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Review of the IUS (Indiana University Southeast) MBA Program, and a bit about filing student grievances

Review of the IUS (Indiana University Southeast) MBA Program
(and a bit about filing student grievances)


 

Most of my writings are on Information security, but this one delves into something else. It may still be of interest to those with a security mindset. I hope that it will serve two purposes: 1. To help other students that file grievances against faculty learn from my experience, and 2. convince those interested in pursuing an MBA in the Louisville area to go someplace other than the IUS MBA program.
 

The TLDNR version is this: Go someplace other than IUS if you are interested in getting a Masters in Business Administration. UofL (University of Louisville) maybe, or perhaps Kelly via distance ed. IUS used to make a big deal about being rated 9th (2009) in the nation for part-time MBAs by Business Week, but in the 2011 list had fallen to 73rd in the Business Week rankings. UofL was at 35 in case you are wondering (these numbers continue to fluctuate widely, see the change log at the bottom). One should always give rankings like these the hairy eyeball and look at things like criteria and who's reporting the metrics to the people doing the ranking. That is not to say all the professors in the IUS MBA program are bad, not at all, but there is enough of a minority in the faculty and administration at IUS that do not wish to work with students in a professional manner, and would rather ignore (or bizarrely interpret) policy when it is inconvenient to them. Some prefer to see the students the same way a rancher might see cattle, important in the aggregate (got to keep making money), but not as individuals. There also seems to be a bit of a "circle the wagons and protect our own" mentality when grievances are filed against faculty. Before I give the details and the supporting documents, there are four questions I would like the reader to keep in mind (and I would like an answer to if someone at IUS ever reads this):


1. Is just a flowchart all we really have for student grievances at IUS (See Gmail - Atnip's response)? No timetables of action, or student involvement via a grievance committee like on other campuses?

2. Are answers to essay questions on a test the property of the university, and does a student really have no right to a copy? The people I have a grievance against seem very afraid of me having a copy for some reason. Exact quote from one of Dean White's responses: "The exam is property of the university however and cannot be removed nor will a copy be provided for you to keep." The part about me not being allowed a copy is repeated in multiple emails.

3. Is more than one and half years with no response to a filed grievance really considered reasonable?

4. I'd like to know when my grievance was really filed, in late 2009 when I gave it to the school of business, or only after I looked into it again in the summer of 2011?

Addendum: I should have noted a while back that I sort of got an answer to these four questions from Jennifer Westerhaus Adams, an IU lawyer. Everyone else hid behind this lawyer instead of answering the questions. Near the beginning of one of her emails, Jennifer Westerhaus Adams says "I have coordinated the responses, confirming with personnel at IUS, to make sure you receive consistent and accurate information", but if the personnel at IUS were always being honest, why would they need her to ensure the information was consistent and accurate? My guess, it is easier to cover for bad behavior when there is only one person telling the story. For question 1, she seems to say a flow chart is all IUS has, and no one I've contacted at IU Southeast has had the integrity to fix that, most won't even start a dialog about making the policy more like what is in Bloomington. Is IU Southeast really a part of IU if it does not have to hold to the same standards? For question 2, Jennifer Westerhaus Adams claims that my essay answers are the property of the university, and gives lame reasons as to why this is. Linda Christiansen was obviously making multiple versions of the test since she would not let me take it with the other class section (as we had previously agreed upon) because they had "different conditions", so Jennifer's first excuse about test reuse was largely invalid. Jennifer also claims it was her "understanding" I got a chance to review the test at length and take notes. No, I got to see the test for a short time (in Linda Christiansen's illegible hand writing) and never got to take notes, they dropped the ball on setting up the meeting where I could. I pointed this out in the documents I sent that I would have thought Jennifer Westerhaus Adams read. As for questions 3 and 4, she claims (or at least says it is her "understanding") that it was considered filed in 2009, yet it did not appear in my student file from the IU Southeast School of Business, and the only version Academic Affairs seemed to have is the unsigned copy (which they likely got directly from me, where did Jay White make the signed copy disappear to?). Now that I think about it, Jennifer Westerhaus Adams used words like ~ it was her ~ "understanding" a lot, I'm guessing because if someone just says "understanding" you can't outright say they are lying (also, lets face it, her job is to cover for IU). Jennifer Westerhaus Adams also had the nerve to refer to Jay White's behavior as "due process", saying it was her "understanding" that I did not appeal the grievance further, even though Jay White led me to believe the grievance was ongoing then dropped it without telling me or even letting me know it was in a stopped state so I could appeal. If you are looking for integrity in a lawyer, look someplace other than Jennifer Westerhaus Adams, but if you are looking for a lawyer than likely integrity is not high on your list of requirement and she is definitely more than willing to cover ass for her employers. If I ever do something wrong, I'd hire her. More from Jennifer Westerhaus Adams in section "Continued: Amendment of records, FERPA and getting your side put in the record".


        One of the silliest things about the whole situation is how easy it would have been to resolve by the administrators/faculty acting more rationally. The instructor could have talked with me about annoyances as they happened (and not talked about them to my co-workers) instead of saving everything up in a passive aggressive manner. The MBA graduate director could have tried to talk the instructor into acting more rationally, said what the meeting was really about when asked, and followed policy as to how the meeting was supposed to be set up. The dean of business could have been more impartial, not gone into attack mode against a student complaint towards his beloved department, offered the simple placating solution of allowing the credit to transfer from another school, or even bothered to answer the grievance at all after it was officially filed instead of no formal response for almost two years. The vice chancellor of academic affairs could have at least acknowledged that things were not handled correctly, answered when the grievance was really filed, and responded to the student's points (the attached email is the limit of his direct communications with me, I would call it laconic but laconic normally implies wit).

