A former University of Iowa law professor faces the possible suspension of his license for altering students' evaluations of his classroom performance.
Kenneth Kress, 55, of Iowa City, a nationally recognized expert on mental health law, was a professor in the U of I College of Law from 1989 until last summer, when he resigned.
The Grievance Commission of the Iowa Supreme Court is recommending that the court suspend Kress' law license for at least one year because of a 2004 incident involving surveys in which students scored his effectiveness as a professor.
At the time, the university's policy said teachers were not to examine the students' surveys until after their final grades were awarded and the dean reviewed the students' comments. The survey results were one factor in setting the salaries of professors and in determining which professors were appointed to endowed chairs.
In April 2004, Kress allegedly distributed a questionnaire to 10 students in a class dealing with mental health law. He then replaced three of the completed surveys with three that he had filled out. He changed some of ratings on two other surveys from "average" to "outstanding."
Grievance commission records said the changes raised Kress' composite score, on a 5.0 scale, from 2.86 to 4.86.
After U of I officials investigated the matter, Kress initially tried to shift suspicion to others. He ultimately resigned from the law school and, according to state records, he entered into a "confidential settlement agreement" with the university.
[This is already quite a good story. Keep reading. It gets better.]
State payroll records show Kress was paid $250,000 last year - more than double the salary he was paid in 2005.
One of Kress' former students, Jody Harris, testified in November before the grievance commission. She said that when Kress handed out the surveys in 2004, he told the class that his job was "on the line." She said Kress told the students other faculty members were trying to force him out and were intimidated by him because he was so much smarter.
... According to the grievance commission records, Kress, who has bipolar disorder, ultimately admitted changing the students' evaluations of his performance and blamed his conduct on physical and mental illnesses.
At the time of the incident, he was taking three mood stabilizers, two stimulants and a medication to help him sleep.
One doctor who testified before the commission attributed Kress' actions to delirium and delusions. Another doctor disagreed, citing Kress' "fragile ego" and an inability to tolerate negative reviews of any kind.
[Delerium, delusions, fragile ego, inability to tolerate criticism, Anna Nicole Smith's pill protocol, document tampering ... The road to riches at the University of Iowa.]
In recommending a one-year license suspension, the commission said that while Kress was a dedicated law professor devoted to teaching, his demeanor "was that of a person who believed he was above the law until he was caught."...