April 30

A Professor Sues His Students

On bad days, there are no doubt plenty of professors who have joked about suing students. But it is pretty rare that somebody actually does so. A law professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock has — and the ramifications could extend well beyond his dispute.

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Richard J. Peltz is suing two students who are involved in the university’s chapter of the Black Law Student Association, the association itself, and another individual who is affiliated with a black lawyers’ group. Peltz charges them with defamation, saying that his comments about affirmative action were used unfairly to accuse him of racism in a way that tarnished his reputation.

Suing students for what they have said about you is rare if not unheard of, but the topic has suddenly come up not only at Little Rock’s law school, but at Dartmouth College. There, a former instructor recently sent several former students e-mail indicating that she was planning a suit. Robert B. Donin, general counsel of the college, issued a statement in which he said: “We have determined that there is no basis for such action, and we have advised the students and faculty members of this.”

Since the suit that has been filed in Arkansas has been reported by The Arkansas Democrat Gazette, students and faculty there have considered the ramifications — but mostly among themselves. There is considerable concern at the university — and some elsewhere — about what it means to open exchange of ideas to have a professor sue his students.

The dispute over Peltz concerns his opposition to affirmative action — and how he expressed it. Complicating matters is that no one who was present when the statements were actually made is discussing them. Those Peltz sued did not respond to messages, and he was willing to e-mail only a very general discussion of what happened. In examples of the defamatory material that were submitted with his suit, however, the view of the black student organization about his actions becomes clear.

In a memo sent to Charles Goldner, dean of the law school, the students accuse Peltz of engaging in a “rant” about affirmative action, of saying that affirmative action helps “unqualified black people,” of displaying a satirical article from The Onion about the death of Rosa Parks, of allowing a student to give “incorrect facts” about a key affirmative action case, of passing out a form on which he asked for students’ name and race and linking this form to grades, and of denigrating black students in a debate about affirmative action, among other charges.

The student memo said that the organization had “no problem with the difference of opinion about affirmative action,” but that Peltz’s actions were “hateful and inciting speech” and were used “to attack and demean the black students in class.”

The black student group demanded that Peltz be “openly reprimanded,” that he be barred from teaching constitutional law “or any other required course where black students would be forced to have him as a professor,” that the university mention in his personnel file that he is unable “to deal fairly with black students,” and that he be required to attend diversity training.

While Peltz in an e-mail said he could not discuss the case in detail, he suggested — as have his supporters — that the accusations that he was unfair to black students were a misrepresentation of his criticism of affirmative action. For example, he said that he was invited by the Black Law Students Association to debate affirmative action and to take the anti- position.

And while not relating this action directly to what is described in the suit, he wrote the following by e-mail about what may be the form asking for students’ race. “Unrelated to the debate and in the ordinary course of my Constitutional Law class in the fall of 2005, I taught the usual and scheduled material on affirmative action. To stimulate discussion, I presented students with an exercise by handing out a adapted version of the form that the Arkansas state government uses to hire personnel. All students were offered credit to participate. Responding to skeptical student questions, I argued in favor of affirmative action. My teaching method spurred a productive class discussion.”

After Peltz filed the suit, he was removed from teaching all required courses — a fact that the university confirmed but declined to explain, saying that it related both to personnel issues and litigation. Goldner, the dean, sent students and professors an e-mail in which he said that “we recognize that an individual is within his or her rights to file claims in our courts. We also take seriously our obligation to provide our students the environment they need in order to receive the best possible education. Part of that obligation includes working to be an institution in which all members — faculty, students, and staff — are free to openly voice opinions and concerns.”

Goldner pledged to continue to work to create a “diverse and inclusive community.”

Jonathan Knight, who handles academic freedom and governance issues for the American Association of University Professors, said he was concerned about the suit — regardless of whether Peltz was unfairly maligned by his students. “A suit like this, as I’m sure the professor knows, can have troubling implications for academic freedom,” Knight said. “When you ask a court to become involved in making judgments about the metes and bounds of free expression on campus, it can be dangerous.” He noted, for example, that legal standards about the free exchange of ideas — some of them unpleasant — “are not co-equal with the standards of the academic community.”

Generally, Knight said that the worries about courts settling such matters are such that professors need to be “thickly armored” when it comes to comments from colleagues or students. If a professor is being unfairly criticized, it is far better for fellow faculty members or a dean to come to his or her defense than for the scholar to go to court, Knight said.

Noting that professors “typically do not restrain themselves” when talking about other professors’ research, Knight said that “when one enters the academic community, it’s with the understanding that lots of things might well be said which cast one in a very unpleasant light.”

— Scott Jaschik

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Comments

Suing Colleges for Soliciting Unsigned Evaluations from Students

I’ve never wanted to sue students for what they say or write, which seems to me to defeat the whole purpose of teaching academic discourse, but I have wondered about the possibility of suing a college for soliciting from students anonymous unsigned ratings and comments about their teachers and professors. On many occasions students respond on printed institutional forms with scores and remarks which are not only falsehoods but slander and libel. I don’t blame the students. They are led by the institution—which also requires faculty to participate in this travesty by distributing the forms in order to lend to the process an illusion of legitimacy—to believe that their anonymous unsigned criticism and complaints are helpful and somehow improve instruction and education. Nothing could be further from the truth. But each term their remarks are read by secretaries, clerks, administrative assistants, deans, and sometimes even college vice presidents and presidents before faculty ever learn what students have written about them; and because faculty do learn what students have written only weeks and even months after the term is over the faculty have no way of confronting their anonymous accusers. I’d like to see a college sued for this conduct.

