A philosophy professor at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville who has publicly voiced concern about the plagiarism charges leveled against the university’s president, Glenn Poshard, and the Board of Trustees’ handling of the matter is asking faculty members to sign a petition that could further embarrass Mr. Poshard.

The professor, Robert Bruce Ware, began distributing today a petition demanding that Mr. Poshard resign or that a panel unaffiliated with the university investigate the plagiarism accusations. He is circulating the petition on a faculty e-mail list. He says that after a few days of collecting signatures, he will try to publish the petition in various newspapers.

Mr. Ware has criticized university officials for allowing a group of faculty members on the Carbondale campus to look into the plagiarism allegations. He says the panel cannot be impartial because Mr. Poshard has some authority over them. —Andrea L. Foster