AU sociology courses pass test

[DKW 86 7,430]

http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/ind....xml&coll=1

AU sociology courses pass test

Thursday, August 10, 2006

By PHILLIP MARSHALL

Times Sports Staff pmarsh9485@msn.com

Probe finds nothing amiss with athletes in independent study

AUBURN - An investigation into allegations of academic misconduct involving students, a minority of whom were athletes, in directed-reading courses in two Auburn departments has found no wrongdoing by athletics department officials, coaches or academic advisers.

Auburn officials close to the investigation, which became public after accusations by sociology director James Gundlach in July, told The Huntsville Times that interim President Ed Richardson will say at a news conference today that interviews with professors and students have given no indication that athletes were improperly guided into the two programs.

Directed-reading courses, taken by a small percentage of Auburn students, require students to work independently and do not include regular class attendance. An insignificant percentage of the students in the two programs were athletes, the officials said.

The officials said Richardson is also expected to announce administrative changes in the two departments.

Provost John Heilman appointed a committee on June 5 to investigate complaints that students were getting credit despite doing little work in directed-reading courses taught by Thomas Petee, interim chairman of the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, Social Work, Criminology and Criminal Justice. The investigation later grew to include similar allegations in the adult education program that is part of Auburn's College of Education. James E. Witte is the program coordinator.

The investigation, the officials said, will be concluded by the end of the month.

"It's an academic issue," one of the officials said. "It is an isolated issue confined to two departments."

More than 60 faculty members and students, including more than 40 current or past student-athletes, have been interviewed in the investigation, the officials said.

Though the committee still wants to conduct more interviews, the officials said there is no indication that students - athletes or non-athletes - were given credit for courses in which no work was required.

According to Heilman, the investigation began after an anonymous complaint. Gundlach went public with his complaints against Petee in a story in The New York Times, pointing out that Petee taught more than 150 directed-study students at one time in 2004-2005.

In an earlier interview with The Huntsville Times, Gundlach said his motivation was to see Petee, who has been interim chair since 2002, removed.

"My agenda in this whole thing is Petee has proven himself unfit to be a department administrator," Gundlach said.

Petee, in an interview with The Auburn Villager, a fledgling weekly newspaper, said he was trying to help students but admitted it got "out of control."

Gundlach said he did not believe there had been any NCAA infractions, though he has since said he believed athletes were not getting proper academic advice.

Richardson, addressing the investigation publicly for the second time, is expected to discuss his plans for regulating directed-study courses. Auburn policy already calls for such courses to be taught with academic rigor similar to conventional courses, to include a syllabus and to be approved by a faculty curriculum committee.

[abrnfanatc 6]

Soooooo...

We should expect a story in the New Communist Times on Monday then?????

[WarTim 3,456]

Front page no doubt. Oh, and politicians are to begin telling the truth that day as well.

[Tiger in Spain 0]

Who do we petition to have our honor and credibility returned?

[abrnfanatc 6]

I believe his name is Kirk McNair.

[WAR-MATT 2]

Question to the guys on here from the Bammerham area. Did this make the front page of all the papers this morning? I bet it's tuck in the back along with the article on Simpson's punishment.

[AFTiger 282]

on the sports page above the fold on the right column.

[AFTiger 282]

In reading the news release on the athletic department being cleared of wrongdoing in the independent studies program, I am left with several questions:

1. Why would the New York Times be interested in an internal squabble in the Sociology Department at Auburn University? It is not a football story. It is not even a major academic story. Independent studies are offered on all campuses and in all disciplines of study. The academics standards of Prof Petee were certainly more rigorous than those of Prof Ward Churchill of Colorado or the moonbat at Wisconsin teaching a 911 conspiracy course or even the various sex and pornography courses in California and the Ivy Schools. Was the New York Times used by its subordinate paper in Tuscaloosa to create yet another problem for Auburn Football?

2. Is the number of independent studies courses a symptom of larger issues in education? I defer to DKW for more insight, but do the core requirements dictated by the agreement with two year colleges so restrict the flexibility of curriculums at four year schools to offer elective courses that independent studies are needed to keep the student on track?

3. Was the conversion from the quarter system to the semester system a good idea? In the quarter system classes were offered four times versus three times per year so that a course not available or full this quarter would most likely be available two more time in an academic year. The semester system does not seem to offer opportunities to catch up. In the conversion from quarter to semester, were three quarter units simply placed into three semesters and have we shortchanged our students by reducing the amount of instruction?

Auburn did not address the sudden demand placed on the Sociology Department by increased enrollment in a suitable manner and I will be curious to see how Auburn addresses that issue. I hope that the powers at Auburn step back and view this from a larger perspective than just one professor trying to do too much. I would also like to see a more vigorous defense of Auburn.

One other thought, I think the biggest loser in this is the profession of journalism. All of this was known to the writer but he chose to focus on an insignificant fact in the story and create a sensational headline without substance. It was no more than red meat tossed out for ill informed radio shows. I think this is at least a classic case of ambush journalism and at worst a deliberate smear on a good school with a high profile football program. I hope, but I have my doubts given past history, that it is not an attempt by a cross state rival to damage us through inappropriate means.