Bob Schenck, at 7:05 am EDT on April 30, 2008

The Children’s Hour

The problem with this school — and many others — is that student claims are taken at face value right away, leaving the faculty member with little room to defend him or herself. There would be no need for a lawsuit if the school conducted a fair investigation (which I’m sure they are claiming they did). charges like these, however, are very hurtful and make the teaching situation extremely hard long after those who raised the complaint have left the classroom.

Ward, New York University, at 7:45 am EDT on April 30, 2008

An accused has the right to defend her/himself.

I have to agree with Bob, we empower students who lack the maturity, the seriousness and commitment to stand by their words. When evaluations are distributed, some of them consider it “payback” for making them actually work during the semester. In addition to the aspects mention by Bob, there is a worst scenario, the one where one person takes the role of the rotten potato to spoil the sack. It can be one or two, and they start being outspoken as they submit their comments. These comments then are echoed by the rest, and then read by everyone. I wish evaluations could have their names attached, to call them to task. Not to retaliate but to confront your accuser when one as a professor needs to defend himself during yearly evaluations. An accused has a right to defend him/herself. The University although supposedly safeguards the rights and interest of their faculty, they sometimes side with the students. Why? Because Mom and Dad (the helicopter parents) pay tuition and the Millenials, little Suzy and little Johnny are saints.

Dr.NLO, at 8:49 am EDT on April 30, 2008

Permissive Parenting

I agree with both of the gentlemen speaking. We’ve created an environment where students can “behave” as they wish, “say” what they wish and never suffer any consequences. It’s a continuation of a parenting style that has created a generation of students with unrealistic expectations about what life will “give” them and an attitude that “I can say what I want, but you can’t”

Susan, Academic Counselor, at 8:50 am EDT on April 30, 2008

in need of thicker skin?

If these are “students who lack the maturity, the seriousness and commitment to stand by their words,” then why would anyone be taking them seriously enough to sue them? How could immature, frivolous students who are just passing through a college truly damage someone’s reputation? If faculty wants full free speech in the name of academic freedom, is it hypocritical to shut the students up?

DS, at 9:10 am EDT on April 30, 2008

The Lunatics Have Taken Over The Asylum

My first year, tenure track contract was not renewed this year, largely because a half dozen students didn’t think I upheld the standards of my predecessor, who had minimal hands on experience in the field in the program, vs my three decades of experience, and a decade as an adjucnt teaching this. When I accepted the position, I uprooted my family from a large urban area to an outpost in the agrarian gulag. While I have the support of many members of the faculty and the majority of my students, and I have evidence of how the students did this (mostly via those anonymous evaluations), the school refuses to revisit my case and I have to uproot my family all over again, sell the house we bought and find another position over the course of the next month.

Der Yenem, at 9:40 am EDT on April 30, 2008

Dear DS

Students are free to say and write anything they want, DS, so long as they sign their names. Or do they need a master’s degree before their honest and brave enough to do that?

Bob Schenck, at 9:40 am EDT on April 30, 2008

The lesson here is one of rights, or lack there of. A student accuses and action is taken against a professor with little regard to facts, the irony is that this time it is at a law school. By constantly bending to meet our student’s demands of meeting their perception of right and wrong, without due process, we teach them nothing about the real world. They eventually end up in the grown up world and can’t figure out why they are supposed to perform a job within constraints not set by them and have no say in the matter. I just hope that none of them end up as college faculty because that is when worlds will collide — when both the faculty AND the student have been generationally progammed to get their way.

SG, at 9:40 am EDT on April 30, 2008

Thanks to all above for your accurate insight. Students do not have the maturity or perspective to evaluate a professor (usually during the stressful period just before final exams). But variously I’ve met people who, learning I am a professor, open the subject of a teacher they had years before who was important and influential to them long after college. Typically they’ll comment that the professor was the toughest of the lot, and that they hated the S.O.B. at the time. All this has led me to argue in favor of these pernicious evaluations —but only when given at least five years AFTER the student has graduated.

M. L. VonFranz, at 9:40 am EDT on April 30, 2008

Stop Libel Suits

I think it’s time for the AAUP and other academic groups to make a statement of moral principles: libel suits have no place in academia. No student evaluation, no matter how false, anonymous, or malicious, should be the basis of a lawsuit against students. In academia, everyone has the opportunity to speak out and provide counterspeech, so there is absolutely no reason to resort to litigation over a difference of opinion. As these cases show, there are idiot professors of every ideological stripe, and it’s time to stop them from abusing the legal process to intimidate critics. I’m going to be writing a book on the dangers of libel law to free speech, and I encourage anyone who has experienced such cases to contact me via my website.

John K. Wilson, collegefreedom.org, at 9:40 am EDT on April 30, 2008

One More Time

Everybody is already free to write anonymous, unsigned flattery, criticism, and complaints about other people behind their backs and then send this garbage to these people’s bosses and supervisors. Hey, if you want to do this, who is stopping you? Go ahead! Most adults don’t do this, however, because adults consider such conduct dishonest, cowardly, unethical, and immoral. But for reasons I have never understood, many colleges and universities solicit such garbage from students and not only give this procedure the college imprimatur but compel faculty to participate in the procedure, thus persuading students that student participation in the process is not only ethical and moral but beneficial to higher education. Nothing could be further from the truth. If I have a problem with people, I tell them directly, with either my person or my name attached, and this is what I have taught in college communication classes for forty years. The students are not to blame; the institutions are. Students should not be sued; but perhaps the institutions should be. (Erratum in my previous post: “their” should be “they’re” — my apologies.)

