'Almost a year after a grading controversy was discovered, turmoil still plagues the department of sociology, anthropology, social work, criminology and criminal justice at Auburn University.

Administrators says strides have been made in a year, and they continue to investigate options to redeem the department. [It looks to UD as if administrators are trying to shut the department down. But Auburn's an ill-run, interim-personnel-riddled sort of place, and they're dithering. Maybe there's pressure from the sports guys who run the university for Auburn to find them a new honey before dumping the old one.]

Professors in the department think otherwise. A sinking ship can’t be saved, they say.

It all started last summer when Dr. Tom Petee was accused of issuing high grades to students in directed reading courses for little or no work. Petee, a tenured professor of criminology, stepped down as department head in August after an internal investigation found that he and adult education professor James Witte exercised poor judgment when it came to grades earned in those courses. Witte also stepped down as program chair of adult education. The university report claimed mistakes were made by both men due to lack of sufficient oversight and poor record-keeping.

Petee kept teaching until the fall semester ended, but then was suspended after a complaint was lodged alleging that in 2003 a student-athlete’s grade was changed from an "incomplete" to an "A" without the knowledge of sociology professor Paul Starr, the professor listed next to the grade. Starr said he had no knowledge of the student. Dr. Paula Bobrowski has been serving as acting chair of the department.

Petee has been participating in the university’s dismissal procedures since January. Per university policy, Auburn officials will not discuss personnel matters. Petee’s attorney Davis Whittelsey had no comment on the matter at this time.



AU Provost John Heilman appeared before department members April 11 with Associate Provost Sharon Gaber, College of Liberal Arts Dean Anna Gramberg and Associate Dean Constance Relihan. He would not disclose specific content, but said it was an opportunity "to talk with faculty about working with each other and working with the dean’s and provost’s offices on improving the department." Two professors say the interaction was brief and left them feeling uneasy. Other professors contacted by the Opelika-Auburn News declined the opportunity to talk over fear of retribution.

Sociology Professor James Gundlach, who blew the whistle on Petee, said Heilman came into the room, read a statement and left. There was no opportunity for response. Gundlach said it said was "one of the most juvenile things I’ve seen an upper level administrator do in a long time." By chastising the faculty for not working together or with administration to solve problems with department heads, directed reading courses and budget problems, he said Heilman was "out of touch" with what is really going on in the department. [It is a bit rich: Having pimped the department to university sports for years, the administration now decides it was all the faculty's fault... ]

"We all sat there stunned," said Mark Konty, an assistant professor of criminology and criminal justice. He got the feeling Heilman was trying to convince them to shut up and stop complaining. Heilman didn’t actually say those words, "but everybody in that room took it that way," Konty said. "Everybody in that room was scared and intimidated."

Heilman declined the opportunity to present his side.

Consequences

Konty has only been at Auburn for two years and does not have tenure. He was willing to speak to the newspaper because he thought his job in jeopardy anyway.

"I don’t want to be at place that would fire me for doing what I think is right," he said.

Konty received a letter of non-continuation Thursday. His employment is terminated effective May 15, 2008.

Based on Heilman’s statement, Konty said there are changes coming, like reassigning faculty to teach more undergraduate courses, which means no recruiting for next year’s graduate program. Also, the travel funds promised by Petee are no longer there. They were told a "bunch" of summer classes will be canceled, according to Konty, because there aren’t enough people to teach based on a formula administrators use to determine its economically feasible.



... In an April 5 letter from Gramberg to Heilman, she states she is "considering structural and curricular changes to the department" and requests ... an "immediate moratorium" on the sociology and criminology majors. Heilman hasn’t acted on her suggestion, but is reviewing it along with recommendations from other sources. [Heilman may be hesitating because of pressure from Athletics. Where are they going to dump their guys now?]

Inherent problems

Even though Petee has been gone from the office for several months, Gundlach says nothing has been done to fix the problems that led to this fallout. The department is still comprised of four disciplines, creating a hierarchy and an unequal distribution of funds. Gundlach says criminology was and still is the top dog. Petee is a criminology professor.

Heilman disagrees. Not only has Auburn implemented new campus-wide policies in the wake of the grading issue, but he said the in-depth review provided through the new Academic Program Review process would provide a basis for what steps should be implemented next.

Konty and Gundlach said Heilman encouraged cooperation between the disciplines, but every time they have worked together, both professors say they were stymied by the administration. With APR, for instance, Konty said each discipline was "forced" to work separately for a portion of it, but then were berated on April 11 for not working together. The new review system was piloted this year as a means of determining the quality and relevance of all AU programs.

"Every time we’ve worked together on something we think is important, they say no," Konty said.

Heilman says the April 11 meeting had nothing to do with APR.

"There’s a lot of people here who hate coming to work right now," Konty added.

Under review

APR was tested this school year in four departments, one being sociology, anthropology, social work, criminology and criminal justice. Each program underwent a self-study, site visit and an external review.

Heilman said the department took part in the pilot because he and Gramberg wanted a comprehensive review "to help the university better understand its strengths and needs." He admitted the controversy with Petee, as related to directed reading courses and grade changes, was a factor in the decision, but not the only one. They also found it necessary because the department is comprised of four distinct disciplines and has had much interim leadership in recent years.

The external review team agreed the multi-disciplinary department might not be the best idea. The department is "badly in need of additional resources," but until the university has a better hand on its weaknesses and strengths, they say it’s too early to decide whether "to invest substantial additional resources or to make major structural changes."

They recommended a complete review of departmental policies and procedures to be completed by May 15, a strategic plan to be finalized by Dec. 15, a review and revision of the department’s undergraduate curricula by May 15, 2008 and a review of the department’s overall progress by Feb. 1, 2010.

The administration has yet to decide whether to follow such recommendations, but the provost’s office is working on how to implement them.

Gundlach, who is retiring this year, doesn’t think he’ll be around to see any changes that will make the department what it once was. Although Konty is appealing his termination, he knows he won’t be around for it either.'