History Not Soon Forgotten

A student was recently referred to Student Judicial Affairs (SJA) for suspected copying during his final history exam. The teaching assistant noticed suspicious behavior between the student and his neighbor during the exam, and after grading the two tests it was found that 75 percent of the answers on the Scantrons were identical to one another, including wrong answers. It was fairly easy to determine who was copying off of whom because there were two versions of the test. During his informal meeting with an SJA officer, the student admitted to copying from his friend and confirmed that the friend had no knowledge of it. The student agreed to be placed on disciplinary probation until winter 2012 and to complete 20 hours of community service. Disciplinary probation means that if the student is found in violation of another offense, he will likely be suspended or dismissed from the University of California. He also received a zero on his final exam.  

Abroad Spectrum of Consequences

A student was referred to SJA by his education abroad program as a result of an incident that had taken place overseas during winter quarter. It was reported that the student hosted a party and served alcohol, which violated both curfew regulations and the no-alcohol policies of the program. In addition, one of the partygoers had a medical emergency as a result of his alcohol consumption and was rushed to the hospital. While such violations might normally call for disciplinary actions for all parties involved, UC Davis has an informal “Good Samaritan” policy in place that encourages students to do the right thing even if it exposes behavior on their part that is not in accordance with University policies. Because the student did everything he could to ensure the safety of his inebriated friend, he was issued a non-disciplinary administrative notice from SJA.

What a Piece of Work

A junior was referred to SJA by his classics professor twice in the same quarter. When the student submitted an assignment that contained lines plagiarized from an Internet article, the professor’s suspicions were raised, and he went back to the student’s previous work and found that he had done the same thing in the past. The student admitted that he thought citing was not necessary because the sentences were “just background information,” and apologized for plagiarizing. The sanction for this offense was disciplinary probation and 10 hours of community service, and the student signed a disciplinary contract agreeing to this, acknowledging that any future violations would likely result in suspension or dismissal.  He also received a zero on both papers. However, a few days later, the student submitted his final paper for the class, which contained much of the same plagiarized material as his previous paper assignment.  His disciplinary probation had become effective immediately following his first violation, so this third violation – mere days later in the same class with the same professor and using the same piece of work – called for serious sanctions. The student was suspended for one quarter and placed on deferred separation status. One more violation and this student will be expelled from the university.

Campus Judicial Reports are compiled by members of STUDENT JUDICIAL AFFAIRS.

Students and representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) held a press conference Tuesday to shed light on the Student Activism Team (SAT) – administrators’ efforts to monitor campus action.

Eric Lee, junior political science major, Sarah Augusto, graduate student in sociology and two members from Sacramento County’s and Yolo County’s ACLUs said the team’s covert formation was a breach of trust and an attempt to privatize the university.

“We students find this untenable and hypocritical,” Lee said.

Augusto said she found the list of administrators and staff involved in SAT especially disconcerting. SAT members include staff from Student Housing, Financial Aid and resource centers, such as the Cross-Cultural Center and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Center.

“It suggests that the administration is targeting minorities and using staff that students are close with … why use staff members [who work for Student Housing and Financial Aid] with direct power over students, with access to so much information?” Augusto said.

Another concerning issue is the secrecy, Augusto said. Students didn’t learn about SAT until a former student, Brian Sparks, filed a California Public Records Act request.

“If they wanted to be transparent as they say they do, they’d put student activists on the team, they’d open a dialogue with students and they would have said their intentions in the very beginning,” Augusto said.

According to a protocol draft dated Aug. 18, 2010, the main roles of SAT are to “support freedom of expression, promote student safety, educate the campus on free speech policy and assist in preventing disruption of normal campus activities through education and implementation of time, place and manner regulations.”

Augusto said it is difficult for team members to promote free speech or safety if they aren’t open about their presence. She said that at the March 2 Day of Action, a man was seen following the rally and advising students not to use megaphones indoors. When asked who he was, he said he was a volunteer, present to protect students. This is not transparent enough, Augusto said.

“If we want support at a rally, how would we even know how to get it?” she said.