Bob Schenck, at 9:55 am EDT on April 30, 2008

I don’t know which is more ludicrous, the fact that the students can say something that stupid and not be challenged, or the law professor who needs a refresher course on tort law.

I agree with the other comments. This is just another example of the problem with today’s student. They lack maturity and critical thinking skills to understand what is being conveyed in the classroom. Sadly, these people are going to go out into the real world and find that it is not a nice, friendly place and their feelings will get hurt.

Prof TK, Adjunct Instructor, at 9:55 am EDT on April 30, 2008

Professor Sues His Students — Pro

The professor here is well within his rights to sue, in my opinion, because the students did not simply voice opposition to his ideas or presentation of them within a debate forum (such as the school newspaper). They attacked his basis for employment (asking he be removed from teaching Constitutional Law courses and receive administrative censure). That takes their response from the realm of ideas to the realm of material injury.

We do need to ensure that students feel as free to express their ideas as faculty do. We also need to ensure that they mature into full citizenship, with all the responsibilities that entails.

Kelly Searsmith, at 11:15 am EDT on April 30, 2008

Reap what has been sowed

I don’t like litigation.

I also don’t like cowardly administrations who, in the face of near-rampant boorish behavior by students, cannot stand for a minimal level of classroom civility.

As in: students openly calling faculty “dummies;” eating fried chicken during lectures; politely respecting other students with opposing views; not countering the “I’m paying for this, gimme a good grade” attitude, and the seeming never-ending series of grade appeals (when standards are so low, anyway).

Employers know what is going on. Why else do so many have pre-employment exams and reviews?

Russ, at 11:45 am EDT on April 30, 2008

student evaluations

The problem with anonymous evaluations is that they are taken seriously by one’s superiors and are very often merely a reflection of political or personal differences. I teach anesthesiology residents and work with both them and nurse anesthetists. Every year my evaluations from a core group of anonymous nurse anesthetists are slanderous. The reason for this is that I am well know in the department for teaching the residents that they are doctors and that nurses are not. This is apparently resented by the nurses.

Philip J Balestrieri, MA, MD, Associate Professor, at 11:45 am EDT on April 30, 2008

It Is Not The Speech That Prompted The Suit ...

I suspect he’s suing because they are going after his job. They want to subject him to re-education and destroy his reputation by labeling him as a racist. This paragraph describes their intention:The black student group demanded that Peltz be “openly reprimanded,” that he be barred from teaching constitutional law “or any other required course where black students would be forced to have him as a professor,” that the university mention in his personnel file that he is unable “to deal fairly with black students,” and that he be required to attend diversity training.

It sounds to me he’s suing to save his career; not because he’s upset over some student evaluations/comments.

Ed, at 11:45 am EDT on April 30, 2008

Three sides to every story

I’m sure we all realize that there is an (undiscovered) truth that has not been revealed yet, and the University administration should have gotten to the bottom of this well before it landed in court. On the surface this whole incident just seems petty. That being said, as a university administrator I have observed some professors who are over the top and deserve the criticism they receive. I have overheard provocative , and yes, racially insensitive and snide comments about students from the very mouths of those who profess with wide-eyed sincerity that they value the experiences and cultural traditions of all when they are confronted. Not to leave anyone out, some students enter University as know-it-alls unwilling to enagage in real intellectual discourse. I’m sure there is some truth to both sides of the story—I’m interested to see how this unfolds.

Sandra, at 11:45 am EDT on April 30, 2008

Arkansas suit

I have always thought that if person or group A submits a written statement to the employer of individual B that contains material false claims, and B is suspended from his position on the basis of that statement, then B has a reasonable claim that A has libelled him, and has every right to sue B for damages.Is this incorrect? Is immaturity a defence against a claim of libel?

Daniel, at 11:45 am EDT on April 30, 2008

I am an administratator who has had their share of unqualified, erroneous, sometimes purely crazy student complaints. So, I am essentially leaning toward the side of many who responded above (i.e. Where’s the accountability for student comments?) If I may play devil’s advocate though, what if maybe-just maybe-this professor was grossly out of line and made the classroom a hostile environment with his comments?

Surely those of us who sign up TO WORK in academia must accept that academic freedom and a culture of open discourse exists even to the point of unqualified, erroneous, sometimes purely crazy complaints, BUT WHAT IF YOU’RE IN THE “SUBORDINATE” SEAT?

Regardless of my thoughts on students going too far, a university has the obligation to make sure everyone’s voice (and, ahem, right to learn) is measured and considered.

TR, at 11:45 am EDT on April 30, 2008

Kids and Grownups

Bob Schenks’ comments about adults are spot-on. However, like the rest of those posting remarks, he neglects to observe that most undergraduate students are in fact adults, not kids. The full-time, residential 18-21 year olds in college are only about 30% of all students. Nearly half are 25 years or older, meaning that most have had time to develop some identity other than full-time student. So let’s think twice before painting them all as immature with the same broad brush. BTW, no one here seems ready to admit that a good survey sampling of student opinion (kids or adults) is less prone to bias than taking isolated anecdotes (flattering or otherwise) about the effectiveness of one’s work.

