In
a
statement
released
early Monday morning, the
Senate Advisory Committee
on
University
Affairs
at
the University of Michigan
addressed
the
recent
letter issued by LSA Interim
Dean
Elizabeth
Cole
regarding the retraction of
a recommendation letter by
Associate
Professor
John
Cheney-Lippold.
SACUA
stressed the importance of
“academic freedom and the
rights and responsibilities of
academic tenure.”
The statement comes after
an earlier statement released
Sept. 24 from SACUA, revealing
their
“disappointment”
in a professor that would
allow
his
personal
beliefs
to
limit
opportunity
for
University
students.
The
earlier
document
echoes
the statement produced by
University President Schlissel
and Provost Martin Philbert
advocating for the creation
of a panel that would attempt
to find a balance between
political
ideology
and
professors’
commitment
to
their students, and ultimately
placed
emphasis
on
the
notion that “faculty members’
personal
political
beliefs
cannot interfere with their
obligations to our students.”
However,
the
new
proclamation
specifically
pertains to the letter by Cole
which reveals the sanctions
placed
on
Cheney-Lippold
by the administration. These
sanctions
restrict
Cheney-
Lippold from receiving a salary
increase for one year and voids
him of sabbatical credits for
two years.
These penalties followed
Cheney-Lippold’s refusal to
pen a recommendation letter
for LSA junior Abigail Ingber
after learning her study abroad
location was in Israel. Shortly
after,
Rackham
student
Lucy
Peterson
followed
suit, refusing to deliver a letter
for a student wishing to study
in the same area.
Peterson
wrote
in
an op-ed published by The
Daily that her “action attests
to (her) ongoing engagement
with the theory and practice
of social justice pedagogy
as well as (her) concern for
the
injustices
suffered
by
Palestinians.”
Shortly after, Cole addressed
Cheney-Lippold
directly
in
a letter published Oct. 3 and
said future decisions to write
a letter of recommendation
should put students ahead of a
political agenda.
“In the future, a student’s
merit should be your primary
guide for determining how and
whether to provide a letter of
recommendation,” Cole wrote.
“You are not to use student
requests for recommendations
as a platform to discuss your
personal political beliefs.”
In
the
new
statement,
SACUA said Cole’s response
could
possibly
create
“a
chilling effect on members
of the academic community
who may, for legitimate and
deeply held personal reasons,
feel
uncomfortable
about
providing letters to certain
organizations or individuals.”
SACUA cited its previous
statement,
declaring
the
assembly wished to affirm
a
“community
standard,”
and
thus
objects
to
the
preceding letter being used
as
“endorsement”
for
the
disciplines placed on Cheney-
Lippold.
Similarly,
SACUA
reasserted their commitment
to the American Association
of
University
Professors’
Statement
on
Professional
Ethics, which, again, places
a
student’s
merit
as
the
dominant factor in assessing a
student’s request for a letter of
recommendation.
However,
Hans-Joerg
Tiede,
associate
secretary
of
the
AAUP,
has
also
recently
addressed
the
penalties placed on Cheney-
Lippold.
Tiede
suggested
the
University
reconsider
their
decision,
claiming
the
sanctions
“violate
the
association’s standards of due
process.”
SACUA
emphasized
recommendation letters are
“personal
endorsements,”
and the declining of this act
should not cultivate a fear of
retribution. Moreover, SACUA
stressed in the case of a member
of the University community
being so afraid that they might
feel coerced to administer a
letter or recommendation, or
advocate for opinions they
do not truly hold, would then
lead to “the integrity of the
recommendation
(being)
tarnished and the academic
freedom that is central to
our
University
(becoming)
impugned.”
University responds to sexual
misconduct,”
interim
OIE
head Jeffery Frumkin said in
the report. “These behaviors
have no place at Michigan,
and
we
encourage
every
member of our community
who has concerns about sexual
misconduct to reach out.”
Frumkin has taken up the
role as Title IX Coordinator
after Pamela Heatlie stepped
down last week. Frumkin also
will serve as the associate
vice
provost
for
academic
and faculty affairs and senior
director
for
institutional
equity for OIE. According to
the University, efforts to find
a permanent replacement for
head of OIE will begin soon.
Counting reports made from
July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018,
OIE received 235 reports
of
sexual
misconduct
made by faculty and staff.
232 of these reports were
addressed by OIE, while the
other three were addressed
by
Human
Resources
under applicable collective
bargaining
agreements.
Approximately 90 reports
were addressed by OIE
during the previous year,
indicating a 161 percent
increase
in
reports
received this year.
The
majority
of
reports — 53 percent —
were addressed with a
consultation, while only
11 percent of reports made
resulted in an investigation.
According to the report,
consultations are defined
as “questions or reports
that
can
be
addressed
appropriately
without
a
review or investigation.”
Of the 18 investigations
completed at the time of
the report’s release, seven
investigations
found
no
policy violation, five found
inappropriate
behavior
(but not severe enough to
be considered hostile) and
seven were found to be policy
violations.
Of the 10 corrective actions
made by OIE as a result of these
investigations, three instances
resulted
in
termination
of
employment. In five instances
in which OIE found a policy
violation
or
inappropriate
behavior,
the
respondent
resigned. In two of these
instances,
the
resignation
occurred before the end of
the investigation or before
corrective action was enacted.
In cases where the employee
resigned,
the
employee
is
often not eligible for future
University
employment,
according to the report.
During the past reporting
year, OIE received 277 reports
of sexual misconduct made
by students, also seeing an
increase in reports from the
previous year Of these reports,
the majority of issues reported
were related to sexual assault
or
sexual
harassment,
representing 49 percent and
28 percent of issues reported,
respectively.
Of
reports
made by students, only seven
percent, or 20 cases, resulted
in an investigation.
2 — Tuesday, October 23, 2018
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ADMINISTRATION
Latest statement addresses letter by LSA Interim Dean Elizabeth Cole, sanctioning of professor
SACUA releases new statement in support
of “academic freedom,” in rec. letter case
SAM SMALL
Daily Staff Reporter