The university’s harsh treatment of the professor (and department director)
When I was a postdoctoral fellow at Michigan State University, one of the professors (who happen to be Iranian) spent relatively little time in the department and had an active (very successful) construction company outside the university.
Recently, one of his students (who is a distinguished Malaysian lady) went and complained to him that this professor made me work in his company without paying me a proper salary.
It was interesting to me that the university dealt with the department so seriously that (in addition to the professor’s suspension) it even led to the dismissal of the head of the department, who (was my former supervisor and almost) is the world’s most famous scientific figure in the field of structural and fire research. became.
I did not expect this level of decisiveness in dealing with the department because of a professor’s violation.
You can see the description of this story (with details) in the Lansing State newspaper (Michigan state newspaper) below!
For me, this intensity of action and sharp action is (admirable and) surprising.
I’m not surprised that it happened to Dr. Saroushian, but I’m surprised by how hard they fired the director of the group. The director of the group, who is the most prominent scientific figure in the world in his field, was dismissed because he did not supervise the behavior of the professors enough while managing the group.
Dr. Kador (head of the department) said that:
It was not my duty to go to Saroushian’s private company and see how he behaves with his students (quoted from Lansing newspaper), but despite this, he was fired.
The case of this complaint is still ongoing in the federal court, but for the time being, the relevant professor has been suspended from directing any student theses, and the department has been obliged to find a new head.
Another point that was strange to me about this complaint was the time of the complaint. The lady who went (along with several other students) and complained about her teacher’s behavior was about to defend and graduate; And with this, his graduation process practically went to waste. Therefore, it is clear what mental pressure was imposed on him that he was willing to take such a risk.
Trust in the faculty (university professor) is one of the features of the higher education system in #America; But this trust did not prevent the high management of the university from acting harshly in such cases.
A system based on trust is a very valuable system, but the existence of trust should not make the professor feel that he is in a safe margin.
Final word: Sometimes during the doctoral course, the supervisor does behaviors that the student tolerates because of the need to graduate. Crossing some boundaries should not be tolerated by the student. Of course, this is not in the sense of recommending lack of patience or tolerance during student life, but rather, eyes should be open so that if our rights are being violated, we can take legal action.
@solseghalam
Link: Report of the mentioned complaint in the news of the state of Michigan:
https://statenews.com/article/2019/04/lawsuit-alleges-michigan-state-knew-of-engineering-professors-abusive-practices
Link: The report of the said complaint case in the Lansing State newspaper:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.lansingstatejournal.com/amp/1701828001
Link: Another report in the Lansing State newspaper:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.lansingstatejournal.com/amp/3311009002
Link: Google Scholar of my former supervisor with more than 9,000 satiations and an H-index of 55, who was removed from the head of the group because of this story:
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=MCFru8AAAAAJ&hl=en
Link: previous note
Some recommendations for those interested in #continuing_education abroad:
https://t.me/solseghalam/1121
This post is written by monese_ghamgosar