        I suppose it's way too late for me to receive any of the relief I requested in the original grievance, but maybe I can keep others from making the same mistakes I did by going into the IUS MBA program. I doubt however this article will have much effect as I'm not sure how much research the average IUS MBA student does before choosing the program. Let's face facts, If you go to IUS it is because it is close/cheap, not for reputation. It may also help students at other academic institutions learn how to best handle grievances and learn from my mistakes. To me this issue is of great public interest, especially for those attending state funded universities.


Timeline

        The issues are kind of complicated to follow from the mass of emails and documents below, but here is a rough timeline. Really, it is pretty convoluted and nuanced, I imagine most will give up reading even the synopse. I have emails/documents to back up all of this as either fact of justifiable opinion. When I read through them I always seem to find one more thing that was not done in a fair manner, so the below is not exactly a complete list of my problems with the IUS MBA program. I've numbered the items to help establish the timeline, and so I can refer back to sections as needed.

1. I was participating in the Business Law and Ethics class in good faith, and as I understood the subject and focus to be. I asked the occasional question about law and ethics as it relates to technology/security since that is my field. Eventually we get to ethical models that can be used to judge if something is ethical. I questioned the "Blanchard and Peale" and "Wall Street Journal" ethical models. Both essentially start off with the the question "Is it Legal?". Not all laws are ethical so I thought that point was weak. I pointed out that just because something is illegal does not mean it is unethical, and in fact may be ethically mandated. I gave an example using Nazi Germany, and I'm not sure how it was even controversial (trite and overused, maybe, but not controversial ). I used the go to example of (paraphrasing) "While it's illegal to lie to a stormtrooper in Nazi Germany about keeping Jews in your basement if you are, it is ethically mandated that you lie to save lives". I could have used the less extreme examples of unethical drug or licensing laws, but the example I gave was sort of the go to one in philosophy since most people would agree Nazi=Bad (showing some drug or licensing laws to be unethical takes a lot more arguing). The teacher gave no clear instruction that they thought this was off topic, just saying it was extreme.

Things to learn for others filing academic grievances: Watch for clues that a teacher is getting irritated, not all are obvious about it and may go passive aggressive later. Even if you have had positive experiences with them before, treat them with kid gloves because you may not understand them as well as you think you do.

2. The time comes for us to start posting ethical and legal analyses concerning articles we find it the Wall Street Journal to a shared forum system. I saw an article about Roman Polanski and thought this was a perfect article to bring up concerning business ethics. Here is a quote of what I posted (luckily I saved it and many other posts before the instructor deleted them from the forums):

Polanski: Picture Producers Promoting Pedos
WSJ: 09/28/2009 A3
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125413187268245957.html
(Note, the article online is not an exact match to the one in the dead trees version)
    Ok, this one is easy to tie into ethics, but what about business? That's also pretty easy since film production companies are a business, and who they decide to employ/support most certainly involves ethics.  If one was to take a look as his IMDB profile
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000591/
you would notice quite a few films he had been directly involved with since his guilty plea, then flight from justice.  Extra details on the case can be found at:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/polanskicover1.html
    The question is, should film production companies care? I imagine some do, but there still seem to be a fair number of film companies, and actors for that matter, willing to work with him.  From a "rational self interest" stand point alone, if I ran a movie studio I would not want to be associated with him. Then again, maybe his films make money despite the bad press, and it's not like the kind of films he makes are a draw for the "family friendly" crowd.  Looking at the box office draws on some of his recent films, they do make a modest profit, though most of it is made outside of the United States.
     This would be a bad case to use the Categorical Imperative on, since how would you phrase it? "You should always want it to be the case to financially support the film directing of a pedophile?"

Someone brought up Robert Downy Jr., so I replied:
I would say there is a world of difference between a drug abuser that is rehabilitated (in theory) and a self confessed pedophile who fled the country to avoid going to jail. One is harming themselves and loved ones (with some exceptions like if there was an accident causing physical damage), and the other used their position of power to have sex with a 13 year old girl. This guy would be a better example:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0759207/
As for legal, I imagine the companies financing his films are doing nothing illegal, just ethically questionable. Also, I would not support a law saying who someone can hire to make a movie (with the exception perhaps of a pedophile directing a movie with a bunch of kids). If Polanski had done his time, then went back to making movies that would be one thing, but he was still a fugitive from US authorities at the time of his arrest.

Things to learn for others filing academic grievances: Save everything! As a lawyer friend once said: "Evidence, get you some!" In my case it did not help as the inconvenient details were largely ignored.

3. The forum software starts to have what I thought were technical issues. I find out later the teacher was trying to get rid of posts. I even emailed Linda Christiansen about it, and she could have told me that there was a problem then, but instead she passive aggressively holds on to it and gives me curt replies as in the email below. How Jay White later refers to Linda's general behavior as communication I don't know. She had the opportunity to communicate many times, but chose not to.

Missing posts
7 messages

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Tue, Sep 29, 2009 at 8:45 AM
To: "Christiansen, Linda A" <lchristi(-at-)ius.edu>
Hi Linda,
     Are the missing posts from yesterday going to come back?

Thanks,
Adrian

Christiansen, Linda A <lchristi(-at-)ius.edu> Tue, Sep 29, 2009 at 8:57 AM
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>

No. 


Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Tue, Sep 29, 2009 at 9:01 AM
To: "Christiansen, Linda A" <lchristi(-at-)ius.edu>
What happened? Should I just repost?

Thanks,
Adrian

Christiansen, Linda A <lchristi(-at-)ius.edu> Tue, Sep 29, 2009 at 9:02 AM
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>

No, the class is moving forward with the new forum. 


Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Tue, Sep 29, 2009 at 9:06 AM
To: "Christiansen, Linda A" <lchristi(-at-)ius.edu>
Do we still get credit for the old posts?  Also, I'd saver my old posts into a Word doc.

Adrian

Christiansen, Linda A <lchristi(-at-)ius.edu> Tue, Sep 29, 2009 at 9:08 AM
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>

I still have the posts.  So no problem with saving them. 


Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Tue, Sep 29, 2009 at 9:14 AM
To: "Christiansen, Linda A" <lchristi(-at-)ius.edu>
Thanks, but the core question is do we still get credit for the posts from yesterday? :)

Adrian
 


I continued to communicate with her in a friendly and jovial manner because it had yet to be indicated to me that she had a problem with the way I was using the forums.


4. I receive  an email telling me I need to meet with the teacher and graduate director before the next class (the last live class of the semester). I ask what this is about, and they give vague responses about "Expectations for participation in the course". I tell them that if I am being accused of something I want to be able to prepare a response. I'm told by the director of graduate programs that "The meeting at 1:00p will be sufficient to clarify any questions. See you then." which is a rather arrogant way to respond. By IUS policy, I am suppose to be notified days ahead of time concerning what the meeting is about, and allowed a witness. I was given less than a day, and the witness I brought was not allowed in the room. They later said they could get away with this because the meeting was informal and not official. The director of IUS MBA program said: "The meeting was not part of a formal process. It was an informal informational discussion to make you aware of the concerns as outlined in the printout." The dean of the business school later also indicated policy did not need to be followed because it was not an "official hearing". So, you can call anything "informal" or unofficial and you do not have to follow written policies? How could it ever be informal/unofficial if the next step as stated in the paper handed to me at the meeting was "Referral to and discipline by Vice Chancellor Ruth Garvey-Nix" and that it was going into my student file? That is in no way informal or unofficial.

Things to learn for others filing academic grievances: Again, save everything. Also note, professors in this day and age seem to be wary of putting some things in writing.

5. To understand the next sections, and to understand why the professor's behavior is so offensive, you need to read the paper given to me at the meeting and my responses first (My Response attachment below). If the instructor had come to me after class and explained it in the form of "Adrian, this is not really what we are going for in the class", that would have been fine. I truly thought I was participating in the way I was supposed to, and as participation was a large part of the grade I felt I had to. If the form of my participation was seen as a distraction, then the teacher should have followed the guidelines listed here:
http://www.indiana.edu/~ufc/docs/policies/DisruptiveStudents.pdf

"These behaviors are not subject to penalties that can be imposed due to academic misconduct. Thus, disruption requires alternate methods of resolution."

"Behaviors such as these (e.g., coming late to class, performing a repetitive act that is annoying-tapping fingers, chewing gum, or making a comment in a rude or crude manner, sleeping, reading a newspaper) can be addressed generally through conventional classroom management techniques and/or by speaking with a student privately after class."

Instead, she saved it all up for a letter that was not written as a form of guidance, but as an attack (the anti-law and anti-ethics comments for example).The paper from the meeting was not phrased as constructive criticism but as an attack, with many allegations that are not clarified (my supposedly anti-law and anti-ethics statements and positions for example). Many of the teacher's claims are indeed nitpicky and petty. For example:

a. Complaining about typos in a "submission" that was not a submission when the instructor had typos in her response to the very same email. Also makes me think of the "shouting" email she sent me where she TYPED IN ALL CAPS, seems odd to complain about typos when she does that sort of thing.
b. Complaining about forum/chatroom posts that concerned forum problems/requests (something of interest to everyone and better suited to be answered in the forum so she would just have to answer the question once).
c. Complaining about the use of jargon, but not specifying what jargon. She could always have asked what I was referring to. My legal interests involve technology so that is what I asked questions about sometimes. Was that what was confusing her?
d. Complaining about sources that were completely legitimate given the context. It was one of the first forum posts of the semester, so standards were not clear yet, and some things do not lend themselves to finding peer reviewed sources. One source showed movies directed by the person in question, and the other had scans of the legal documents! Odd thing to complain about.

I noticed the professor was becoming more and more irate as I attempted to defend myself. The letter given to me at the meeting also said "Participation grade is currently F - zero". Keep in mind this was mere hours before the last live class of the semester where I could do much about it. I later find out that the instructor had talked to my coworkers about my "behaviors" that she found annoying in class, but she did not bring them up to me until the meeting. Disregarding the test (more on that later), I had been effectively failed at this point with no warning since participation was 30 percent of the grade, and the alleged (and not clarified) "At least one violation of the "Online Etiquette" penalty on the syllabus" would have lowered it at least one letter grade (this would take it below the minimum grade requirements for the masters program, unless I aced everything else). After the meeting I composed a response to the accusation in the memo, but held it until the end of the course hoping to salvage a passing grade.

6. I continue to participate in the forums, being overly cautious perhapse. I did not want to set the instructor off again, and figured I'd hold off on filing a grievance until later. We had initially agreed I could take the test with the other section of the class so I could attend an ISSA event. I even confirmed this after the meeting with the instructor and the IUS MBA director. Then, suddenly, it seemed I could no longer take the test with the other class because "The other class has different conditions so that is not possible." What different conditions? This, and the fact that I took the test first (even before the section I was in) but did not get a grade back until after others did makes these events/choices look very suspicious.

Things to learn for others filing academic grievances: Document timelines, it may help later. Also, bias is a close to impossible thing to truly prove, but it is good to save all the little indicators if you can to show a pattern. Otherwise, it's just you, essay questions and subjective truth.  

