2008 Woodie Awards
BREAKING NEWS: Committee finds instances of 'inadvertent plagiarism' in Poshard dissertation
Catherine Klene
Issue date: 10/11/07 Section: News
The SIUC faculty committee charged with reviewing SIU President Glenn Poshard's 1984 doctoral dissertation for evidence of plagiarism announced today that it found instances of "inadvertent plagiarism" and recommended he correct the errors. Additionally, the committee recommended no further action be taken regarding the matter.
The SIU Board of Trustees passed a resolution endorsing the committee's findings and recommendations.
After a special meeting of the BOT Thursday, the majority of which was held in closed session, BOT chair Roger Tedrick said the board was satisfied with the committee's findings.
"The board does not feel that (Poshard) committed plagiarism, as we understand it," Tedrick said.
The committee said in the report Poshard used an informal style consistent with many other graduate students' works at the time. The committee said the instances of inadvertent plagiarism are defined as plagiarism "which may result from 'carelessness, misremembering … or inadequate understanding of the citation required of authorship within a particular community.'" This definition was based on a working definition of plagiarism from the Blue Ribbon Panel, established a year ago by the university to better define plagiarism.
Chair of the review committee Ramanarayanan Viswanathan said because there was no willful intent to steal another's work, the instances were not labeled "deliberate."
Some members of SIU community had called for an external review in the past weeks.
Tedrick said the BOT chose to handle the situation internally, according to university policy.
"(There was) a lot of discussions about that early on, but the board chose to follow the rules of the institution," Tedrick said.
Viswanathan said the committee felt a second opinion was not necessary.
"We felt there was no need to go seek outside opinion," Viswanathan said.
An emotional Poshard stood by his previous statements that he had not committed plagiarism, saying he had simply made errors.
"I believe that what I did was make honest mistakes," Poshard said. "Nevertheless mistakes are mistakes, and I have to accept my responsibility and correct them."
Poshard said everyone involved worried about the effect this issue would have on the university, but he was not worried about his image personally.
"I'm not worried about my image. My image is okay," Poshard said. "I believe anybody with a measure of fairness will understand that I'm trying to do the right thing here."
Poshard said he was glad the review process was over and hoped the university community would move forward and learn from this experience.
"I feel a sense of relief that this is finally coming to a close," Poshard said.
The SIU Board of Trustees passed a resolution endorsing the committee's findings and recommendations.
After a special meeting of the BOT Thursday, the majority of which was held in closed session, BOT chair Roger Tedrick said the board was satisfied with the committee's findings.
"The board does not feel that (Poshard) committed plagiarism, as we understand it," Tedrick said.
The committee said in the report Poshard used an informal style consistent with many other graduate students' works at the time. The committee said the instances of inadvertent plagiarism are defined as plagiarism "which may result from 'carelessness, misremembering … or inadequate understanding of the citation required of authorship within a particular community.'" This definition was based on a working definition of plagiarism from the Blue Ribbon Panel, established a year ago by the university to better define plagiarism.
Chair of the review committee Ramanarayanan Viswanathan said because there was no willful intent to steal another's work, the instances were not labeled "deliberate."
Some members of SIU community had called for an external review in the past weeks.
Tedrick said the BOT chose to handle the situation internally, according to university policy.
"(There was) a lot of discussions about that early on, but the board chose to follow the rules of the institution," Tedrick said.
Viswanathan said the committee felt a second opinion was not necessary.
"We felt there was no need to go seek outside opinion," Viswanathan said.
An emotional Poshard stood by his previous statements that he had not committed plagiarism, saying he had simply made errors.
"I believe that what I did was make honest mistakes," Poshard said. "Nevertheless mistakes are mistakes, and I have to accept my responsibility and correct them."
Poshard said everyone involved worried about the effect this issue would have on the university, but he was not worried about his image personally.
"I'm not worried about my image. My image is okay," Poshard said. "I believe anybody with a measure of fairness will understand that I'm trying to do the right thing here."
Poshard said he was glad the review process was over and hoped the university community would move forward and learn from this experience.
"I feel a sense of relief that this is finally coming to a close," Poshard said.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Elise
posted 10/12/07 @ 8:34 AM CST
There is a HUGE problem with this:
It seems to either send the wrong message to the student body or it's hypocritical. The outcome of the Poshard case is suggesting either one or the other:
1. (Continued…)
Dave Thomas
posted 10/15/07 @ 3:20 PM CST
It may be of interest to the university officials (and the students, alum, etc) that the actions of SIU's president have caught the eye of Drew Curtis of Fark. (Continued…)
Post a Comment