According to the Chronicle of Higher Education,
The president of the University of Southern Mississippi on Friday suspended with pay two tenured professors and began procedures to terminate their employment.
Francis D. Glamser, a professor of sociology, and Gary A. Stringer, a professor of English, learned of the decision Friday morning at separate meetings with the president, Shelby F. Thames. The professors were locked out of their offices on the same day.
“It is regrettable that the actions of Dr. Francis Glamser and Dr. Gary Stringer have forced the university to take these measures,” a university news release said. However, the university did not say what the professors had done and would not comment on the reasons for the suspensions.
Mr. Glamser, president of the campus chapter of the American Association of University Professors, said in a telephone interview that he and Mr. Stringer had been suspended because of their involvement with the AAUP’s investigation of the academic credentials of a senior administrator.
In December, according to Mr. Glamser, he received an anonymous packet of information alleging that Angeline Godwin Dvorak, the vice president for research and economic development, had misrepresented herself on various documents as having been a tenured associate professor of English at the University of Kentucky. Ms. Dvorak has denied falsifying her credentials.
Mr. Glamser said he had notified Mr. Thames of the allegations but never received a response. In January, the AAUP created a committee to investigate the charges. Because of his background in English, Mr. Stringer was asked to head the committee.
Mr. Glamser said that he and Mr. Stringer had been accused of “defamation and misuse of university facilities” in connection with the AAUP investigation. “For example, if we made a phone call about that issue, it would be considered a misuse of the phone,” he said. “Or if we sent an e-mail about that issue using our computer, it would probably be construed as a misuse of the computer.” . . .
It’s hard to evaluate this fully without more detailed information on what exactly the University thinks the professors did wrong. But on its face, it seems like an extaordinarily serious academic freedom violation.
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