7. I study hard for the test, and follow the rubric. Even though I took the test before both classes, people seemed to be receiving their grades before me. Then I find out I got an F on the test. Her last words to me are via an Oncourse message:

"Adrian,
Your grades are now posted.  Please contact Jon Bingham if you have have any questions."

She apparently did not even want to speak to me about it, referring me to Jon Bingham instead. So much for actually wanting to give feedback and really teach. I email the instructor to find out why she gave me an F, and she did not even have the courtesy to respond. Keep in mind, I'm currently a straight A student in my Masters in Security Informatics program, so a flat out F is a little out of character (Small update after I wrote the previous sentence. I finished the degree, but in my final class I only made a B. Machine Learning = Calculus, Linear Algebra, Statistics and Pain. Still, the professor was more than fair as all I think I deserved was a C in Machine Learning as I never understood all of the concepts). I go over to see my test and the instructor's comments, but the handwriting is illegible. I'm not picking on the illegibility, mine is pretty illegible too, but as the test was typed into a computer, the grade justifications could have been too. I'm told I can not have a copy of the test to review, and can only look at it in the IUS MBA offices. Multiple times during the proceeding grievance process I'm reminded that I will not be allowed a copy, and not allowed alone with a copy.

Things to learn for others filing academic grievances: In the security/privacy field I come from there is the often refuted statement "If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear". Unfortunately, having dealt with academic bureaucracies I have more sympathy for the sentiment of that quote than most security practitioners.

8. At this point, I file a grievance with the dean of the Indiana University Southeast business program. The exchanges starts ok, but then I get told I don't have grounds for an official grievance and the dean does some hand waving that would make a stage magician blush. Let's go over some of the issues with the dean's response:

9. Written policy was not being followed, and when asked "If the meeting had a proper name in the written procedures, what was it?" the director of the IUS MBA program said: "The meeting was not part of a formal process. It was an informal informational discussion to make you aware of the concerns as outlined in the printout." The dean backed this up, and indicated policy did not need to be followed because it was not an "official hearing". The dean excuses Linda Christiansen and Jon Bingham of not following policy because their actions were not an "official grievance" against me, but when I looked at the policy last, the only time the word grievance appears is in reference to a student filing a grievance against someone at the university, not a faculty member filing against a student. It is very clear from the policy that those rules are to be followed for any "disciplinary" action of this sort against a student, but it seems like Jay White feels he can rewrite them when the policy is inconvenient for him. So, you can call anything "informal" or unofficial and you do not have to follow written policies? As I stated before, how could it ever be informal/unofficial if the next step as said in the paper handed to me at the meeting was "Referral to and discipline by Vice Chancellor Ruth Garvey-Nix" and that it was going into my student file? That is in no way informal or unofficial. Here is a quote from the not-official memo:

"This is your final warning. Any other violations of course conduct, whether violations of
this class, program standards, university standards will results in:
• Referral to and discipline by Vice Chancellor Ruth Garvey-Nix
• Report to the Director of Graduate Programs
• Referral to the School of Business Dean and Graduate Policies Committee for review
• Further deductions or lack of additions to course grade"

Here are just a few of the IU/IUS policies that were violated if this was a "Personal Misconduct" issue (I don't see how it could be an Academic one):

"Written notice of the specific allegations/charges and the date, time, and location of the scheduled hearing at least five calendar days prior to the hearing."

"Reasonable access to the case file at least three days prior to and during the conference. A case file is part of the student's education record under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974. The personal notes of University staff members are not included in the case file. The case file will be retained in the Office of Student Affairs"

"The accused student may bring a supporter (not legal counsel) to the hearing. The supporter may not participate in the judicial conference or make statements during the conference."

Things to learn for others filing academic grievances: Anything can be wiggled out of if an administrator chooses to ignore you.

10. Lack of transparency in grading. To quote the dean:

"The exam is property of the university however and cannot be removed nor will a copy be provided for you to keep. This is standard procedure and one I followed when teaching regularly."

Despite what the dean said in his response, how is not allowing the student to keep a copy of their exam standard policy, and not being able to show it to anyone else? I could halfway understand it if it were a multiple choice test and the instructor was too lazy to come up with a new test for the next year, but the exam in question was scenario based essay questions. Also, since Linda said I could not take the test with the other class because they had "different conditions" she must have been making multiple tests anyway. It seems very shady not to let a student keep a copy of his own essay answers.

11. When I point out issues concerning student academic freedom, the IUS dean of the school of business says they care about such issues but then launches into an attack on me indicating that others have a right to criticize my views and the teacher did not have to give me unlimited class time. These are both straw man attacks to get away from the issue of the teacher failing a student because of values and viewpoints expressed that made her uncomfortable. Criticism did not happen in class beyond referring to the the case example as extreme (and criticism would have made for a more interesting class discussion, so I welcome it). I never asked for unlimited class time and very little was taken, especially as compared to other topics that were far less related to the course material.

12. The dean maintains that the meeting was held to inform me of my gaps and that I'm not taking it as constructive criticism like I should. I certainly felt attacked in the room, but I was not allowed a witness in the meeting (going against university policy). The paper from the meeting is not phrased as constructive criticism but as an attack, with many allegations that are not clarified (my supposedly anti-law and anti-ethics statements and positions for example). The dean criticizes me for claiming that the charges were nitpicky. Many of the teacher's claims are indeed nitpicky and petty. See section 5 above for examples.