[tombigbeetiger 223]

I hope, but I have my doubts given past history, that it is not an attempt by a cross state rival to damage us through inappropriate means.

=====================================================================AFTIGER, you can stop hoping...the damnable bunch of terrorists at the crapstone are involved up to their rotten,stinking necks in this.....they did not start this mess but they ran with it to make sure it got nationwide attention....members of the DRAKE GROUP got the ball rolling,headed by gordon gee of little vandy u,but the bammerfarts in the media were responsible for the publicity part of the scam.....HEY FOOLS,IS THIS THE BEST YOU CAN DO?....history will prove that the bammerfarts are behind most of AU'S ncaa troubles,but it failed this time....these desperate redneck degenerates are terrified of the future of AU football and they will not stop with this last feeble attempt.....we must keep our noses clean and not get lax on anything....if we do that, the bammerfart "house of straw" will fall long before our brick one will

[TigerOne 1,148]

"One other thought, I think the biggest loser in this is the profession of journalism" aka P Finescum

[Proud Tiger 4,261]

It should be noted that Gundlach is openly saying his motivation in all this was to see Peete removed as head of the Sociology Dept. I hope Gundlach ultimately gets canned or sued

[WarTim 3,456]

Just to state a FACT.....Auburn is STILL the highest rated (academic) public institution in the Country.

(This story was intended to tarnish that FACT, but, failed miserably.)

THAT is what really rubs the rednecks the wrong way. THAT and the fact that we OWN 'em.

[autigeremt 6,651]

NYT=BamerNation.

What a joke! Of course, we knew that

[kingfish 73]

It should be noted that Gundlach is openly saying his motivation in all this was to see Peete removed as head of the Sociology Dept. I hope Gundlach ultimately gets canned or sued

I would like to see the AU administration / board implement procedures to guard against the likelihood of hiring more such dipstick professors like this one ... could his sorry aXX be related to Finebaum?

[SupperClub 0]

Just to state a FACT.....Auburn is STILL the highest rated (academic) public institution in the Country.

(This story was intended to tarnish that FACT, but, failed miserably.)

Good point, WarTim. Sometimes throughout all the we forget that FACT. That is something we should all be proud of.

[quietfan 233]

More Details:

http://www.al.com/birminghamnews/breaking/..._08.html#170880

Auburn forces two to resign after independent study probe

Two Auburn University department heads have been forced to resign their current roles because they provided too many directed-reading courses to students.

Thomas Petee, the chairman of the Sociology, Anthropology, Social Work and Criminology department, submitted his resignation today, and adult education coordinator James Witte was assigned to the College of Education Dean’s office. Both remain tenured professors.

Auburn Interim President Ed Richardson said the investigation is “clearly an academic issue,” and not an athletic concern. Auburn will send a final report within a couple weeks to the NCAA and the Southern Collegiate Association of Schools.

“I think (the investigation) goes to the very heart of Auburn’s existence,” Richardson said.

The professors, he said, used “poor judgment” but were not malicious in offering too many directed-reading courses.

Auburn reported that 18 percent of students who took directed readings under Petee’s and Witte’s departments were athletes and 7.5 percent were football players. Athletes represent about 2 percent of the entire student population.

Based on interviews with 63 faculty members and students, Richardson said he is confident athletes were not steered toward easy courses to remain eligible.

New guidelines for directed-reading courses have been established for the upcoming semester, which begins next week.

[vatz22au 142]

I hope Gundlach is happy... Petee seemed like a good guy who cared more for the student than most teachers. If you remember correctly, it was only a minority of athletes in Petee classes... 230+ were actual students.

[DKW 86 7,430]

This investigation went about like it should have gone. I feel sorry for Petee. I feel he was genuinely trying to make the sociology student crunch work temporrarily due the dept mergers. However, what he did greatly embarassed the university, the alumni, the students, and the AU Family.

[vatz22au 142]

However, what he did greatly embarassed the university, the alumni, the students, and the AU Family.

I'd replace Gundlach with that. He acted like some type of rat trying to get Petee out of the position he so desired. Refused to talk to the investigation, went to the NYT, had an agenda all along (in which he openly admitted to).

I think the only person who didn't act like an Auburn man here is Mr. G.

Petee was only asked to step down as a politic move. Simple as that.

[WeagleDMS 0]

Just to state a FACT.....Auburn is STILL the highest rated (academic) public institution in the Country.

(This story was intended to tarnish that FACT, but, failed miserably.)

THAT is what really rubs the rednecks the wrong way. THAT and the fact that we OWN 'em.

Umm no. Auburn is not the highest rated academic public institution in the country, unless you are referring to the APR scores. The APR scores would be irrelevant in this issue as this was a completely academic issue(not athletic). Auburn is the highest ranked institution in the state however per U.S. News and World Reports.