An Old Goat, at 11:45 am EDT on April 30, 2008

Students don’t know what they’re doing

Yup. There’s a minority of students who trash faculty in evaluations. Most of them see themselves as powerless and regard these evaluations as an opportunity for venting. Some assume that the evaluations are just tossed so their venting is harmless: I’ve had students tell me that they “know” that no one actually reads the things. Others think that evaluations are their only chance to exercise power in an oppressive system.

I suppose adolescent cynicism is inevitable, but at this end of an exhausting semester I’m sick of it. I’m sick of students confiding that they “know” they have to suck up and tell professors what they want to hear. Maybe during orientation week, along with the workshops on time-management, date rape and the like, we should have a session explaining how Academia works, what the professor job involves, what is involved in doing course preparation and research, why our summer vacations are not vacations, and how course evaluations are used in personnel decisions.

Maybe it isn’t so much lack of maturity as lack of information: they don’t know how the system works, they don’t realize that faculty are accountable, and they don’t know what they’re doing when they write evaluations.

LogicGuru, at 11:45 am EDT on April 30, 2008

wondering

I sometimes wonder, reading comments on IHE like the ones above, why people who despise and disrespect their students with such intensity, stay in the field of education?

And I’ll wonder why someone willing to dismiss their students with statements like: “we empower students who lack the maturity, the seriousness and commitment to stand by their words” or “We’ve created an environment where students can “behave” as they wish, “say” what they wish and never suffer any consequences” or “By constantly bending to meet our student’s demands of meeting their perception of right and wrong, without due process, we teach them nothing about the real world,” are unwilling to put their actual names to these statements. How exactly, is that teaching accountability?

Ira Socol, Michigan State University, at 11:45 am EDT on April 30, 2008

Getting back to the case in the article

My first reaction was that this situation cries out for some sort of mediation, not a lawsuit. The “stories” of the professor and the black students are so different that neither one can be the whole truth. Our winner-take-all legal system is not well suited to the free exchange of ideas. However, in my opinion the free exchange of ideas must take place within an atmosphere of respect for every human being. One occupational hazard of academics is that we may place more value on ideas than on people: this may result in hurtful remarks which, although they may produce only collateral damage, are nevertheless damaging. The 13th century intellectual whose name I borrow was not immune: he said of some who disagreed with him that they were either lying or were ignorant of key texts. Actually, they disagreed as to what the key texts were.

Nor do I believe that everyone should become more “thick-skinned” in order to participate in the free exchange of ideas. This is blaming the victim. We need to disagree respectfully. When students fail to do this, we may say they are not mature. But what do we say when faculty fail to disagree respectfully?

Grocheio, Asst VP Planning and Institutional Effectiveness at Shorter College, at 11:50 am EDT on April 30, 2008

delayed evaluations?

“But variously I’ve met people who, learning I am a professor, open the subject of a teacher they had years before who was important and influential to them long after college. Typically they’ll comment that the professor was the toughest of the lot, and that they hated the S.O.B. at the time.”

Students who evaluate tough professors negatively are said to do so because they think it reflects well on themselves (the bad grade I got isn’t my fault because the professor was unfair and a bad teacher.) Students who (unanonymously) evaluate tough professors positively are arguably doing the same thing (I’m smart and mature because I can appreciate the value of a professor who challenges me.) I’m not sure that either one is necessarily an accurate reflection of educational effectiveness.

jcl, lecturer, at 12:05 pm EDT on April 30, 2008

Where to from here

Freedom of speech in the form of academic freedom is just that… open articulation of ideas, thoughts, and discussion. Each has the abilty to express their respective views. There are no sacred cows! Freedom of speech is balanced with responsibility, so no one is unfairly defamed or libeled. This lawsuit is a perfect lesson of what can happen when context and hysteria become involved in unpopular views. The message is absolute Freedom of Speech is tempered with the responsibility to have your facts straight. We may not like the views of some, but defend their right to say them. Ostracizing a professor for opening Pandora’s Box (affirmative action), then slamming the door on his fingers for spurring outright debate is a disservice. It’s a Law school! If Affirmative Action is not up for debate, then America is lost the foundation it was built on?

Bill, at 12:15 pm EDT on April 30, 2008

The limits of free speech

Perhaps this suit will teach students the limits of free speech, something many of them do not seem to understand.

Freedom of speech is not the freedom to say anything you want, nor is it freedom from consequences.

Dan Palmer, at 12:15 pm EDT on April 30, 2008

delayed evaluations

JCL writes: “Students who evaluate tough professors negatively are said to do so because... Students who (unanonymously) [sic] evaluate tough professors positively are... I’m not sure that either one is necessarily an accurate reflection of educational effectiveness.”

The first case is far more common, but I agree with you, and therefore the DELAYED evaluation, where a professor’s teaching (in its fullest sense, not the mere transit of information) is measured by long-term challenges after college.

M.L.VF, at 12:50 pm EDT on April 30, 2008

The whole process of having students rate professors is a sham. On the one hand, if the surveys are filled out the end of a class session, the students generally just mark down that everything was hunky-dory. Even if students have semi-legitimate criticisms, they just fill in the dots on the scantron and blow. The flipside is that at the end of the semester thet may finally realize that, unlike high school, not everyone gets As, so they’re pissed and excoriate the professor.

Let’s drop the who charade and let the feckless students use RateMyProfessor instead.