 

Also, what good is it to store up all of these complaints, tell me I'm getting a 0 in class participation because of it, and only bring them to my attention mere hours before the last live class of the semester where I could do anything about it? Disregarding the test, I had been effectively failed at that point with no warning since participation is 30 percent of the grade, and the alleged (and not clarified) "At least one violation of the "Online Etiquette" penalty on the syllabus" would have lowered it at least one letter grade (this would take it below the minimum grade requirements for the masters program, unless I aced everything else). Referring to a student as anti-law and anti-ethics? An instructor that talked to my coworkers about my "behaviors" that she found annoying in class, but does not bring them up to me until the meeting? And yet the dean has the gall to say I have no grounds for a grievance?


13. They have a very myopic view of ethics in the IUS MBA program it seems. In one of the dean's responses, to illustrate that I'm supposedly not taking the instructor's comments constructively, he states:

    "In addition you state "[subject] is fairly common thing to bring up in a philosophy class" to defend your in-class comments related to Nazi Germany. But you have to realize this is not a philosophy class, it is a business law and ethics class and we want our students to see the topics from that point of view."
 

I will grant you that It was not a normal philosophy class, but philosophy plays a role. Ethics is a branch of philosophy. Saying you can't bring philosophy into a law and ethics class is like saying you can't bring math into an accounting course. If we are to totally divorce philosophy from the course then why does the text mention it? Unit 1 goes into philosophy, and not only goes into detail about different schools of thought, but philosophers such as: Aristotle, Plato, John Locke, Immanuel Kant, Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, Thomas Hobbes and Ayn Rand to name a few. If I'm not allowed to bring up philosophy, why does the book? The dean seemed to have no idea what the class was supposed to be about.

 

At one point the dean asks if I have even reviewed the test yet and the instructor's comments. To quote: "As for having a 3rd party re-grade your test I have no intention of approving that.  In short you have not made a case for such an action and you did not receive a failing grade because of your values or viewpoints.  Your grade is a result of your performance.  Let me ask you this, have you even reviewed the test yet and the instructor comments?  If not then how can you even ask for such a review?" The dean claims to have done a thorough review of the situation, but how could he have done this if he was not even aware that I had already seen the test once? How does he truly know my grade is a result of my performance if he is not willing to compare my exam to others (granted he does not really have the qualifications to judge [Subnote: I found out later because of the open records request that he did compare mine to another student's himself, but I still question him as being an unbiased judge and would like to know how they chose who to compare mine to. If there was a real qualitative difference, why not let me have a copy of my exam?])? It seems like he just wanted to take the easy way out by parroting the instructor.
 

Some of the dean's response seems vaguely threatening that I would not be able to continue in the program if I filed the grievance. He seems to care a lot about their expectations of me, but not about my expectations of them (fair treatment, communication of the issues as they come up and not saving them for a spiteful letter mere hours before the final live class, honoring a student's right as outlined in IU policy, etc.). Which requirements was I supposedly not fulfilling? I was participating in the class in good faith, and was doing as I was supposed to according to the syllabus and according to policy. I guess it is also a requirement never to question the instructor? Then there is the section about finding a major that is "a better match for your disposition", so much for the diversity the dean claimed to support in an earlier email. The dean was not interested in resolving a conflict between a professor and a student, but in getting the student to shut up and go away.


14. After the brush-off email from the dean I still go through with the grievance, and also have a meeting with him. This time I was allowed a witness. The dean was far more civil during the in person meeting. He did not seem able to refute my points as I brought them up. My grievance was now submitted (in theory), and I was waiting to hear back from them about getting a longer chance to see my test and the possibility of taking the class elsewhere (which the dean and director did not think I would be allowed to do for whatever arbitrary reason).

15. At this point, I start the Masters in Security Informatics program. Almost 2 years go by, and there was never a response from the IUS MBA program on the outstanding issues. I decide to check up on the grievance to make sure it was even filed. What can I say, I'm a stickler for fair play and following the rules.

16. As best as I can tell they were Ignoring the grievance after it was submitted. After almost two years I checked to see if it was even filed since I never heard back (even on seeing my exam a 2nd time), not exactly the prompt response as outlined in the grievance policy. I contacted the secretaries of both academic and student affairs as I was not sure who would have it. It took them awhile to give me an answer to that, and they never stated if it was filed when I first put it in or only after I asked again. Student vs. tenured faculty member seems to equal ignoring the student. I sort of forced the issue by pointing out: http://www.ius.edu/studentaffairs/article/grievance

"Please note that in accordance with federal regulations, IU Southeast is required to share summary information about complaints with its accrediting agency, the Higher Learning Commission, as part of the reaccreditation process. Individual identities of those who have filed a complaint will not be provided."

I also asked for my name not to be redacted so that I could be contacted. Between this first email, and the vice chancellor's response, it takes more than a month (7/11/2011-8/16/2011) before he responds, for what should have been as simple as a secretary walking over to a filing cabinet or typing into their workstation to figure out if it was on file or not. Also note, they never really say when it was filed: When I first put it in, or only after almost two years had gone by. The vice chancellor also misspelled the professor's name, I hope it's filed correctly and can be found when someone looks for it. I asked many times for when the dean filed it with him, but never got a direct answer. When I pointed out policy that indicated a time table for them to respond to my grievance with an outcome, and that the dean never did, the vice chancellor of academic affairs points out that the policy I found is old and points me to a new policy that is just a flowchart with little detail. He also said they are working on taking down the policy that had details. I'm not exactly sure how the vice chancellor of academic affairs can say "It's my understanding that Dean White did not ignore your grievance, but that he investigated and resolved it, albeit not in the way you had hoped." when the dean never got back to me on taking the class elsewhere and other matters such as seeing my test again.

