Compliance with Applicable University
Policies, Procedures and Other Forms of Guidance
We will learn and abide by University andcampus policies and procedures that affect our campus roles
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This means that each member of the campus community
- Complies with professional standards applicable to his/her position
Perspective: A Real World Illustration
An January 2005 Modesto Bee (California) newspaper article reported on a sociology and criminal justice professor from a public university located in California who oversaw a tainted survey that factored into a highly publicized double-murder trial being moved to another county. A university investigative committee concluded the professor committed academic and scientific misconduct.
The committee recommended that he be suspended for a semester without pay, demoted to associate professor from full professor, and placed on probation for three years.
The three-member investigation committee, made up of three professors, one from another university, also found that the professor violated a university policy that requires research proposals that use people to be submitted to an Institutional Review Board for approval. The process is in place to protect people involved in the research.
The professor also failed to exercise appropriate professional judgment in designing and conducting the survey, and he "seriously deviated from the professional standards and accepted practices of the relevant research community."
The report also mentions that the professor had good reason to believe that some data was fabricated before testifying at the change-of-venue hearing.
His failure to disclose data limitations is "extremely serious," the report continues, "particularly given his intention that this data be used in a highly publicized capital murder trial."
Several students said that they fabricated results for the survey, which a county superior court judge used in part in deciding to move the trial to another county.
The students claimed they used bogus responses because of deadline pressure to complete the survey, on which they received a grade. Ultimately, 31 of the 58 students were cleared, and 26 were charged and disciplined. One case is unresolved.
Last Revised 5/23/2006