Dear Editor:

I have read the full statement that SIU issued concerning President Glenn Poshard’s request of the Educational Administration and Higher Education faculty. I write this response as an individual faculty member, not as a representative of the EAHE department. I feel compelled to do this, as the statement calls my professional integrity into question.

In a letter to the EAHE department chair dated Aug. 31, Poshard wrote, “I would ask that you compare my dissertation to the sources I cited and to advise me as to corrections necessary to make this dissertation consistent with the highest academic standards,” requesting “whatever changes are recommended by the department.” The department declined to do that.

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The statement from the administration concerning our response indicates that our department “declined to undertake an inquiry into the anonymous allegations of plagiarism alledged against SIU President Glenn Poshard.” That is not true. The EAHE faculty was not asked our professional assessment of whether or not President Poshard plagiarized._

Finally, the process should not be “unresolved.” The Graduate School handbook clearly outlines both policy and process for issues of academic misconduct after a degree is awarded. In my analysis of the policy, the granting department has no role in the process.

Patrick Dilly, Ph.D.

Associate professor of Higher Education and Qualitative Research