 592). I did a survey on University Faculty in 1999. I asked the faculty whether they use the Vadalebene Center…
This is plagiarism because the student did not put quotes around the passage that was used in her paper.” (http://www.siue.edu/~lmarkow/plagairsm.htm)
I read the review of Dr. Poshard’s dissertation by Professor R. Gerald Nelms, and in it he goes over the different types of plagiarism that were found there. Some of these seemed to correlate with the example above: “Of the forty infractions noted, twenty-five are cases where citations to the allegedly plagiarized material are present but quotation marks around copied material were not included” (Nelms, http://news.siu.edu/PoshardDissertationReviewfinal.pdf). He later stated that “These passages, then, despite their length, do not represent serious citation infractions” (Nelms, http://news.siu.edu/PoshardDissertationReviewfinal.pdf). In our classes it doesn’t matter about the seriousness of the plagiarism infraction, the consequences are still the same. As stated above, “…it is only fair that we uphold this goal by enforcing rules about plagiarism”. Not enforcing these rules goes against the professed ethical standards of our school.
Where can we draw the line to excuse plagiarism? Dr. Poshard sent a letter to all the students and faculty members associated with SIU school system to explain what the final decision was, and why. To me it seems as though Dr. Poshard was trying to make excuses for his behavior, alleging that he had no intention of plagiarizing. The same goes for Dr. Dussold. He also claimed that his mistake was unintentional, and gave rationalizations for his behavior. Dr. Poshard fired Dr. Dussold for the very same offenses he had committed in his own work. Dr. Dussold was "fired in 2004 for plagiarizing his teaching statement", and was not given a chance to revise his mistakes (http://newshound.de.siu.edu/fall06/stories/storyReader$309). Both Dr. Poshard and Dr. Dussold plagiarized ducuments of similar importance to their careers, but yet the punishments were vastly different. This is a double standard. This situation would not be as extreme if a professor had not gotten fired for a violation of a school rule of which our president has been accused.
The rules established by an institution should apply to everyone associated with the institution, including those who wrote and/or enforce them. Even the faculty code of ethics and conduct states: “...there is need for the faculty to assume a more positive role as guardian of academic values against unjustified assaults from its own members. The traditional faculty function in disciplinary proceedings has been to assure academic due process and meaningful faculty participation in the imposition of discipline by the administration. While this function should be maintained, faculties should recognize their stake in promoting adherence to norms essential to the academic enterprise.” (http://www.siue.edu/policies/1q1.shtml). I have serious concerns about the disciplinary actions both taken and not taken with regard to the conduct of the faculty members at the center of this controversy. What message will they send to both students and faculty with regard to academic, professional, and ethic conduct at SIUE? Is there a double standard here? And if not, what is the standard and to whom does it apply?
It is unethical to plagiarize according the SIUE web site:
“Philosophically, it is morally wrong to claim to do work that one has not done. One goal of the University is to encourage students to consider issues of ethics when making decisions. Thus, it is only fair that we uphold this goal by enforcing rules about plagiarism” (http://www.siue.edu/~lmarkow/plagairsm.htm).
The website also provides detailed examples of different ways of committing plagiarism. For example:
“Here is an example:
1. Russell Schutt of Investigating the Social World defines a survey as, "Research in which information is obtained from a sample of individuals through their responses to questions about themselves or others" (p. 592: 1996).
A student would be plagiarizing if they did … the following in a paper:
2. According to Russell Schutt a survey is research in which information is obtained from a sample (p. 592). I did a survey on University Faculty in 1999. I asked the faculty whether they use the Vadalebene Center…
This is plagiarism because the student did not put quotes around the passage that was used in her paper.” (http://www.siue.edu/~lmarkow/plagairsm.htm)
I read the review of Dr. Poshard’s dissertation by Professor R. Gerald Nelms, and in it he goes over the different types of plagiarism that were found there. Some of these seemed to correlate with the example above: “Of the forty infractions noted, twenty-five are cases where citations to the allegedly plagiarized material are present but quotation marks around copied material were not included” (Nelms, http://news.siu.edu/PoshardDissertationReviewfinal.pdf). He later stated that “These passages, then, despite their length, do not represent serious citation infractions” (Nelms, http://news.siu.edu/PoshardDissertationReviewfinal.pdf). In our classes it doesn’t matter about the seriousness of the plagiarism infraction, the consequences are still the same. As stated above, “…it is only fair that we uphold this goal by enforcing rules about plagiarism”. Not enforcing these rules goes against the professed ethical standards of our school.