JimBobJones, at 12:50 pm EDT on April 30, 2008

Adversarial Academics

While I cringe at the idea—and the spectacle—of lawsuits in academia, I have to acknowledge that the 60s-70s ushered in the idea that partisan scholarship was okay, even laudable. In some cases, whole departments and/or courses of study were created to accommodate partisan movements under the aegis of the acadamy. And needless to add, much execreble work, protected by its putative academic status, has accompanied a much smaller body of useful work informed by fresh perspectives.

Maybe it will be a good thing if partisan activists are forced into a more appropriate arena to settle their claims.

Rod Bell, Adjunct Professor at College of DuPage, at 1:00 pm EDT on April 30, 2008

Crying wolf!

I should not be amazed that the possibility of the students actually presenting an accurate portrayal of the situation has been dismissed almost entirely. To suggest that the faculty member in his admirable zest to engage students might have actually been viewed as offensive by the students seems beyond the imagination of many in this forum. The topic of race is one that so many want to pretend no longer exists and as such the capacity of White American to comprehend the residual of anger and resentment that continues to exist in Black American seems to be nearly impossible. I imagine that there may very well have been previous incidents in this case which led the students to conclude that they finally needed to stand up and be heard. Making such accusations are not done lightly and these students have much to lose were they merely crying wolf! There are ample cases in the media as of late to support the students perspective—need I remind you of Imus?

Harjo, at 1:25 pm EDT on April 30, 2008

“Making such accusations are not done lightly and these students have much to lose were they merely crying wolf!”

Actually, yes they are made lightly (or at least without much care), and no, the students don’t really have much to lose for crying wolf.

When I was at two different big ten universities during my undergrad and grad years, I saw activist students routinely make eye-popping allegations of racism, bigotry, sexism, etc., without evidence or concern. The things the activists accused people of would, in other settings, be career-ending offenses. In those universities, though, it seemed that people thus accused were expected to keep quiet and bear it as the student newspaper reported, again and again and again, the accusations. The university would then solemnly inquire into the matter and, unfailingly, offer some tepid non-response that did not clear the accused or validate the accusers.

What was never done, it seemed, was to simply look at the flimsy “evidence” (at best usually allegations that the accused said “x", which no one could ever find any record of, mind you) and say, “not sufficient to raise this big a stink—matter dismissed".

And the administrators *never* called accusers to account for their behavior in those situations where—shall we say it politely?—the allegations seemed pretty incredible.

So, in sum, I saw a pattern of (1) easily made unsupported accusations taken seriously, thus giving some power over the accused and (2) no penalty for improbably accusations to balance against the heightened status accusers got from the matter (student activists just love the attention).

It was a situation where the student cried wolf constantly, and there were payoffs for doing so. Frankly, I could never figure out why anyone except the brave souls (i.e, tenured profs with rich spouses to fund the legal costs) would ever say anything that would possibly run afoul of those student activist lunatics, since their lives would be h-ll for at least the next semester.

Spartee, at 3:10 pm EDT on April 30, 2008

I have to disagree with those who say that students are not mature enough to properly evaluate professors, or that bad evaluations are just punishment for a tough class. Maybe it’s just that I’ve studied subjects (engineering and law) that attract serious students, but I’ve always found students more than capable of discerning between good and bad professors. I’ve had classmates comment that they didn’t like a professor who was easier and tried to make a class more “interesting” because they didn’t learn the subject. I’ve also heard students comment that they liked a professor who did a good job conveying tough material, or who taught in a way that was tough but was effective. Students aren’t stupid. They can tell the difference between an effective professor and an ineffective one. And even if there is one or a handful of students who use evaluations to “get back at” a tough professor, this should be obvious in a class of any size. If a handful of students say “he sucks,” and other students say “he was tough but fair,” that should put the former comments in perspective. However, if the “he sucks” comments are mixed in with a bunch of “I didn’t learn anything here” and “his teaching method was completely ineffective,” that says something else entirely. I don’t know how things are in artsy-type disciplines, but I’ve always found my classmates more than capable of giving fair, honest evaluations.

Stephen, at 3:50 pm EDT on April 30, 2008

lawsuit

Perhaps Professor Pelz is correct to file a lawsuit as this is a way to truly, publicly clear his name,if it in fact should be cleared. Otherwise misinformation and rumor may well follw him indefinitely and hamper his career.

Laurie Corey, professor at Westchester Community College, at 4:05 pm EDT on April 30, 2008

Circular, iterative?

” .. How exactly, is that teaching accountability?”

Of course. All those calls for more accountability in higher-ed and K-12 are just from ex-members of the John Birch Society.

The problems of discipline, work ethic and basic civility are authentic. Future funding is questionable. Is cutting funding, is that the only way to get attention?

L.L., at 4:50 pm EDT on April 30, 2008

When the evals are not anonymous

Nearly 17 years ago, early in my teaching career, I had a rather eye-opening experience with student evaluations. The institution where I was teaching as a one-term replacement allowed faculty to distribute and collect the evaluation forms, which were hand-written. Students did not have to put their names on the form, but it was easy to tell who was who by their handwriting.

One of the items to which the students (in this class, computer science majors seeing the material for the first time in their courses of study) were asked to respond to the following statement: “Instructor demonstrates good knowledge of the subject matter.”

A student who had been to class a grand total of 4 times that semester responded with, “This guy has no idea what he’s talking about.” Perhaps it was self-referential? I don’t know. Oh, and I knew who it was because it was the only handwriting I did not recognize.

