March 21, 2008

2 Professors Tread on Shaky Ethical Ground After Purchasing Tract of Land

The University of Texas at San Antonio has suspended two tenured civil-engineering professors without pay, and is considering their termination, after the faculty members bought a piece of land that was the subject of recent surveys by their students.

An ethics investigation found that the professors, Chia Shun (Rocky) Shih and Alberto Arroyo, had violated the university’s ethics policy, according to the San Antonio Express-News, a local newspaper. The university has begun a process, which will involve a faculty committee, to determine whether to fire the professors on ethical grounds.

Mr. Shih and Mr. Arroyo were members of a group of investors who purchased a piece of property off a scenic road near the city of Helotes, Tex., in September. Earlier last summer, students in Mr. Shih’s class had presented the findings of a semester-long project that included studies of the same parcel of land.

A university spokesman told the local newspaper that the real-estate deal and the suspensions were related.

The two professors have denied that their students conducted site studies of the land, but those denials contradicted accounts from e-mail records and from students who spoke with the local paper. Other students have signed a petition in support of the two professors. —John Gravois

Comments

1. Perhaps because my discipline is English, I really don’t understand the ethical problem here. Of course, as in so many similar cases (i.e. Bill Clinton and, I think, Martha Stewart), it may not be the deed itself but the denial of the deed that is the problem.

   — Bunny Clemes    Mar 21, 04:26 PM    #

2. The person commenting here is correct that the author of this story, John Gravois, has done a very poor job of explaining what happened. For instance, Gravois writes that the professors are supposed to have violated an ethics policy. What is that ethics policy, and what did they do to violate it? (Having the students do work for you, instead of paying people to do it? e.g., it would be ethically wrong for me to get my students to paint my house, as a class project?) Also, Gravois fails to tell us whether the student petition says that they didn’t do what they are accused of doing, or that, although they did do what they are accused of doing, there is nothing wrong with it, or that, even if they did technically exploit the students, they should not be fired because of it.

   — Jem, Ph.D.    Mar 21, 04:51 PM    #

3. Bunny, You don’t see a problem with having your students do the research for you so that you can make an investment and probably gain financially?

   If others can’t see the problem I think we are in big trouble.

   — gl    Mar 21, 04:51 PM    #

4. It seems clear to me. The students efforts should not be directed towards personal gain. I have seen similar situations where Property Management professors assigned students projects involving their own properties. Sometimes there is a cultural divide that must be overcome through ethics training, as this type of thing may not necessarily viewed as a problem in some cultures.

   — John    Mar 21, 04:52 PM    #

5. Yes John,
   I recall a few years back when a faculty member from another country argued that the sexual harrassment he commited was a cultural misunderstanding.

   — gl    Mar 21, 05:43 PM    #

6. To clarify, I am not advocating culture as an excuse. I am advocating training so that they can’t use it as an excuse.

   — John    Mar 21, 05:53 PM    #

7. Like many ethical disputes, this one may well have shades of gray. At the time of the student work, the property apparently was under contract for sale to the City of Helotes, which subsequently let the contract lapse. The question is whether or not the profs had the students do the work to determine the investment potential, anticipating the City’s bail out. I don’t think an ethical judgment can be fairly made until investigation determines that one way or the other.

   — CW    Mar 21, 06:15 PM    #

8. Personally profiting from students work is a clear ethical violation.

   As was previously cited, getting your students to paint your house as a class project removes any educational value and component. The ‘teaching moment’ is lost, as you are personally benefitting from their work.

   To continue with this example (as it is excellent), if we want to teach them how to paint a house, how about painting a house built by Habitat for Humanity (or some other charitable endeavor)? That way, everyone benefits.

   — CM63, DMA    Mar 22, 03:34 PM    #

9. They UT System is notorious for subjective enforcement of policy as demonstrated by this story http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/03/22/0322utporn.html

   — Brent    Mar 22, 04:09 PM    #

10. That the profs first denied that their students surveyed this land, only to be contradicted by written records, suggests that they were willfully violating clear ethics rules.

    — Marc    Mar 22, 04:13 PM    #

11. You can’t profit from your students’ work? Enforcing this rule consistently would mean firing the majority of the most prominent researchers in many fields.

    — Fred    Mar 22, 11:50 PM    #

12. And what about assigning as required reading one’s own books? Different? If so, how?

    — Gustave    Mar 23, 09:41 AM    #

13. I’m glad we have a constitution and due process. Let the investigation proceed and comes to its conclusion, then you can practice being holier than thou.

    — walter    Mar 23, 11:05 AM    #

14. I think the ethics issue here is whether the investors benefitted from the student projects. If the land had already been professionally surveyed and purchased, this is little more than a student project benefits the students only —- No problem in this case.

    My threads on cheating are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Plagiarism.htm

    — Robert E. Jensen    Mar 24, 09:24 AM    #

15. A conflict of interest doesn’t necessarily exist when a person profits from the work of their students. A conflict of interest exists if a person profits from the work of their students and didn’t disclose that fact prior to the beginning of the work. The two earlier examples of the professor assigning a book written by the professor and the “profiting” from the work of research assistants illustrate this point.

    — Ray    Mar 24, 10:33 AM    #

16. It appears from several comments that there is great confusion about the ethical issues involved with this case and more specifically the issue of conflict of interest. A critical initial step in ethical analysis is gathering relevant information. The brief Chronicle article is insufficient to render an opinion as to whether Professors Shih and Arroyo acted unethically.

    Cultural differences not withstanding, evey university in the U.S., including U. of Texas has conflict of interest policies, disclosure statements and compliance training programs. Some probably better than others.

    If our respective institutions do not provide the appropriate ethics training that stipulates the institution’s expectations for faculty ethical behavior, then does it not fall upon the profession to set ethical standards for members of the profession?

    — Health Care Ethics Professor    Mar 24, 12:47 PM    #

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