Where can we draw the line to excuse plagiarism? Dr. Poshard sent a letter to all the students and faculty members associated with SIU school system to explain what the final decision was, and why. To me it seems as though Dr. Poshard was trying to make excuses for his behavior, alleging that he had no intention of plagiarizing. The same goes for Dr. Dussold. He also claimed that his mistake was unintentional, and gave rationalizations for his behavior. Dr. Poshard fired Dr. Dussold for the very same offenses he had committed in his own work. Dr. Dussold was "fired in 2004 for plagiarizing his teaching statement", and was not given a chance to revise his mistakes (http://newshound.de.siu.edu/fall06/stories/storyReader$309). Both Dr. Poshard and Dr. Dussold plagiarized ducuments of similar importance to their careers, but yet the punishments were vastly different. This is a double standard. This situation would not be as extreme if a professor had not gotten fired for a violation of a school rule of which our president has been accused.
The rules established by an institution should apply to everyone associated with the institution, including those who wrote and/or enforce them. Even the faculty code of ethics and conduct states: “...there is need for the faculty to assume a more positive role as guardian of academic values against unjustified assaults from its own members. The traditional faculty function in disciplinary proceedings has been to assure academic due process and meaningful faculty participation in the imposition of discipline by the administration. While this function should be maintained, faculties should recognize their stake in promoting adherence to norms essential to the academic enterprise.” (http://www.siue.edu/policies/1q1.shtml). I have serious concerns about the disciplinary actions both taken and not taken with regard to the conduct of the faculty members at the center of this controversy. What message will they send to both students and faculty with regard to academic, professional, and ethic conduct at SIUE? Is there a double standard here? And if not, what is the standard and to whom does it apply?
Why should we care?
Question 1: Why should we care if Poshard did or did not plagiarize? It is his life that’s on the line, not ours.
Rebuttal: Poshard is the Presidential head of our SIUE School. He’s our representation for what our school stands for. Regardless whether he did or did not plagiarize this accusation will follow him and our diplomas. So, it’s not really just his life that these suspicions have questioned, it’s our education that’s going to be called on it too.
Question 2: I think the board is able to handle something like this. It’s not like we, as students, are able to understand and make a decision as tough as this.
Rebuttal: This decision was a HUGE one and there would probably be controversy either way, but the way the board handled it just wasn’t up to par with what I was imagining. If this issue is affecting us all then why was there no open trial? This “huge” decision was made in 2 hours. The decision that’ll affect all of our diploma’s and status after graduation. This decision that will make your accomplishments seem like a hard earned goal, or a blow-off goal.
Question 3: But this was done years ago when things were different, why do you think Poshard should be punished now when the rules weren’t there when he wrote it?
Rebuttal: It’s true. The rules were different back then and it seems that plagiarism, unintentional or not, has been something that the education and even the government have been cracking down on. Does this mean though that you get away with it only because you made it past the deadline? That’s the same thing to me as promoting, as long as there’s no rule stating you can’t…You can! Something that’s wrong is wrong, no matter what time period it is in.
Question 4: His plagiarism was unintentional so that means that he just didn’t know any better. Why should he be punished for not knowing any better?
Rebuttal: Let’s take this one from someone else’s point of view. How about the people at Plagiarism.org? “It doesn't matter if you intend to plagiarize or not! In the eyes of the law, and most publishers and academic institutions, any form of plagiarism is an offense that demands punitive action. Ignorance is never an excuse” (Plagiarism.org).
Question 5: So, what happened with the whole scandal?
SH, 18
My thoughts
In light of the recent events involving Southern Illinois University President Glenn Poshard, as a student I feel compelled to voice my feelings on the matter. Poshard was accused of plagiarism on his master's thesis as well as his dissertation for his doctorate degree. In a mass email sent to students, Poshard says “Even though the Review Committee says these mistakes were unintentional and inadvertent, they are my mistakes. And I take full responsibility for them” In my opinion, if Poshard were taking full responsibility for his mistakes, he should resign from his post as president of the university immediately. This may seem harsh, but I believe there is no middle ground here, considering the no tolerance policy for students caught plagiarizing here at the university.
