Faculty head report details Whitlock case

Faculty Senate Chairperson Da - vid Hildebrand issued a report this week detailing the events surround - ing the plagiarism case of Veterin - ary School Associate Professor & Robert Whitlock. In this week's Almanac, Hilde - brand goes through the five-year chronology of the Whitlock case & from the professor's first contact with Allen Roussel -- the Texas A&M; Vet School professor whose work he copied -- to his demotion to the rank of associate professor in May 1992 by the University Board of Trustees. Hildebrand based his release on the confidential reports of the Vet School's Committee on Academic Freedom and Responsibility and & Group for Complaint. He said he checked his facts by sending drafts of the chronology to "essentially everybody that was of - ficially involved" in the case. "People were good about saying, 'Hey, that didn't happen quite that way.' But as follows, they helped make changes to clarify things," & Hildebrand said. In his report, Hildebrand also & commented on the problems in the just-cause procedure, the guide - lines the University uses to remove a faculty member. "Part of the problem was not fol - lowing the set procedure, and part of that problem is that the estab - lished procedure is so hard to figure out," he says. Hildebrand added that the Vet School Committee on Academic & Freedom and Responsibility's & forming a subcommittee to investi - gate the Whitlock case in spring 1988 was "one of the major proce - dural errors." In his recommendations, Hilde - brand recommended simplifying & the procedure's langauge and exer - cising caution in modifications. "I think most people agree that the procedure in this case was & clumsy at best, but that's just in this case and I don't want people to leap to the conclusion that, therefore, the current procedure was hope - less," he said. Whitlock was found to have pla - giarized a journal article on chronic diarrhea in cattle which was pub - lished in the February 1987 Irish Veterinary Journal. He was de - moted, but received no reduction in salary and was not fired. His case was the first time a just- cause procedure was used to its end. In addition, Whitlock's demotion was the first time a University pro - fessor received that punishment. Vet School Professor Donald & Knight, chairperson of the Vet & School's Group for Complaint & which brought the charges against Whitlock, said yesterday that Hilde - brand's report was "accurate and I think it was helpful for people to understand what happened." "I thought Dr. Hildebrand's & analysis was quite objective, and I agreed with it," he added. Some members of the Task Force on Just Cause and Other Personnel Procedures, a group of administra - tors and faculty who are drafting a revision to the just cause proce - dure, also said that they were & pleased that the details of the case had been made public. "I think this is very important information for the University com - munity to be made aware of," Vice Provost for Graduate Education Ja - nice Madden said yesterday. Morris Mendelson, president of the University chapter of the & American Association of University Professors, said that even though "complete confidentiality" was in & order during the investigation, the Univertsity know has a "right to know" the facts of the case. Hildebrand said yesterday that & he does not want to "second guess" the decisions of the people involved in the case. "At this stage, its time to think about how can we fix things so if and when these cases come up in the future we don't get so bogged down," he said.

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