17. Before leaving IUS I asked a secretary to retrieve a copy of my "student file" so I could look at it to see what is in it exactly, when my grievance may have been filed, and if they even bothered to put in my response. I was told it would take a bit of time to get it from the data vault as it was not on hand in the office, and I could see it the next week when it came in. All of a sudden, I get a call from the MBA program director and I'm told I'm having a meeting I never asked for, I just wanted the records. The MBA director did not really give me an option, but just said there was a meeting, even after I told him there was no need for one. The director did not say who the meeting was with, but it seemed to be at least the dean and the MBA director based on what was said later. Are they allowed to dictate the venue in which a student views his own records? As it turns out, they canceled the meeting after they found out I had also requested records through IU legal, and now it is in IU legal's hands to get me my student file (which they have done). When I got my file, my version of events was not in it. This is further evidence that they just don't care about what a student says, only listening to the professors' skewed side. It's also technically a FERPA violation as I outline towards the bottom of this page, but for what I have seen FERPA has no teeth as the FPCO is unresponsive to student complaints and inquiries. Strangely, though my version of events was not in my file, a print out of the garbled Oncourse post I made because of copying and pasting from MS Word was. Why? Did they think it was an XSS attack or something? It just seems so silly.

18. In the emails between Jay White and Gill Atnip I received from my open records request I find out other factors about their handling of the situation. Jay White indicates to Gil Atnip that he (Jay) was not the person the grievance was supposed to go to, despite Jay White telling me I had to bring it to Jay White (proof in emails below). So, Jay White tells me one thing about who I should file with, then later tries to shirk responsibility by indicating I was wrong to bring the signed grievance to Jay White, when it was Jay White himself who told me to bring the signed grievance to Jay White (sorry, had to avoid pronouns to avoid confusion). Jay also lied (or misremembered?) about all sorts of things, such as: when I filed the grievance, when I filed vs. when we had our meeting, when we had our meeting vs. when he made his decisions, why I brought him a signed copy, that I withdrew from the program and that I agreed to that resolution, etc. Jay also gave a straw man version of what my complaint was about, and got the order of events wrong concerning when I started to complain about Linda's treatment. Jay says my rights were not violated because I was allowed to express my views, totally missing the point that I got an 0 in class participation because of expressing them. This is like a cop saying that someone's right to free speech was not violated because they got to say something, then the cop hits the speaker over the head with a billy club because they did not like what was said. I got to see Jay's "investigation" notes, which read more like justifications to make the decisions that were easiest on him, faculty, and the administration. Jay White calls someone "combative and obstructive" for trying to help me figure out my due process rights, and seems to have an instructor is always right attitude. Even though I state multiple times before his investigation that Linda gave no clear instruction that the subject of unethical laws were not to be discussed, and I did not take much time, Jay took Linda's word as gospel giving me no benefit of the doubt. While Jay White gives lip service to student rights, all it takes is for the professor to say you were being disruptive, with no other evidence, to throw out any of your rights as outlined in the student code of conduct. Gil Atnip even said in one email that I might be trying to "put one over" on them when I Googled for policy that made his job harder (see emails below, apparently it was old policy left on the site and the administration has been working for some time to reduce the student grievance policy down to just a flowcart). It was far from a fair and impartial mediation. Apparently the IU lawyer that dealt with my case/request for records felt that Jay White's incomplete initial response from before I brought over the signed copy of the grievance form was enough. The IU lawyer ignored the fact that even Jay indicated in an email to me after the signed filing that the grievance process was still ongoing and some decisions (like being able to take the class elsewhere) would have to wait until after the process had finished. He never let the process finish, Jay just led me to believe it was still ongoing and then dropped it without telling me so I never even knew to appeal until it was too late to matter. Even though Jay White never got back to me after the official filing and meeting, and their previous emails only partially addressed my concerns, the IU lawyer had nerve to refer to all this as "due process" and say "It is my understanding that you did not then appeal the grievance further" when they never let me know the grievance was in a stopped state so I would know I had to appeal. Supposedly my grievance against Linda Christiansen is on file now, but somehow I doubt it is anywhere where it would help other students by establishing a pattern to her behavior. I've tried to contact people at IUS to fix these problems, but it seems no one is interested unless it directly affects them. Now the people at IUS either won't respond to my emails, or respond with a copy and paste message that tells me to contact IU counsel, but my contacts at IU counsel won't respond to my emails either.

        I'd like to chalk it up to one bad professor (Linda), but Bingham's lack of regard for policy and White's one-sidedness to the grievance makes me look on the academic honor of the whole IUS MBA program unfavorably. Hopefully if they ever read this they will take it constructively as it was intended, and as a form of guidance to point out the gaps between their current behaviors and the expectations of a student.

        More information is in the docs below, which are far more damning in my opinion than what I said above. I have left in my typos, along with those of the faculty/admins involved so as to not be accused of changing things.

Things to learn for others filing academic grievances: Proofread your documents, or better yet have someone else do it. It's easy to read in your head what you thought you wrote, but not what you really put down. It becomes much easier for people to dismiss your points when you have grammar/spelling errors, even if your points are logically valid. I also find that It becomes harder to proofread accurately when you are irritated.

        The only editing I have done to the documents below is to remove some white space and mail client add-ons for formatting, obscured email addresses so people do not get spammed, fixed character encoding issues and removed the names of some of the people I emailed who would not want to be involved. I kept the file names in the titles as that is how I submitted them.


Grievances against Linda Christiansen.docx
This file contains the main body of the grievance.