In general, the questions on student evaluation forms are either shallow (instructor appears enthusiastic about the subject matter) or, like the example above, truly beyond the experience of the student to know (except perhaps for any students that are repeating a course).

Further, institutions often do something really useless like compute an institutional mean response to each item, which is then used for comparative purposes — not taking into account differences in the level of the course, the subject matter, etc.

There have to be better, more creative, more reflective, less threatening ways for students to evaluate instructors.

JB, at 5:00 pm EDT on April 30, 2008

Free speech and responsibility

Free speech does not mean the right to slander, libel or cause distress or damage to a reputation, career, or otherwise. The Professor is right to sue the students for their accusations which were meaninglessly hurtful and wrong. No student assessment of any professor that is accepted without the student’s name on it must be discarded, disregarded, and destroyed, as it has no merit. Unless a person is willing to put her or his name on any document that can be sited by others or read by others, that individual has no right to express his or her opinion—for anonymous writing is a disgrace and a disservice—and it means that the author is ashamed of her or his argument. Arkansas needs to give the professor back his classes, apologize to him for its wrongful handling of this situation, and support his efforts in litigating against the students.

Dr Arthur Ide, at 5:00 pm EDT on April 30, 2008

Evaluations — Embrace them and Improve your Class

I am not afraid of the evaluations my students fill out at the end of the semester. I encourage them to write in the space at the bottom (the generic bubbled questions are less meaningful to me). I use their comments to improve my class in future years. Sometimes you get the random rant, but for the most part I get kind and thoughtful feedback. Many of them use the option and provide their names rather than stay anonymous. Like it or not, those kids are your “customers” and if they are unhappy enough to write negative things about your teaching, perhaps you need to evaluate your teaching style.

Carol Dollard, at 5:15 pm EDT on April 30, 2008

Wondering [Part 2]

I often wonder, reading blog comments like Ira Socal’s, why people who dislike their colleagues and academic freedom with such intensity continue to spew their vitriol and disgust so vehemently?

And I’ll ponder why intellectual thugs continue to take pot-shots at anonymous commenters because they refuse to comprehend that their confident position and continued bullying that anonymity is wrong completely disregards the very real potential outcomes of academics signing their names [and losing their jobs]. “How exactly, is that teaching accountability?” he asked, in shameful, blatant ignorance.

Why not stop attacking my pseudonymity on a blog that has zero consequences for any individual [whether faculty member, student, administrator, or average citizen] and instead address the issues of abuse at-hand? Perhaps take a position of collegial support instead of continuing to parrot empty rhetoric of the immanent defensibility of always-innocent students who may or may not even care about what is said in the classroom, or who may not even care if they leave college better educated than before arrival. Have you not ever wondered that, perhaps, you are the one in the wrong profession? I hear student advocacy is quite lucrative!

Anon Y. Mous, Professor at U Near U, at 5:55 pm EDT on April 30, 2008

A Professor Sues His Students.

Student evaluations should be abolished and a more effective system set up in its place. I’m very much in favor of the Professor suing his students and I also think that litigation should be made against the slanderous “My Professor Sucks” site.

Ten years ago I was threatened verbally with physical violence in my office by a student in the pre-Columbine days who stated he was bringing a grievance against me. Despite the fact that two graduate students overheard the threats and were willing to testify on my behalf my then Chair and Undergraduate Advisor refused to support me stating that students win these cases anyway. Prior to that a student threatened me verbally in the corridor and the Associate Dean refused to intervene. Things have changed since then but administrators and Chairs are always looking for payback, especially against productive faculty.

A previous poster stated that students are customers, a statement I believe,tarnishes the whole nature of academic life. If they are customers then they should bear responsibility for their actions by facing the type of litigation that they would face in the outside world.

Viper, Professor, at 5:55 pm EDT on April 30, 2008

Students as Customers

I don’t think students are customers. I’ve heard it said that the future employers of the students, after we make the latter into college graduates, are the customers; the graduates that the university generates are product. But I don’t think that’s quite true either. Maybe ... no business model applies.

Maybe students are clients and professors are professionals.

Steve

Stephen Satris, at 7:50 pm EDT on April 30, 2008

Are We All Out of Our Minds

Suing students for doing what we are supposed to teach them to do in a liberal education? We must be out of our minds.

I may be out of step with most of the comments but so be it. Have we gone mad? Suing students? Have we sunk so low that we believe that our students have no rights to their judgments? The judgments that a liberal education is intended to help them exercise. Are faculty to be the only ones who can make asses of themselves with pontifications about administrators, the world, culture, religion, the government or any other topic that may have absolutely nothing to do with the topic of the class? Can’t students do likewise in their communication arenas?

Are our students so vile and stupid that we do not want them having a voice and independent thoughts? Unless those thoughts are ours or erupt in hosannas about our brilliance and professionalism – even when not there. Are the really incapable of judging us and evaluating our teaching? Do they not know the difference between s#$t and Shinola in the classroom? Are they really why some of us do not get tenure, promotions, awards?

I doubt it. Pogo had it right. We have met the enemy and they are us. Academia has become so self-absorbed that it actually believes its own press. We really do believe we are legends in our own minds. We can say anything we wish and believe we have impunity. Academic freedom is a one way street? Our students should bask in our glory and not question our authority and brilliance? We are simply too good for the students that we get in our classrooms and the college/university needs to get me better students which means students who are more like me and how I was when I was in college in the days when we were all brilliant. In your dreams. The job is to make the students we recruit better.

