August 7, 2008

Alabama College Is Told to Reinstate Instructor Who Took His Own Courses

An instructor who was fired for enrolling in his own classes at Bishop State Community College, in Mobile, Ala., should be reinstated and given back pay, an arbitrator has ruled, according to a report in the Press Register, a local newspaper.

Henry Douglas, an instructor in Bishop State’s culinary department, was terminated by the college when a state audit revealed that he had enrolled in 10 courses that he himself was teaching, and was listed as taking six other courses at times when he was scheduled to teach. The Press Register reported in 2007 that he received six A grades and one B in seven courses.

Mr. Douglas argued that he had taken the courses at the behest of administrators at the college, who thought that his associate degree needed augmentation. The instructor and his lawyer contended that the courses were taken as independent-study courses, and that Mr. Douglas was not in fact teaching himself.

Herman Packer, the Bishop State employee who had supervised and advised Mr. Douglas, was also fired after the situation came to the attention of state officials. Mr. Packer was also reinstated earlier this summer in a separate arbitration procedure. He will serve a seven-day suspension.

James Odom Jr., the arbitrator in the case, decided that a reprimand issued to Mr. Douglas by the college was sufficient, and that taking any other action against the instructor was unfair. —Richard Byrne

Comments

1. You have got to be kidding me.

   — anon    Aug 7, 09:30 PM    #

2. No they are not kidding—nor, had they lit up…

   The above Chronicle Article is somewhat lacking in explanation.

   The arbitrator’s decision was based on established legal principle, i.e., “Double Jeopardy”

   Double Jeopardy — you can’t be tried/punished for the same crime twice, consider what would happen if someone just spent time in prison completing their sentence, and upon release was re-tried or punished for the same crime? Or, consider acquitted persons being charged again after being acquittal for the same crime again.

   The crime/wrongdoing had already been dealt with and “Punishment” had already taken place for the offence — in form of “reprimand letter” that had been placed in the employee’s file — Mr. Douglas can’t be punished again for the same crime for it runs afoul of the long established Double Jeopardy Principle.

   A secondary, but nonetheless important consideration was the fact Mr. Douglas was following the instructions issued by his supervisor and advisor Mr. Packer.

   Ethically the actions of Mr. Douglas & Mr. Packer are deplorable — and, even if the Arbitrator James Odom Jr., may have been personally appalled — yet, morally, he was bound to follow the law and had very little choice in the matter.

   — zahid    Aug 8, 06:49 AM    #

3. This is just ridiculous on so many levels. Not only does it appear fraudulent, but it seems utterly ridiculous that a college teacher doesn’t even have a B.A., and was seeking to get an associate’s degree in his own field. It seems perfectly proper to fire him, not as punishment, but due to lack of qualifications for the job. I’m opposed to academia’s obsession with the Ph.D., but this is absurdity in the other direction.

   — John K. Wilson    Aug 8, 07:28 AM    #

4. The critical questions are whether he passed and was he able to cope with the workload. I have serious doubts some of my colleagues could cope with doing their own courses.

   — Raymond J. RITCHIE    Aug 8, 08:11 AM    #

5. This is an application of “bootstrapping” I hadn’t seen before.

   No doubt if I were a really, really good teacher, I could learn a whole lot from myself, even though I’m a so-so student. Or even vice versa. . . .

   Good Lord.

   — Dan    Aug 8, 08:31 AM    #

6. A bigger questions is “how do you get a “B” in a course you are teaching?”

   — DJ    Aug 8, 08:57 AM    #

7. Another stellar example of the decline of American higher education. Standards? What standards? Then we wonder why our students and the public in general have no respect for us any more.

   — Bob A.    Aug 8, 08:58 AM    #

8. Wonder what grade he gave himself on ratemyprofessors?

   — Linda    Aug 8, 09:05 AM    #

9. This is an interesting way to boost enrollment.

   — Jones    Aug 8, 09:19 AM    #

10. DJ (#6), I too laughed that he got a B in a course that he taught himself. Obviously, he is not a competent teacher —he should have been fired for that. To bigin with, he should not have been hired because he does not have a college degree. Didn’t SACS object to it?

    — Sam    Aug 8, 09:20 AM    #

11. I have to disagree that double jeopardy, which is applicable in criminal actions prosecuted by state and federal bodies, is applicable. There may be some other estoppel involved — but its not DJ.

    His actions were appalling.

    — babylawyer    Aug 8, 10:08 AM    #

12. Zahid (#2) is correct that the arbitrator ruled as he did because Douglas previously received a reprimand for the offense. But also note that the administrator who issued the initial reprimand was subsequently fired by the system chancellor for poor management. She, in effect, insulated Douglas from subsequent, more appropriate, punishment. Finally, also note that Douglas was an instructor in the culinary program at Bishop State. My understanding is that this program no longer exists. So Bishop State now has now been forced to re-instate a faculty member without a degree to a program that no longer exists. All of this nonsense is the result of a powerful teacher’s union which protects the wicked and the incompetent.