 

Grievances against Professor Linda Christiansen

First I'd like to state that before this class I considered Professor Christiansen a friend and colleague.   We got along fine in my first accounting class; I have consulted her on tax law matters and she has consulted me on technical matters. The attack I received on September 30th was quite unexpected. I am not sure why or when she developed such a bias toward me.  Attached is a document given to me by Professor Christiansen and Jon Bingham at a meeting held September 30, 2009. My comments are also attached.  My grievances are as follows:   


1. My character has been defamed by a document put into my student file. Referring to a student as "anti-law and anti-ethics" does not seem appropriate merely because the student respectfully disagrees with you.  To quote the IU student code:

http://www.iu.edu/~code/code/rights/education/index.shtml:

Students should    "have the freedom to raise relevant issues pertaining to classroom discussion (including personal and political beliefs), offer reasonable doubts about data presented, and express alternative opinions without concern for any academic penalty. Students have the right to expect that their work will be evaluated by academic standards alone."

                It was stated in the document (but not in class and never before to me) that I was becoming a distraction, and was not following the professors' instructions.  This is untrue; no clear sign had been give that the topic (unethical laws) was no longer to be discussed when it came up again in class, and I was not doing a filibuster by any means. My estimate of the time taken from class by my speaking would be about three minutes or less, and only in short spurts. More time was wasted by other topics I have outlined in my comments to the document. If other students carried on the discussion, that is because they found some aspect of it relevant.

2. Many irrelevancies are listed in the document, only to cast doubt on me as a student. I do however believe that these statements by Professor Christiansen help to illustrate a bias against me that resulted in the low grade for the midterm and in-class participation. Since class participation is a large part of the grade, I felt the need to participate. Also, according to the syllabus, critical thinking is to be taught, which to me indicates the need to question. If the form of my participation was seen as a distraction, then the teacher should have followed the guidelines listed here:

http://institutionalmemory.iu.edu/aim/bitstream/10333/1634/1/DisruptiveStudents%5B1%5D.pdf

"These behaviors are not subject to penalties that can be imposed due to academic misconduct. Thus, disruption requires alternate methods of resolution."

"Behaviors such as these (e.g., coming late to class, performing a repetitive act that is annoying-tapping fingers, chewing gum, or making a comment in a rude or crude manner, sleeping, reading a newspaper) can be addressed generally through conventional classroom management techniques and/or by speaking with a student privately after class."

                Waiting until after a large file of items the professor found annoying had occurred, and then springing them on me all at once in front of the director of the MBA program does not seem appropriate. If my conduct was seen as wrong, it should have been pointed out to me earlier, not by waiting until there is one live class session left and telling me the "Participation grade is currently F – zero".

3. If my conduct is seen as wrong, it should be brought up to me first, and not to my coworkers who are unrelated to my student life. Professor Christiansen discussed my classroom "behavior" to both Nancy Totten and Gabrielle Carr before bringing it to me at the meeting. This is highly inappropriate and might be a violation of FERPA.

4. Policy was not followed when setting up the meeting. Despite asking many times what the meeting was about, I was not told, so I did not have a chance to prepare a defense for the accusations (I have e-mail documentation of this.). Also, despite the fact I brought my own witness to the meeting she was not allowed to attend; she was told she had to wait outside.

According to the policy statement at http://www.ius.edu/studentaffairs/CodeProcedures_Part2.cfm?#33,
the following rules were violated (at least) if the conference was about "Personal Misconduct":

"Written notice of the specific allegations/charges and the date, time, and location of the scheduled hearing at least five calendar days prior to the hearing."

"Reasonable access to the case file at least three days prior to and during the conference. A case file is part of the student's education record under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974. The personal notes of University staff members are not included in the case file. The case file will be retained in the Office of Student Affairs"

"The accused student may bring a supporter (not legal counsel) to the hearing. The supporter may not participate in the judicial conference or make statements during the conference."

If it was considered "Academic Misconduct", different rules apply, but based on
http://www.iu.edu/~code/code/responsibilities/academic/index.shtml  this situation does not
appear at all to be "Academic Misconduct".

I later asked Jon Bingham what the nature of the meeting was. He said in an email "The meeting was not part of a formal process.  It was an informal informational discussion to make you aware of the concerns as outlined in the printout." If a policy can be bypassed by just saying it is an informal meeting, then the policy is not really a policy. Also, if it was an informal meeting, why the following section at the end of the document?

"This is your final warning. Any other violations of course conduct, whether violations of
this class, program standards, university standards will results in:
• Referral to and discipline by Vice Chancellor Ruth Garvey-Nix
• Report to the Director of Graduate Programs
• Referral to the School of Business Dean and Graduate Policies Committee for review
• Further deductions or lack of additions to course grade"          

I also asked Professor Christiansen for a digital copy of the letter, but was refused. There seems to be a lack of willingness to put things in writing that can be easily reproduced.

5. Because of the nature of the complaints, I'm afraid to comment in the forums or speak truthfully in the analysis section for fear that it will affect my grade. The complaints about my asking questions in the forum about forum -related problems seems unfair.  Because she said that I am "anti-law and anti-ethics" it makes me doubtful that I can properly analyze ethical questions from my own perspective or to play "devil's advocate" without upsetting the professor and lowering my grade.  I feel that this negates the kind of freedom of expression essential for a class on law and ethics.

6. I was given an F on the midterm exam. I would like my results compared to others in the class by someone other than Professor Christiansen. A few other points that seem to me to demonstrate bias: I was originally told I could take the test on the 12th, so I could attend a pre-conference dinner for the ISSA Louisville Infosec Conference.  After the letter from Professor Christiansen I was told I could no longer take it on the 12, and had to take it before,  so  it was scheduled for the 6th. Despite the fact I took it a day before anyone else and all students I've asked seem to have gotten their grades back on the 15th, I did not receive my grade till the 19th. I was not allowed to have a copy of the test for outside comparison, and Jon Bingham told me it was the property of the instructor when I asked to keep it. There was a lack of information given on how she wished the essay questions to be answered,  and all that I had to work with was the exam grading rubric which  I carefully followed.