When I talk with students what I hear is that they are increasingly dissatisfied with the education we are providing. They are tired of classes in which the major subject matter is “my brilliance and your inability”. They are angered that we waste their time and money on our rants that have no place in the classroom. They are incensed that we spend time telling them how they are not smart enough to be college students and then refusing to help them learn. They are infuriated that they leave our classes no more enriched than when they came in and we think all they want is a good grade to keep them quiet. And they do not want to hear about how the administration is too cheap to pay them what they deserve when tuition has risen faster than their ability to pay it. And finally, they are enraged when a member of the academic community makes inappropriate and unfitting statements and wants to wrap him or herself in the flag of academic freedom but refuse the same rights of thought to them.

To go with Harry Truman “If you can’t stand the heat you create, get out of the classroom” before students sue YOU.

Neal, at 7:50 pm EDT on April 30, 2008

Should We Even Be Teaching Them?

I am deeply saddened by this thread of discussion. There is so much of the “us versus them” in it all. Students have been called stupid, lazy, disinterested, incapable of judging us, and so much more about how our students are more or less our enemies.

Here are a few sample: feckless students; student activist lunatics,

“…empty rhetoric of the immanent defensibility of always-innocent students who may or may not even care about what is said in the classroom, or who may not even care if they leave college better educated than before arrival” from Anon Y Mous who clearly has some negative attitudes about students he or she is supposed to teach.

“…near-rampant boorish behavior by students,” Russ, read http://academicmaps.blogspot.com/...-service-is-not-always-being-so.html. It might help you out.

….today’s student. They lack maturity and critical thinking skills to understand what is being conveyed in the classroom.” Or is it that we cannot communicate to them in a way they can learn from?

“Perhaps this suit will teach students the limits of free speech, something many of them do not seem to understand.”

“A student who had been to class a grand total of 4 times that semester responded with, “This guy has no idea what he’s talking about.” Perhaps it was self-referential? I don’t know. Oh, and I knew who it was because it was the only handwriting I did not recognize. “ JB does not trust his students to evaluate him or her so he violates their integrity and the promise of anonymity?

“Students do not have the maturity or perspective to evaluate a professor”

“…students can “behave” as they wish, “say” what they wish and never suffer any consequences”

Do we dislike students, degrade them, disdain their abilities so much that we feel it is appropriate to attack them, demean them, sue them. If that is what we have come to, we do not deserve the students we get. If one dislikes and distrusts students as much as some of the commentators, please leave the academy. There are hundreds of others who may actually care about and value students looking for a job. And students deserve better than some of those who wrote and those who didn’t but agree.

Neal Raisman, President at AcademicMAPS, at 7:50 pm EDT on April 30, 2008

Get real, please

Actually, for those of us on the front lines of teaching — and not in the rear, pontificating about the front line — we know that most students just want to get out ASAP with “the ticket” (diploma).

Then you get a handful of prima donnas who can’t do math, can’t write competently, or barely read coherently. But the PDs really enjoy complaining — even if it annoys most of their peers.

So: the majority of students despise the prima donnas. The PDs make classes go longer, take discussions to weird places, and generally consume valuable classroom time.

I don’t like litigation. I would not do what those instructors did.

But I understand where they coming from. And as someone who hires and refers professionals, IMO, basic standards of performance and conduct of new grads are so low today, it is appalling. Of course, administrators would say, “well, what can I do? — so nothing gets done.

Finally, I doubt a lot of posters here understand today’s classroom, given their obvious theoretical grip on reality.

Russ, at 10:15 pm EDT on April 30, 2008

What the %&^ is AcademicMAPS?

And thus the specter of slander appears, as yet another “student advocate” accuses professors of the hidden evils of his own heart.

Neal Raisman, stop painting students with the same glossy brush strokes you accuse the naysayers of doing! Some students are *awful.* Stop refusing to accept it.

You see, we who do disdain the awful students who enter our classrooms likewise adore those who do the following:

1-Actively engage in their own educations, in my classroom as well as yours.

2-Acknowledge that their [higher] education is a privilege and not a right, and that they get out of it what is put into it.

3-Provide me with the same respect I afford them, whether in the classroom, on the street, or over e-mail.

4-Work within accepted moral boundaries and avoid cheating, plagiarizing, and other fraudulent activities (including the ubiquitous dead grandmother).

Unlike RateMyProfessor or those fetid anonymous evaluations we all seem to be required to officiate at the end of the semester, WE HAVE NAMED NO INDIVIDUAL STUDENT anywhere in this discussion. There was no slander, there was no degradation, there was no dislike (except for laziness…physical and intellectual).

I’ve had lots of mollycoddling “instructors” just like you who made the classroom a bore. Everyone gets an A just for trying!

Well, your neglect of standards is also trying, and right now the only people I dislike are apologists who think they know best for everyone and simply seek to silence dissent because the opposition thinks you’re a nutter. Thank you for rescinding my academic freedom and freedom of expression.

You, sir [to use that epithet loosely], are why I have left the academy. You’re ruining it for the students who actually want to learn and for the professor who actually wants to teach students who want to learn.

Does it make you happy to feel so self-righteous even though the tide is turning against you?

Anon Y. Mous, at 5:05 am EDT on May 1, 2008

“The topic of race is one that so many want to pretend no longer exists and as such the capacity of White American to comprehend the residual of anger and resentment that continues to exist in Black American seems to be nearly impossible.”

