CKP to Jeanette Altarriba, October 18, 2011, 10:25 AM:
"[Michael W. Barberich's] behavior makes me uncomfortable about the idea of meeting with him without a witness"
Jeanette Altarriba to CKP, November 9, 2011 3:55 PM:
"Do not consider that you have become any kind of 'target' [for retaliation] as some have suggested, that's simply not the case."
CKP to Clarence K. McNeill, December 6, 2011 10:55 AM, concerning my having reported Michael W. Barberich's offensive academic dishonesty, sexual harassment, and retaliation:
I originally used to sit in the front row of class as is my usual practice in any class, but I'd early on moved several rows back to be further away from him! [...]
"I have not ever wanted to be in his class at all because of his behavior and as I've explained to Dr. Altarriba since early October, *I* have feared for *my* personal safety from *him* since early October, and my mother, other family, friends, etc. have been concerned about my being protected from his retaliation against me for reporting his sexual harassment, faculty ethics violations, etc. I have not wanted to question him in class (and have only done so three times over the course of the semester), but have been fighting my extreme anxiety about him and my desire to leave the class (as I had in fact dropped it back in 2009) because of a real necessity that legitimate disagreements with the professor be raised about problematic issues, as I believe to be every student's right under the Code of Conduct and the strong presumption in favor of freedom of expression and academic freedom.
"That anxiety about meeting with him alone because of his behavior was why Dr. Altarriba was willing to schedule a meeting [...] to go over the iClicker quizzes and the exams in her office in her presence, which otherwise would be unusual and unnecessary. Usually going over exams in an office at all is unnecessary, because in my experience most professors either hand them back or go over them in class. I'd explained I was not at all comfortable meeting with him alone without anybody else there as a witness to his behavior and speech."
Michael W. Barberich to Jeanette Altarriba, December 2, 2011 4:34 PM:
"Christopher Philippo has continued to pose problems in [the class]. Most recently Christopher has sent two inappropriate messages to all students in the course through Blackboard. I decided it was best to remove his access to the course Blackboard page and did so shortly before 3 p.m. [...]
"I am attaching the messages here. The second message is of particular concern because he involves not only me but you.
"Christopher presented some of the issues he mentions in these message [sic] in class on Thursday, December 1. He has is [sic] openly challenging my role as an instructor and the management of his concerns, which have been addressed or are baseless. This development troubles me and I believe will raise concern for other students in the class.
"I do not believe it is appropriate for Christopher to continue as a student in this course. I am also concerned that these behaviors are not only disruptive but threatening. I actually feel, regardless of whether or not Christopher continues in the course, that a security presence at the remaining class meeting and exam is warranted.
I hope that we may discuss this matter and determine a course of action.
My concerns had not been addressed, and they were not baseless. The December 1, 2011 class to which Barberich refers included this exchange, posted here previously:
the last of the only three times I dared raise my hand in that class, when the conversation with the Barberich went something like this:
Me: The diagram on the last slide [which had a font which was small and very hard to read] isn't in the textbook. Is it from the work of the theorist Ting-Toomey [Professor of Human Communication Studies at California State University, Fullerton] the slide was about?
Barberich: No, it's based on her work.
Me: Oh. It didn't cite a source, so did you create the diagram?
Barberich: No.
Me: Well, who made the diagram then?
Barberich: That's a good question.
Me: This is a class that fulfills the general education requirement for information literacy, right? [It's supposed to teach students to "learn to evaluate the quality of information, to use information ethically and professionally" and to be a resource "for students needing additional orientation to academic integrity"to help them avoid plagiarism.]
Barberich: Yes, it is a class that fulfills the general education requirement for information literacy.
Me: Oh. Well, you should know who created the diagram, right? Because you created the lecture...? You didn't say one of your TAs wrote it. [I suspected one of them might have, or that he'd blame them.]
Barberich: No, actually my TA [X] wrote it. [The TA was present, but evidently did not have the information as to where he'd...appropriated?...the diagram.]
Me: Oh. Well, that would have been good to acknowledge at the beginning of the lecture, wouldn't it have been?
Barberich: Yes.
I dropped the line of questioning at that point. Barberich had admitted (though it had been like pulling teeth with him) to personally committing academic dishonesty, and that his TA had committed academic dishonesty as well with his full knowledge, in front of over 100 undergraduate students (mostly teenaged freshmen and sophomores who may not have fully understood the significance of the exchange, if they were paying attention at all).
Evidently Michael W. Barberich feels entitled not only to engage in academic dishonesty, sexual harassment, and retaliation, but he feels entitled to never be reported for his academic dishonesty, sexual harassment, and retaliation, and that the department chair, campus police, etc. are obliged to assist him in retaliating so that he may continue to engage in academic dishonesty, sexual harassment, and retaliation.