The 280 pages of public documents include drafts of protocol, team membership and e-mail correspondences. Members e-mailed one another to discuss expected action plans, schedule meetings and debate what the team should be called.

In a July 2010 version of the SAT list of members, there was a section of “UCD Emergency Services,” which included UC Davis Police Chief Annette Spicuzza, UC Davis Police Captain Joyce Souza, UC Davis Police Lieutenant Matthew Carmichael, UCD Police Dispatch, Assistant Fire Chief Weston Arvin, UCD Fire Dispatch and Emergency Manager Valerie Lucas McEwen. In newer versions of the list, “UCD Emergency Services” isn’t included.

Griselda Castro, assistant vice chancellor of Student Affairs and SAT leader, wasn’t sure exactly why the “UCD Emergency Services” section of the SAT membership list was removed or on there to begin with.

She said that the membership list is intended for members of SAT to contact one another. Police numbers were likely removed because not all team members contact police – vice chancellors do. She also noted that SAT only contacts the police when there is a public safety issue, but outside parties often call instead.

Documents also reveal that correspondences were not just between members of SAT, but members of the news service and other departments. Castro said SAT stays in contact with various members of the community depending on the protest.

“Every situation depends on the situation,” she said.

For example, documents show Claudia Morain, news service director, communicating frequently with SAT leading up to September’s gubernatorial debate. Morain said that this is because she tries to keep the news service team appropriately staffed and informed – when protests occur there is often media interest, and university communications is expected to know what is going on.

Some information in the documents is covered in black. According to a Dec. 9 letter from Lynette Temple, Information Practices coordinator, to Sparks, this is because some information is protected by certain privileges in the Public Records Act code. These privileges include the attorney-client privilege and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

JANELLE BITKER can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.

Public documents reveal correspondences between SAT and the following:

Linda Katehi, chancellor

Fred Wood, vice chancellor of Student Affairs

Rahim Reed, associate executive vice chancellor

Robert Loessberg-Zahl, assistant executive vice chancellor

Karen Hull, associate vice chancellor of Human Resources

Marjorie Dickinson, assistant vice chancellor of Government and Community Relations

Jason Murphy, director of State and Government Relations

Steven Drown, campus counsel

Michael Sweeney, associate campus counsel

Annette Spicuzza, UC Davis police chief

Joyce Souza, UC Davis police captain

Matthew Carmichael, UC Davis police lieutenant

Claudia Morain, news service director of University Communications

Mitchel Benson, associate vice chancellor of University Communications

Julia Ann Easley, UC Davis News Service

Andy Fell, UC Davis News Service

Beverly Sandeen, vice chancellor of University Relations

Maril Stratton, editor

Elizabeth Meyer, director of Employee and Labor Relations

Ken Ealy, consultant with Human Resources

Louise F. Uota, director of Ceremonies & Events

Cheryl Davis, personnel services manager

Mark Champagne, ASUCD manager

Stacy A. Miller, executive assistant with Student Affairs

Janet Roche, executive assistant with Student Affairs

Katie Port, executive assistant with Student Affairs

Lori Hubbard, executive assistant to the associate chancellor

Erika Hendrick (resigned), academic coordinator with Student Housing

To view the documents, visit public.me.com/ucdresearch

How much funding would it take to create a “stable” university?

I believe that the key to a financially stable university is not a specific dollar amount as much as it is a predictable, consistent level of support year after year.

Virtually all of us at UC Davis – faculty, staff and students – have felt the impact of the continually declining level of state support. If the governor’s proposed UC funding levels for 2011-2012 are reflected in the state’s final budget, our campus’ state support will have declined by almost 40 percent over four years. And the reductions will be even greater if the governor’s proposed tax extensions do not win voter approval.

Given this dramatic decline in state support over a relatively short time, we have had to make many difficult decisions, including the adoption of substantial student fee increases and employee layoffs, that taken together create a sense of instability. This environment of uncertainty, driven by the funding roller coaster, carries a high price. The declining – and unpredictable – levels of state support for the university wreak havoc on students and their families, who must struggle to cover the cost of attending UC Davis, campus efforts to plan for our growth and progress and campus operations.