This hits at the heart of the problem. How does a twenty something acquire a residual of anger and resentment? By being brain washed that he has any cause for such. The only racism that black Americas encounter in America today is white Americans feeling that blacks should be treated fairly and not given special privileges.

So of course Richard J. Peltz is a racist. He has doubts about the justice of denying a person a job or promotion simply because of his race or sex.

Walter Lewkowski, at 5:05 am EDT on May 1, 2008

The students can accuse the professor of racism and ask that he be removed from teaching courses. The professor can vigorously defend himself from the racism charge, accuse the students of Maoist Revolutionary Guard tactics, and demand that the university discipline them. None of this is unprecedented. It is sad and unpleasant, but nasty stuff like this happens sometimes.

Suing the students over opinions they expressed that are related to the operation of the university is BEYOND THE PALE !!! Seriously people. Let go of the “students are children” rhetoric. Just as a practical matter, don’t you realize the next step will be suing the professors when they say something somebody takes offense to??!

I eagerly await David Horowitz’s leap to defend the students’ right to free expression and to avoid having the controversial opinions of their professor imposed upon them.

Assistant Research Cynic, Enormous State University, at 5:05 am EDT on May 1, 2008

Point of order

” .. I eagerly await David Horowitz’s leap to defend the students’ right to free expression ..”

Actually, Mr. Horowitz asked that the paragon of “for the children” Ward Churchill not be fired for his beliefs. Rather, the question of the quality of academic productivity.

And Mr. Horowitz cooperated with Mr. Churchill (no PhD, he) to hold a very civil debate. Without lawsuits.

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/04/07/debate

Russ, at 6:40 am EDT on May 1, 2008

College Professor Suing Students

This is just another example where several acts that may be “close to the line” have resulted in litigation which cannot produce any winners. Perhaps the Professor should not have been so harsh in his criticism, but just as likely the students should not have published comments advising the Administration how to admonish the Professor! Finally, the professor may have sought more dligently other forms of remedy, such as negotiated retraction or at least softening of the harsh criticisms against him. Even if discovery leads to settlement, the damage has been done. Our society is more and more using the law to place constraints on behavior, and more and more the courts are upholding these cultural shifts. In a sense, this is what affirmative action regultion does (and there are many more — such as the those regarding the use of seat belts and red light cameras). Perhaps we are to blame, because we tend to test the limits of enforcement, and then to scream when we are observed misbehaving in public that our rights to privacy are being invaded. Perhaps the answer lies within ourselves; but alas I do not see us internally motivated to behave in a socially responsible manner. Having said that, I am prepared to hear more about courts getting involved in matters better resolved otherwise that should never have arisen in the first place.Though this may not be a landmark case, its outcome will be of interest and importance to all of us in Academia, and I appreciate having it brought to our attention.

William E. Heoerman, Instructor at Wharton County Junior College, at 8:05 am EDT on May 1, 2008

Sueing students

I wonder how long we will have to wait before faculty routinely sue students for giving them low evaluations as teachers and, as a result, damaging their careers?

Bruce Hoag, Dr., at 12:10 pm EDT on May 2, 2008

Serious question for the instructors here who are complaining about student evaluations. If professors truly feel the system of using student evaluations to judge professors is so deeply flawed, why are so many professors perfectly willing to use them to assess the performance of their TAs?

AformerTA, evaluations, at 1:40 pm EDT on May 2, 2008

My “Gay Agenda”

I have recently had students state on course evals that they “know that I am gay” and that I put forth a so called “gay agenda” in the classroom.

These comments have hurt me professionally. Although my supervisor assured me of having absolutely no problem with me being gay, I was told that these comments could hurt me. I was also told that other gay/lesbian faculty members do not have any problems because they keep their family life to themselves.

I hadn’t even told them I was gay, but really why shouldn’t I be able to? Don’t other faculty provide related examples from their lives, or have pictures of their family up in their office?

I teach sociology, and stratification based on sexual orientation must be discussed, just as that based on sex, race/ethnicity, disability, social class, etc. needs to be examined. However, by pointing out the facts about this type of inequality, I am putting forth a “gay agenda.”

What’s a lesbian teaching sociology in a conservative rural area to do?

Unknown, at 2:10 pm EDT on May 12, 2008

Anon Anon Y Mous

After coming back to see what other comments were left behind, I saw one left for me by Anon Y Mous who not only bullies, boasts and blatantly misrepresents himself. In a response to my comment, he complains about students in his classroom, says he teaches, complains about evaluations and all sorts of rants about what he has to go through. He also implies the same in a complaint from Prof. Socol who also wonders why we have to attach students so vehemently. But then , near the end of his rant, Not So Mighty Mous claims “You, sir [to use that epithet loosely], are why I have left the academy. You’re ruining it for the students who actually want to learn and for the professor who actually wants to teach students who want to learn.” Well, Mr. Maus, which is it? In or out? Truthful or not? Prof. Socol is right to disdain people who hide behind pseudonyms and use that shield to rant and perhaps make up reality as they rant along.C’mon folks. Have the testicular fortitude or ovum to sign your rants and be honest.

Neal Raisman, at 8:15 pm EDT on May 20, 2008

Met with My Lawyer Yesterday

And we’re suing the school, the administration, and, YES, the students. Stay tuned!

Der Yenem, At Large, former program director at The University of the Argrarian Gulag, at 8:40 am EDT on May 23, 2008

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