Poshard admitted to not citing sources or using quotations, because he was not instructed to do otherwise. This comes as a shock to me, as Poshard has three degrees in various education fields. I was educated on what constitutes plagiarism my freshman year of high school, possibly as far back as elementary or middle school, and I find it hard to believe that Poshard was never given the same education. I find it even more difficult to believe that Poshard managed to not get only one, but three separate degrees, without learning what constitutes plagiarism.
Students at the university are given a no tolerance policy in regards to plagiarism, whether intentional or unintentional. If plagiarism is discovered in any form, the student will automatically fail the course they are in, in which they were caught plagiarizing. The punishment can be harsher, resulting in not only a failing grade, but expulsion from the university. What example is Glenn Poshard setting for students at the university by remaining in his position as president? I believe it is a slap in the face to every Southern Illinois University student.
Another email was also sent to students from the SIU Board of Trustees Chairman Roger Tederick. In this email Tederick says that, “The Board, in partnership with Dr. Poshard and the academic community will be working in the coming months to prepare a comprehensive and thoughtful plagiarism policy” For Poshard to keep his position as president, as well as develop a new plagiarism policy here is absurd.
This incident has made me rethink continuing my higher education here at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville after this academic year, not because I believe the school to be lacking, but because I believe that Poshard's actions have compromised the integrity of the university. How can the university expel and fail students based on plagiarism when the president of the university himself was found to have inadvertently committed plagiarism? I urge other students to rethink their education here as well, and stand up for their beliefs. I in no way condone plagiarism, but it is unjust and unfair to discipline students here for plagiarism while Glenn Poshard remains president of this university.
Immediate action must be taken to correct the glaring hypocrisy seen by not only the Southern Illinois University administration, but by Southern Illinois University President Glenn Poshard himself. Poshard has not only compromised his professional integrity in his actions, but the integrity of the school itself. I believe it is the responsibility of students to speak out and protest this injustice, since it seems that this is not an issue that the SIU administration believes is worth punishing.
-Colby GowerFriday, October 19, 2007
It would be different if it happened to a student
I assume that my English class is like most everyone else’s English class who is at a normal college level. We students don’t have to worry about getting our papers published unless the teacher was to inform us. This, however, doesn’t mean that we are allowed to plagiarize. According to the committee that reviewed Poshard’s writing, he didn’t know that his paper was going to be published. So apparently he thought it was ok to not cite his sources. I also know that you have to cite sources and use quotation marks throughout you paper when using others work. I have known this since freshman year in HIGHSCHOOL, so however Mr. Glenn Poshard didn’t know to do this while he was writing his dissertation, which just so happens to be his final paper for his PHD in EDUCATION, is beyond me. Plagiarism has been clearly defined to everyone if not in high school then in their first year of college. It’s something that could be considered common sense.
Most college students have tons of work to do and they try having a job at the same time, because you need some sort of income to pay for college and activities so that you can relax. So when it comes time to write papers and study for tests we find ourselves staying up late to make time to do work or we do our best to throw papers together. Needless to say we our busy people, so I can agree with Poshard that he was busy and didn’t have a lot of time when writing his dissertation, especially considering the length. However, this doesn’t mean that just because he was short on time that it’s ok that he didn’t put the proper citations in his paper.
According to everything the committee said, involving Poshard and his missed citations and quotations, it should be ok for all of us to plagiarize. Every excuse he made up and that they made up for him can be used for each and every college student out there. No one can look at a paper and say that you purposely plagiarized this because they don’t know what was going on in your head when you wrote the paper. All I’m really trying to say is that no student would get off this easy if they plagiarized a paper.
Most college students have tons of work to do and they try having a job at the same time, because you need some sort of income to pay for college and activities so that you can relax. So when it comes time to write papers and study for tests we find ourselves staying up late to make time to do work or we do our best to throw papers together. Needless to say we our busy people, so I can agree with Poshard that he was busy and didn’t have a lot of time when writing his dissertation, especially considering the length. However, this doesn’t mean that just because he was short on time that it’s ok that he didn’t put the proper citations in his paper.