To respond, we are making fundamental, structural changes in how we do business. We want to better serve our students and achieve our Vision of Excellence (vision.ucdavis.edu) – the framework that articulates our vision for UC Davis to become a recognized leader in innovation at the intersections of the world’s most challenging issues – even in the face of declining state support. But for our efforts to succeed, it is tremendously important that the state commit to a predictable level of funding for UC so that we can all plan. This is what it will take to create the stability we need to preserve the pillars on which UC Davis and its sister campuses rest: excellence, affordability and access.

Got a question for the chancellor? Send it to campus@theaggie.org.

After discovering embezzlement on campus, instructor Amy Block Joy said she experienced unjust backlash – individuals hiding her mail, claiming she was bipolar and dismissing her from her department.

Joy will share her story at the UC Davis Bookstore lounge Thursday from noon to 1 p.m., beginning by reading some excerpts from her first book, Whistleblower. A question and answer session and book signing will follow.

Joy said that she wrote the book in such a way to put the reader in her own shoes – exactly how it happened.

“I was told repeatedly I couldn’t talk about it,” Joy said. “I found solace in writing about the experience. It allowed me to keep track of what’s going on. It’s a very emotionally tumultuous experience – you’re tested and re-tested.”

Joy became a faculty member at UC Davis in the mid-1990s. In 1994, Joy directed and received $1 million in funding toward the Food Stamp Nutrition Education Program (FSNEP) – a statewide program to help educate food stamp families about nutrition. The program expanded and received $14 million per year in grants.

Around 2006, Joy became suspicious of the program’s budget adviser, Beverly Benford, after finding mistakes in the budget. She found extraneous purchases, including a $1,400 purchase for a camera at Fry’s Electronics, and that Benford was committing travel fraud.

Joy said that she tried to report the fraud multiple times, but kept getting stopped or deferred. She eventually filed a whistleblower report to the chancellor’s office and the retaliation began. She said she was shocked to find a lack of support from many of her colleagues.

The last straw was when during a conference to train the staff, there was a public meeting held in which she was not allowed to attend. The meeting was held to discuss Joy’s alleged mental illness.

After the incident, Joy stepped down as the director of FSNEP, but chose to stay at UC Davis.

“The message you get is that people want you to leave,” Joy said. “A lot of time whistleblowers tend to leave but I love my job, and I made a decision early on that I would stick to it as long as I could and do the best that I could.”

After being asked to leave her former department, Joy now runs her own one-woman department – nutritional ecology, located in environmental horticulture. The department looks into controversies in nutrition, how health impacts the environment, nutrition policy and food safety. She teaches a freshman seminar called “Eating Green.”

However, the retaliation still continues, Joy said. Flyers of Thursday’s book event have been torn down in her old department.

Paul Takushi, Tradebook purchaser at the bookstore, said that he was surprised by the flyer incident. He said that it was sad to hear of this form of censorship.

Joy noted that the book is an educational story for future whistleblowers to ensure them that they can be safe and protected. She encourages whistleblowers to file their complaint anonymously if they can. She chose not to because she was the director of FSNEP and that it would go against her character.

At the time, Joy found $150,000 to be missing from the budget, but she now believes that number to be larger, as $2.3 million had to be returned to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Even though Benford was the only employee to go to jail, Joy said that she suspects other individuals were involved.

“With a caveat, people should protect themselves,” she said. “If they can they should do it anonymously because there are all these unexpected consequences you can’t predict. I had no idea that this was a cover-up; I thought it was just a rogue employee using funds for personal benefit, and I couldn’t understand why no one wanted to report her. And now it makes sense because there were other things going on.”

UC Davis encourages its community to report any wrongdoing and fraud, said UC spokesperson Claudia Morain. In addition, the university will protect those that have been retaliated against. Joy was given a settlement for the retaliation she endured in the past.

“I love Davis, it’s a great campus and there are many good people here,” Joy said. “We’re talking about a handful of people that got angry, and I’m not really sure why… but the institution did right by me, it fully investigated my complaint and it took steps to protect me.”

MARTHA GEORGIS can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.