Check out all of the information about the University of Northern Colorado case against Fulkerson. Students had been complaining for years about his behavior.
http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=124159
This is just one site.
Do you know of any other professors who are getting away with misconduct?
How should Universities handle this type of offense? What is a universities responsibility to students? To faculty?
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Universities hold a fiduciary relationship with their students. They are responsible for creating a safe and postive learning environment for their student body. Employing teachers like this is a complete breach of that relationship.
ReplyDeleteI may carry bias, and this may seem elementary, but teachers who endanger students should not be allowed around them. We carry the same standards with elementary and high school teachers, why should professors be allowed to slide longer than others? Because they have a PhD?
Professors and students should interact on the basis of a professional relationship only. If this relationship is violated, tenure or not, that professor should be reprimanded (at the very least) and their behavior monitored from that time on, if allowed to stay.
Furthermore, professors who are accused of inappropriate conduct with students and found innocent (based on the lack of strong evidence) should be monitored even more so, as history has a tendency to repeat itself in most cases. Repeat predators have no place being employed at universities.
Again, I may be biased in this particular situation, however, professors who cannot respect the proper boundaries with fellow faculty or students should not be allowed to teach, period. This keeps both the university and students safe, the learning experience positive and beneficial, and the fiduciary relationship intact.
S: Thank you for the very thoughtful and well stated comment. I think that your comment "Furthermore, professors who are accused of inappropriate conduct with students and found innocent (based on the lack of strong evidence) should be monitored even more so, as history has a tendency to repeat itself in most cases. Repeat predators have no place being employed at universities" is very important in light of the recent cases brought against people in responsible positions.
ReplyDeleteHow are we to deal with these situations? I remember being invovled in one such case where people on the investigative committee felt that it was more important to protect a professor's career than a student's well-being. This group of investigators found in favor of the professor. Within a few years more complaints were brought against this same professor, at the same university. The complaints were related only in that students had taken this professor for classes or this professor acted as an advisor or chair of a thesis and in the types of misconduct.
Before becoming involved in a similar situation to that which is being discussed, I always assumed that departments and administrations of universities had the best for their students in mind. The students fund the institution, make it credible by their successes, and refer thousands of others to attend, how could a vital part of any university community be so unprotected? While I have seen some administrators and fewer faculty members fight for student’s rights and proper treatment against pursuing faculty, it appears to me that many of those in positions of authority are far more interested in supporting faculty than students. While camaraderie among faculty and administrators is helpful and comforting to students, there are cases where it can become dangerous.
ReplyDeleteI sit in astonishment, confused as to how such intelligent professors are blinded by the same individual time and time again. They are witness to inappropriate behavior and instead of helping the student, stopping the professor, or alerting the proper authorities, they go along their merry ways, unwilling to admit wrongdoing by their colleagues. Perhaps the most unsettling aspect is that failing to take notice of inappropriate faculty behavior discourages students to stand up when something is wrong. If a psychology PhD cannot see something wrong with this individual, maybe I am the one in the wrong? I know that thought has crossed my mind constantly.
I understand the importance of supporting fellow faculty and the camaraderie that usually exists in academic departments, but when this support and camaraderie blinds administrators and faculty to the misbehavior of one of their own, it calls policy in universities throughout the world into question.
How are we to deal with these situations? That is a difficult question to answer, especially when so much effort has already been exercised in keeping students safe. Professors and administrations have strict guidelines they are expected to follow and they are responsible for upholding the ethics codes their field calls for. None of this seems to help when a truly gifted manipulator is unleashed within a department. Professors have just as much of a right as students to feel safe and secure in their work environment, however, the unique and substantial damage professors can inflict upon students requires more restrictions upon their behavior, in my opinion.
So, when that professor is involved in inappropriate relations with a student, don’t ignore it! No matter if that colleague is your best friend or just a good acquaintance. Failing to stand up for what is right in any situation, as hard as it may be, only leads to more wrong, more damage, and more trouble. Administrators and faculty take note; your primary responsibility in a university setting is to your students, not your friends.
A professor’s career should never be an excuse or justification for their misconduct. It is my hope that it never again takes a series of five formal complaints and four years for a university to recognize the wrongdoing of one of it’s employees. The university, administration, and faculty owe more to their students than that.
Sharon's hard work in this situation has been rewarded. She has learned to stand up for herslef and the rights of furture and past students. She has learned to trust herself and that is a lesson that will serve her well the rest of her life.
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