    — DJ    Aug 8, 10:19 AM    #

13. I think the arbitrator must have learned about employment law in a course he/she taught in the culinary department. I see no reason why double jeopardy for a felony would apply to employment action. There are all sorts of things that apply in criminal proceedings that don’t apply to performance review (in part, because the worst an employer can do is fire you. In many states, the worst that can happen at the end of a felony trial is you get executed. Big range of worst case, big range of leeway with process.)

    BTW, having an unethical boss doesn’t insulate you from accountability. Didn’t Osama bin Laden’s driver learn that this week?

    — HIED doc    Aug 8, 10:37 AM    #

14. Although not exactly the same, there have been similar situations that seemed equally strange. I worked with a colleague who regularly taught educational psychology at our institution. When he decided to apply for certification as a school psychologist, he was told that he was fully qualified except for one small detail. He had never taken Educational Psychology and without that on his transcript, he could not be certified. It took a bit of manipulation, but he did receive credit from another institution by reason of passing a comprehensive test.

    — Dr. Bob    Aug 8, 11:41 AM    #

15. Re #13’s Statement/Contention:

    “There are all sorts of things that apply in criminal proceedings that don’t apply to performance review…”

    The reprimand Letter was not part of “Performance Review,” —- It was the “Punishment” meted out for the “Wrongdoing.”

    Re; Limitation of Double Jeopardy’s scope, consider the following:

    Suppose punishment for a minor offence like jaywalking or illegal possession of alcohol is given as 1 minute of community service —- now you can’t go back and re-punish the person, based on the fact that the original punishment was ridiculous and didn’t fit the crime.

    In broader terms consider all the cases where the punishment does not fit the crime —- and imagine if they were all to be re-tried.

    Simply put; the logic is that You can’t punish after you have already punished (Stretch this further how many times do you re-punish until the right-level of punishment is reached?)

    Re: Osama bin Laden’s driver case—-it is comparing apples to oranges. Normal laws don’t apply, special laws were written after the fact, special tribunals were created —- and, by the way he was still acquitted of all serious charges, —- the conviction on the most minor charge was given after the jury ascertained that he would be given credit for the time already spent in detention, —- meaning his time served will be over by years-end —- a face saving compromise given that the appeal process would take longer.

    Apropos, The wrongs actually started when the hiring was done—-and perpetuated itself as his bosses were a party to his actions.

    Now, here’s a thought—-who paid the tuition for the courses he took?

    If the tuition was paid for by the institution —- then; charge the whole bunch, with serious charges, such as:

    Conspirarcy to Defraud, Misuse of State Funds, Violation of Fiduciary Responsiblities, Etc.

    — zahid    Aug 8, 12:01 PM    #

16. Any union would be required to file an appeal to arbitration in a case like this. The union has has a legal duty to represent the employee. As is evidenced by the some of the comments above, an advanced degree doesn’t necessarily provide evidence of ability to manage or even a basic understanding of employment law. Blaming a union for bad management, instead of placing the blame on management, where it belongs is a cop-out of the highest order. Most institutions of higher learning make the mistake of assuming that an advanced degree is evidence that someone will be a good manager and fail to require that all managers have some training in basic personnel management. The decisions of the community college management are the only reason the community college now has an instructor for a program which no longer exists.
    —Union steward with an advanced degree.

    — Rolf    Aug 8, 12:02 PM    #

17. For all those debating the issue, what I stated in my earliest Comment #2 holds.

    Double Jeopardy is a Fifth Amendment Guarantee, enforceable against states through the Fourteenth Amendment.

    Constitutional protection is guaranteed against second prosecution for same offense after acquital or conviction.

    And, the Constitutional protection is also guaranteed under the above against multiple punishment for the same offense

    See: North Carolina vs. Pearce, 395 U.S. 711, 89 S.Ct. 2072, 23 L.Ed.2d 656.

    As I stated in my earlier Comment #2 —- He has already been punished. He can’t be repunished.

    For ease, I recommend that people look-up the meaning of Double Jeopardy in a Law Dictionary.

    — zahid    Aug 8, 12:52 PM    #

18. Almost every week the Chronicle publishes a piece about some nut case or weird job announcement (UND recently). Just today we heard of the man who accumulated 24 advanced degrees – many from the same school and in rather closely related areas.
    The best that can be determined is that he applied all this accumulated scholarly knowledge to writing hundreds of parking tickets and working as a campus rent-a-cop.
    Let the fun and games continue. David Horowitz gets off on this sort of stuff.

    — AW    Aug 8, 01:14 PM    #

19. I now am almost embarrassed to say I used to work for one the major Universities in the state of Alabama. On the other hand, I haven’t laughed this hard in days at this story and comments. Thanks for brightening my Friday.