According to everything the committee said, involving Poshard and his missed citations and quotations, it should be ok for all of us to plagiarize. Every excuse he made up and that they made up for him can be used for each and every college student out there. No one can look at a paper and say that you purposely plagiarized this because they don’t know what was going on in your head when you wrote the paper. All I’m really trying to say is that no student would get off this easy if they plagiarized a paper.
N.H.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
The Free Trade of Ideas
In the October 18th edition of SIUC’s school newspaper, the “Daily Egyptian,” Joe Crawford reported the reactions of a few Carbondale professors to what has become known as “the Poshard scandal.” According to Crawford, sociology professor Robert Benford admirably asserted that he will hold students to a higher standard of writing. Bensford is quoted as saying, "If they want to redefine it here through the looking glass, or in this Orwellian world of SIU, they may, but I think most of the faculty I know in the humanities and the arts and social sciences just do not accept the excuse of inadvertent plagiarism" (Bensford qtd by Crawford 9)
Although the professors were advocating a stricter interpretation of plagiarism, many readers of the electronic version of the “Daily Egyptian” posted a starkly different opinion of this case. In one reply to this article titled “I Support Glenn No Matter What,” an anonymous poster writes, “All of those professors mentioned in the article should resign. I mean if you disagree with Glenn or the BOT, you have no business being here.”
The Freedom of Speech ensures the free exchange of ideas that are crucial not only to democracy, but also academic development. This poster’s call for the resignation of professors simply because they disagreed with “Glenn or the BOT” is symptomatic of the type of ignorance and intolerance that promotes an atmosphere of fear and narrow-mindedness. I had always thought that the university valued examination, discussion, analysis, and open debate—what Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes called “the free trade of ideas”(Holmes para. 13)— not silencing voices of dissent.
I am proud to say that this blog, created and maintained by SIUE English 101 students, is an example of our commitment to the academic discussion. We are dedicated to the idea that entitled to a voice, both the anonymous DE poster AND the SIUC professors, and no one should be required to pay for this right by resigning his/her position.
Works Cited
Crawford, Joe. "Professors.” The Daily Egyptian 18 October 2007, p.9.
Holmes, Oliver Wendell “Abrams v United States, Holmes Dissent.” Cornell University Law School. October 18, 2007..
Although the professors were advocating a stricter interpretation of plagiarism, many readers of the electronic version of the “Daily Egyptian” posted a starkly different opinion of this case. In one reply to this article titled “I Support Glenn No Matter What,” an anonymous poster writes, “All of those professors mentioned in the article should resign. I mean if you disagree with Glenn or the BOT, you have no business being here.”
The Freedom of Speech ensures the free exchange of ideas that are crucial not only to democracy, but also academic development. This poster’s call for the resignation of professors simply because they disagreed with “Glenn or the BOT” is symptomatic of the type of ignorance and intolerance that promotes an atmosphere of fear and narrow-mindedness. I had always thought that the university valued examination, discussion, analysis, and open debate—what Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes called “the free trade of ideas”(Holmes para. 13)— not silencing voices of dissent.
I am proud to say that this blog, created and maintained by SIUE English 101 students, is an example of our commitment to the academic discussion. We are dedicated to the idea that entitled to a voice, both the anonymous DE poster AND the SIUC professors, and no one should be required to pay for this right by resigning his/her position.
Works Cited
Crawford, Joe. "Professors.” The Daily Egyptian 18 October 2007, p.9.
Holmes, Oliver Wendell “Abrams v United States, Holmes Dissent.” Cornell University Law School. October 18, 2007.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
What is Plagiarism?
Plagiarism is wrong, and if you do it you will be punished for your actions. Plagiarism is defined as the writer failing to credit the person that they got their information from. It is when someone writes a paper and copies another person's ideas. I think that is was wrong for Poshard to plagiarize because he is looked upon as a very professional individual and the president of Southern Illinois University. I think that he should resign because of the mistake that he made. This looks really bad on our university, and it will be our reputation from now on. This mistake is also going to haunt Poshard for the rest of his life. I don't understand how he can continue being the president of Southern Illinois University knowing what a big mistake he has made. I also do not understand why the university is letting Poshard get away with this mistake. There are many reasons why plagiarism is wrong, and Poshard is a good example of why it is a mistake.