Why did Jeanette Altarriba force me to remain in Barberich's class as a condition of receiving my degree and graduating when I'd requested academic accommodation that would permit me to drop it starting in October? Why did she encourage me to keep reporting Barberich's academic dishonesty and sexual harassment when she evidently had no intention of forcing Barberich to stop engaging in academic dishonesty and sexual harassment, despite her claim that she had "addressed" things? Why did Barberich keep engaging in academic dishonesty and sexual harassment when he knew I would report him for it, as UAlbany encourages and even obligates students to do? (Presumably because he knew the chair and the administration would do his bidding so that he could continue to engage in academic dishonesty and sexual harassment as much as it personally gratified him to do, no matter how much harm he did?
Policy for Freedom of Expression
"The University reaffirms its commitment to the principle that the widest possible scope for freedom of expression is the foundation of an institution dedicated to vigorous inquiry, robust debate, and the continuous search for a proper balance between freedom and order. The University seeks to foster an environment in which persons who are on its campus legitimately may express their views as widely and as passionately as possible; at the same time, the University pledges to provide the greatest protection available for controversial, unpopular, dissident, or minority opinions. The University believes that censorship is always suspect, that intimidation is always repugnant, and that attempts to discourage constitutionally protected expression may be antithetical to the University’s essential missions: to discover new knowledge and to educate."
http://www.albany.edu/undergraduate_bulletin/regulations.html
Women's Studies chair Janelle Hobson to CKP, July 15, 2012 1:23 PM:
"If there is a lesson learned: know that, next time, when a professor behaves badly, confront that instructor in class head on"
I had heeded that advice even before she gave it to me. I confronted Michael W. Barberich in class about his academic dishonesty as the university obliged me to do, and he grudgingly admitted to his own academic dishonesty (presenting his teaching assistant's work as his own) and the academic dishonesty of his teaching assistant (making use of something for lecture materials without crediting the author or even knowing where he got it). Look where it got me!
From an old post here:
"Professor Lawrence Snyder, Chair of the Committee on Academic Freedom, Freedom of Expresion, and Community Responsibility (CAFFEECoR) discussed a proposed student academic bill of rights, which will be presented to the Senate Executive Committee. […] Professor Snyder mentioned the possible creation of a website where students may state faculty grievances. […] Another student concern was when students take ADD/ADHD drugs to stay focused on exams. It is especially upsetting for students when the drugs are not prescribed to a particular student who purchases them for the sole purpose of helping them concentrate while studying. Students believe those students have an unfair advantage. According to students, plagiarism and other forms of student cheating is not handled in the same manner for all students resulting in unequal student treatment. The committee concluded it was important to have a location where students may discuss their grievances privately without fear of faculty retribution. [bold emphasis added]"Professor Snyder mentioned the website entitled ratemyprofessor.com where students are able to post faculty names and comments. He mentioned an example where a student that posted negative comments never approached the faculty member to discuss the matter. Such comments place the University in a poor light and is worsened by the fact that the entire world can access the website."
"Committee on Academic Freedom, Freedom of Expression, and Community Responsibility." Undergraduate Academic Council. December 17, 2005. http://www.albany.edu/senate/images/12-19-05_UAC_minutes.doc
SUNY Albany's Undergraduate Academic Council recognized that some professors retaliate against students who have grievances. There'd been the thought that it would be better for problems to be solved than for complaints to be posted in view of "the entire world" (really just a segment of English speakers with Internet access). They didn't issue ratemyprofessor.com a "cease and desist" however (AFAIK), yet they didn't create the Undergraduate Ombuds office either.
Are student complaints always so unimportant to SUNY Albany administrators? Does the administration find it acceptable to employ faculty who retaliate against students with grievances [or who reported sexual harassment and retaliation for having reported sexual harassment]? Professor Snyder alleged that a student had "never" approached a professor about a problem, but he presumably only had the professor's word for that; regardless, it could easily have been a student fearing retaliation.
Also from the UAC Minutes document:
"Faculty must provide students with a course syllabus. Some students are hesitant to confront a faculty member about a required syllabus, or other issues, due to possible faculty reprisal. This is the reason the ombudsperson needs to work in an office that is independent and where students’ anonymity is protected" (bold emphasis added).
Some UAlbany faculty are evidently so deranged that they would retaliate against a student for reporting that the professor had not provided students with a course syllabus as professors are required to do. UAlbany administrators are, at any rate, aware that some students are afraid that there are professors who are so deranged as that - and UAlbany has chosen not to address that problem.
UAlbany, in retaliating against me, coordinated their retaliation to such an extent that my department advisor, independent study advisor, chair, the Disability Resource Center, the Counseling Center, the Dean, the Vice Provost, the President's office were all involved to varying degrees. Students have few, if any, friends at UAlbany. UAlbany administrators were digging for dirt on me in my student file, looking into other universities I'd attended, Disability Resource Center records - while doing nothing about the academic dishonesty, sexual harassment, and retaliation I'd reported all semester long other than to keep retaliating against me for reporting it all.
By not creating the Undergraduate (pseudo-)Ombuds office, UAlbany arguably signaled how concerned they are about students' fear of faculty retribution: that students' fears of faculty retribution don't matter, that faculty retribution against students may continue, and students should be left to report faculty's violations of policy or law online instead. If they wanted students to stop reporting professors' failings or crimes online, they would have at the very least created a real Undergraduate Ombuds office. I hope someday that office is created.
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