    — Scott    Aug 8, 01:20 PM    #

20. This guy has to be crazy as a loon.

    — Savage Detective    Aug 8, 01:52 PM    #

21. An assoicates degree is inb fact the common degree for someone practicing in the culinary field. I don’t find it unusual for a community college to hire someone with “practice credentials” in their prpfession to teach classes. What was wrong was the instructor’s supervisor advising him to engage in this sham. Why should the instructor be penalized for teaching what he knows and following his supervisors instructions?

    — BJA    Aug 8, 02:29 PM    #

22. As I recall the original story, Mr. Packer could not produce his Associates Degree – his school was out of business or destroyed — so he needed to get another. Bottom line is that he was not qualified to teach his classes and, dare I say it, give himself a grade. Yikes!

    This situation was only one of the disgraceful occurrences going on at Bishop State; 26 individuals have been arrested and some going to jail; They have a convicted felon another genius arbitrator made the State return to work; Mr. Packer and all administrators and credential reviewers in his chain needed to be fired. The notion of double jeopardy expressed above is exactly the reason schools are in deep trouble.

    The saddest part is that the “fabulous” Alabama Education Association, is killing all the schools by forcing these imbeciles back on the school systems. Unions and tenure have killed the education system and stuffed it with too many do-nothings that put in little effort.

    We are not leaving students behind but rather generations of students. We are in trouble!

    — Steve    Aug 8, 02:31 PM    #

23. Steve #22:

    I am sure the State has other tools to prosecute—-Whilst I brought up the Double Jeopardy in my Comments #2, 15, & 17 —- I also presented a thought in Comment #15.

    Repeating the same:

    Now, here’s a thought—-who paid the tuition for the courses he took?

    If the tuition was paid for by the institution —- then; charge the whole bunch, with serious charges, such as:

    Conspirarcy to Defraud, Misuse of State Funds, Violation of Fiduciary Responsiblities, Etc.

    What I am trying to point out is to avoid the Double Jeopardy Trap—the charges should be “New Ones”

    The State should prosecute “Not” On “Employment Issues,” but On “Conspiracy,” “Fraud,” “Racketeering,” Etc.—-Claiming harm owing to loss of taxpayer dollars.

    if what you claim about Alabama is true (for I don’t even an iota’s worth of knowledge about the same), then I am positive that “Creative Prosecutors” can come up quite a few charges.

    My suggestion is to avoid “Employment Related” “Binding Arbitration” Charges—-And Go For The Felony One’s Tied To the $$$s.

    — zahid    Aug 8, 04:12 PM    #

24. I want my tax payer money back. I am sure he got PELL grants and money as a student. So he actually got paid twice. I want my money back!!!!!!!!

    — juliette    Aug 8, 04:35 PM    #

25. Community colleges are infamous for profesors without degrees and incompetence among administrators that are ill prepared for their jobs.

    Fake degrees, no degrees and grades for sale are actually quite common. So too are fake enrollments, fictitious enrollments and professors signing their families up to make the minimal enrollment for the course to be offered.

    Degrees are often structured such that an extra course can get you a second, third or fourth degree for different variations of the same program.

    Sadly, the level of professionalism and higher education expectations are frequenrtly missing from the two-year colleges in general and the career, for-profit, types specifically. This is an accident waiting to happen. Double jeopardy probably never applied here because it was not a legal or court situation. It’s just a sad case of the state of affairs in a badly run college in a badly run state. Accreditation would have absolutely NO impact on the standards that apply; there are NONE!

    — Bob S.    Aug 9, 01:21 AM    #

26. For Bob S #26:

    The first sentence in the last para of the above article states:

    “James Odom Jr., the arbitrator in the case, decided …”

    Arbitration is always a legal procedure —- it must follow the law, and the Arbitrators belong to the legal profession.

    Additionally “Binding Arbitration” takes away from “Both Parties” the “Legal “Right” to “Appeal” “Any Decision” made by the “Arbitrator(s).”

    Everyone should be aware of the above before signing any document that makes them agree to Arbitration or Binding Arbitration.

    — zahid    Aug 9, 06:53 AM    #

27. Added Note to my comment above On Arbitration.

    Agreements to Arbitrate have been declared to be valid and fully enforceable by statute Title 9 U.S.C.A. f2 [United States Code Annotated].

    Additionally, I am not sure but Alabama might be one of those States having “Compulsory Arbitration” [Consent of one of the parties is enforced by statutory provisions] —- Several states have “Compulsory Arbitration”

    Furthermore nearly all states have adopted the Uniform Arbitration Act.

    Fed.R. Civil P. 8© —- an affirmative defense to the effect that the subject matter has been settled by a prior arbitration.

    — zahid    Aug 9, 10:11 AM    #

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