Plagiarism is wrong because it is stealing. When someone plagiarizes, they are actually stealing the work of another. One type of plagiarism is when the writer finds someones paper and hands it in without even altering it. This is an example of laziness. Anyone who does this is not putting any effort into their paper at all. They are trying to find the easy way out. I believe using this type of plagiarism is completely intentional. Another type of plagiarism is when the author takes out exerts of another person's paper and puts them in their own work. I think that this is also intentional because it seems as though the person doing the plagiarizing is only trying to hide the fact that they are by only taking small paragraphs of another person's work. There are also types of plagiarism that are unintentional, but no matter what the case is, i think that all plagiarism is nothing but wrong.
When we hear about the president of a university plagiarizing, what does that mean for our school. Does it mean that it is correct for the students to plagiarize as well? No, this is not the case. We as student are not allowed to plagiarize, and if we did we would be kicked out of our university. On the other hand, we see the president of the university plagiarizing, and he still gets to keep his job. I think, and I am sure that many would agree with me, that there is something wrong with this situation.
I also do not understand how Poshard can say that his mistakes were unintentional. If he plagiarized that big of a document, he must have known of his mistake. Yet all we are doing about this is letting him fix his mistake. If we plagiarized, there would be no chance for us to fix our mistake.
Plagiarism is wrong because it is stealing. When someone plagiarizes, they are actually stealing the work of another. One type of plagiarism is when the writer finds someones paper and hands it in without even altering it. This is an example of laziness. Anyone who does this is not putting any effort into their paper at all. They are trying to find the easy way out. I believe using this type of plagiarism is completely intentional. Another type of plagiarism is when the author takes out exerts of another person's paper and puts them in their own work. I think that this is also intentional because it seems as though the person doing the plagiarizing is only trying to hide the fact that they are by only taking small paragraphs of another person's work. There are also types of plagiarism that are unintentional, but no matter what the case is, i think that all plagiarism is nothing but wrong.
When we hear about the president of a university plagiarizing, what does that mean for our school. Does it mean that it is correct for the students to plagiarize as well? No, this is not the case. We as student are not allowed to plagiarize, and if we did we would be kicked out of our university. On the other hand, we see the president of the university plagiarizing, and he still gets to keep his job. I think, and I am sure that many would agree with me, that there is something wrong with this situation.
I also do not understand how Poshard can say that his mistakes were unintentional. If he plagiarized that big of a document, he must have known of his mistake. Yet all we are doing about this is letting him fix his mistake. If we plagiarized, there would be no chance for us to fix our mistake.
Monday, October 15, 2007
What Defines Plagiarism?
What defines plagiarism? According to the dictionary plagiarism is "the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work."
At SIU-E we understand the fact that there is a strict policy about plagiarism. As stated on the Love Joy library portion of SIUE.edu plagiarism is a serious academic offense. "Normally a student who plagiarizes shall receive a grade of E [F EFFECTIVE FALL 2001] in the course in which the act occurs. The offense shall also be reported to the Provost. In addition, any graduate student who has been found to have committed an act of plagiarism may be dropped from his or her graduate degree program by his or her department. A student who is reported a second time shall be suspended from the University for a period of not less than one term. Should a student who has been suspended for plagiarism be readmitted and be again found guilty of the offense, he/she shall be permanently expelled from the University"("Plagiarism"; par. 2).
The consequences seem to be substantial and the plagiarist would be deserving of each consequence per offense. Right now SIU has a board of trustees at the Carbondale and Edwardsville campuses who have a so-called "working guide" on the plagiarism policies. However, the President of the Carbondale campus, Glendon Poshard, was accused in early August this year for plagiarizing his doctoral dissertation. It has also been made known that he plagiarized parts of his masters theses as well.
Speaking for the University as a whole it gains my concern because when others look at our university or students consider attending any of the SIU campuses these questions arise: What kind of University are we running? Are we promoting plagiarism by letting Poshard have a second chance to revise his papers? Why does he not get a failing grade on them? Should he really have the degrees that he has? Did he actually earn his degrees since he took credit for another's work? I am not the only one who has concern about how our university looks due to this scandal, others include my English professor as well as several of my classmates.
