University becomes untrustworthy when they don't inform students of problems on campus
Central Michigan University officials came through and revealed the names of those involved in plagiarizing research funded by the National Science Foundation grant returned at the end of October.
This was the right move and benefits all parties involved: the university, the faculty and, most importantly, the students.
On Oct. 27, the Board of Trustees approved returning $619,489 of a $770,119 grant to the NSF because of what investigators called plagiarism in the research.
Mathematics professor Douglas Lapp and former mathematics professor Azita Manouchehri, now at Ohio State University, were found to have been involved with the wrongdoing. Lapp spoke with CM Life on Thursday and said he was at fault for not double-checking his co-worker’s work. Manouchechri, according to documents, has a “pattern of being ‘careless.’”
Although Trustees did not reveal the real reason behind the move during its special session, CMU revealed the documents Wednesday to CM Life instead of waiting for the Freedom of Information Act to force its hand.
The university should use this as a model for when problems arise to make sure everyone is in the know — an asset to a transparent university. It’s only fair to those affected the most.
While this situation was completely transparent, there have been others in which students have wanted answers and wanted their voices heard in which the university kept information withheld, with the recent changes to tailgate and the lawsuits involving women’s basketball coach Sue Guevara and former soccer coach Tony DiTucci being a few of them.
This information was discovered, not informed of, by CM Life and, in turn, it makes it look like the university is trying to cover things up. We know that’s not always the case but, sometimes, image is everything. Again, it comes down to taking responsibility.
In the NSF grant case, CMU worked well to make sure the student body and public knew about the grant. Documents, reports and e-mails were all provided to CM Life when they were asked for. Administrators spoke to reporters, and even one of the names on the report, Lapp, spoke to CM Life to share his side of the story. CMU was in wrong; There is no denying this fact. Every party involved admits it, including Lapp. Even though the reprimands for the faculty involved will not get released, the university should keep in mind it fails students found guilty of plagiarism.
Students are looking at this as a “lead by example” situation. CMU should not just send a letter of reprimand — the professors involved should have to pay a price similar to what a student would have to if they are found to be plagiarizing or being a party to it. Professors need to be held to the same standard as students.
The entire NSF grant plagiarism situation is what transparency is all about: accessibility to the truth. That’s all students want to know.