I have looked at both the SIUE and SIUC websites and my findings on plagiarism differed ironically enough even though the board of trustees are faculty members on both campuses. Has the plagiarism policy been revised at SIUC since this scandal begun in August or has it been like that all along? The policy at SIUC refers to how a student may be required to redo the entire assignment but if it is intentional the student may face harsher consequences. So who is the judge of whether Poshard intentionally or unintentionally plagiarized? Anyone after 20 years can say it was an accident and that policies have changed but I strongly believe plagiarism is exactly what it is, plagiarism no matter what the era may be. This question also arises when I read Faculty Review Committee Report, Oct. 11, 2007: Why does the committee recommend that no further action, such as a formal hearing, be taken? Do the members of the committee fear losing their jobs if Poshard is forced out of office as the President of SIU? Or is it so we can make our plagiarism policy better at SIU? I do not quite understand the reasoning for no need of an outside opinion.
If Poshard indeed purposely plagiarized his masters thesis and doctoral dissertation, is he as great of a leader as he is said to be? I do not believe so what-so-ever, what kind of a great leader is made out of one who plagiarizes to obtain their degrees? I believe that whoever he took credit from for his own work should be our President of SIU because they are the ones he took their hard, well planned and thought out work from. Anyone can make the mistake of plagiarism but when it was on two works in order to earn a degree that's where I gained interest in this scandal because I found it a bit odd that he has allegations against him for two works in order to gain very important degrees. So here is my question to you: Does Poshard deserve his place as President of SIU and should he have his degrees taken away from him?
At SIU-E we understand the fact that there is a strict policy about plagiarism. As stated on the Love Joy library portion of SIUE.edu plagiarism is a serious academic offense. "Normally a student who plagiarizes shall receive a grade of E [F EFFECTIVE FALL 2001] in the course in which the act occurs. The offense shall also be reported to the Provost. In addition, any graduate student who has been found to have committed an act of plagiarism may be dropped from his or her graduate degree program by his or her department. A student who is reported a second time shall be suspended from the University for a period of not less than one term. Should a student who has been suspended for plagiarism be readmitted and be again found guilty of the offense, he/she shall be permanently expelled from the University"("Plagiarism"; par. 2).
The consequences seem to be substantial and the plagiarist would be deserving of each consequence per offense. Right now SIU has a board of trustees at the Carbondale and Edwardsville campuses who have a so-called "working guide" on the plagiarism policies. However, the President of the Carbondale campus, Glendon Poshard, was accused in early August this year for plagiarizing his doctoral dissertation. It has also been made known that he plagiarized parts of his masters theses as well.
Speaking for the University as a whole it gains my concern because when others look at our university or students consider attending any of the SIU campuses these questions arise: What kind of University are we running? Are we promoting plagiarism by letting Poshard have a second chance to revise his papers? Why does he not get a failing grade on them? Should he really have the degrees that he has? Did he actually earn his degrees since he took credit for another's work? I am not the only one who has concern about how our university looks due to this scandal, others include my English professor as well as several of my classmates.
I have looked at both the SIUE and SIUC websites and my findings on plagiarism differed ironically enough even though the board of trustees are faculty members on both campuses. Has the plagiarism policy been revised at SIUC since this scandal begun in August or has it been like that all along? The policy at SIUC refers to how a student may be required to redo the entire assignment but if it is intentional the student may face harsher consequences. So who is the judge of whether Poshard intentionally or unintentionally plagiarized? Anyone after 20 years can say it was an accident and that policies have changed but I strongly believe plagiarism is exactly what it is, plagiarism no matter what the era may be. This question also arises when I read Faculty Review Committee Report, Oct. 11, 2007: Why does the committee recommend that no further action, such as a formal hearing, be taken? Do the members of the committee fear losing their jobs if Poshard is forced out of office as the President of SIU? Or is it so we can make our plagiarism policy better at SIU? I do not quite understand the reasoning for no need of an outside opinion.
If Poshard indeed purposely plagiarized his masters thesis and doctoral dissertation, is he as great of a leader as he is said to be? I do not believe so what-so-ever, what kind of a great leader is made out of one who plagiarizes to obtain their degrees? I believe that whoever he took credit from for his own work should be our President of SIU because they are the ones he took their hard, well planned and thought out work from. Anyone can make the mistake of plagiarism but when it was on two works in order to earn a degree that's where I gained interest in this scandal because I found it a bit odd that he has allegations against him for two works in order to gain very important degrees. So here is my question to you: Does Poshard deserve his place as President of SIU and should he have his degrees taken away from him?
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