7. Please see my comments on the document for other aspersions cast against me.

Relief Requested:  I was given an "F" on the midterm exam. I would like my results compared to others in the class by someone other than Professor Christiansen, and the ability to obtain credit for the law and ethics class elsewhere. I was told by Jon Bingham that I could not take the class elsewhere but it does not seem fair for me not to be able to continue on by path to an MBA because of a personality conflict with an instructor.  Also, I wish it to be made clear to Professor Christiansen that her method of handling this situation has not been appropriate for a professor, especially one teaching a course with ethics in the title. I also want the document removed from my file.

Sincerely,
Adrian Crenshaw

 



Paper given at meeting.pdf (not pasted in since it would repeat what I have below)
As the name suggested, the paper given to me at the meeting. Something I should have pointed out in my response, Linda could not get the title of my supposedly offensive posting right.

My Response.docx
Same as above, but with my responses. I decide to just post the combined file.
 

Adrian Crenshaw
B516 Meeting
September 30, 2009
Present:
Adrian Crenshaw
Linda Christiansen, B516 Professor
Jon Bingham, Director of Graduate Programs
General Observations

Student's Comments: As I was not give proper time before the meeting to answer the allegations, I'm taking this opportunity to do so. I'm not good at responding verbally while under attack, and my speech impediment does not help. Text in black is from the original handout given at the meeting, (but not before, so I had no time to prepare.) Comments in red are mine, and comments in blue are quotes for cited documents. 


Unacceptable and unprofessional behavior for graduate business coursework.
Disruptive and damaging to the classroom community and other students.
Grade concerns and warnings.

Student's Comments: Opinions of professional behavior vary. Getting the job done would be my definition, and if you can keep things light- hearted during the process all the better. I've not heard complaints from other students about my questions being disruptive, nor have I complained up until this point about conversations in class involving shopping for lingerie,the tv show Snapped, or other off topic items.



Classroom Behavior
• Not staying on topic

Student's Comments: See comments above. I'd also like to say, I feel that the subjects I was mentioning may not be in the instructors scope of expertise, but they seem quite on topic. On the same subject, the professor should have brought these concerns up with me and not co-workers we both know. This is not professionally acceptable in a professor.


• Excessive use of jargon so comments are not beneficial for students and does
not further classroom discussion and learning

Student's Comments: I'd like an example, but this seems like a very shallow nitpick. Evey student has varied work experience, and some terms may be unknown. The laws I have researched in the past are technology related, so that may be what the professor is referring to.



• Repeating topics despite professor instruction that topic has ended - it was
addressed once but student repeated

Student's Comments: It was not address at all, but merely waved aside. I did bring it back up when the conversation in class slid back that way. I did not feel that I was being disruptive, and without a transcript it would be very subjective to judge. The professor gave no clear instruction that it has ended.

 

• Student asserts and excuses personal and professional anti-law and anti-ethics
statements and positions in class; not for beneficial class discussion
Usage of Oncourse Discussion Forums

Student's Comments: Examples please; just because I don't hold the same values as the instructor does not mean I'm anti-ethics. As for the anti-law statements, that interpretation depends on the purpose of the law and whether or not it is ethical, which is the question the instructor seemed to have the most problem with. The only purpose of the above statement seems to be to cast doubt on the student without stating specifics, and while this is not technically libel it seems to be in the same vein. When discussing when something was illegal, but ethical, I gave the example of in Nazi Germany of how to answer the question "Do you have Jews in your basement", which is a fairly common thing to bring up in philosophy class when talking about ethics and the categorical imperative. I understand the complaint that this is not business related enough, and could have come up with a better example, but this is the canonical one. It seems no less related to business ethics then the long discussion we had in class about the article in the book discussing the Hindu mystic who was left on the mountain to possibly die. To say with a wave of the hand that the Nazi example it is just an extreme, and then not to consider the topic of laws that are unethical seems like an oversight. I'd also like to point out this section of the IU Student Code http://www.iu.edu/~code/code/rights/education/index.shtml:

Have the freedom to raise relevant issues pertaining to classroom discussion (including personal and political beliefs), offer reasonable doubts about data presented, and express alternative opinions without concern for any academic penalty. Students have the right to expect that their work will be evaluated by academic standards alone.

At least the above has been violated from the code, and other items have been broken in spirit.


• The Discussion Forums are graded tools for specific purposes

Student's Comments: Ok, agreed.


• Posting on September 24 - Inappropriate topic for the Assignment Tool

Student's Comments: If you mean me posting a question along the lines of "can we have another forum to discuss law/ethics topics outside of the Wall Street Journal", that is fairly common thing to ask in a forum. If you did not want to, you did not have to. Complaining about this is petty and irrational.


• Postings regarding missing forum posts - proper communications would include
email directly to the instructor

Student's Comments: The answer was of concern to all students in the course, so asking on the public forum seemed appropriate.


• Posting of Polanski article is a violation of the assignment, course rules,
professional judgment, and online etiquette


Student's Comments: I respectfully disagree. I've attached the post in another document, my post dealing with
Polanski and at the time it seemed quite relevant. No rules broken are cited, nor  the specifics of the online etiquette violation. Professional judgment is an aesthetic, very flexible item. I related the post to ethics, and I seemed to recall in class that the teacher would be more impressed with ethics posts. If the original article does not seem relevant enough to business for credit, I can accept that as it has been explained to me since, but I hardly see how it was against rules or etiquette.


o Article was not a business topic, but reported on statutory rape and
extradition

Student's Comments: Not in the business section, but I feel I very much tied it into business. Also, see case 8.3 in the book labeled "The Glowing Letter of Recommendation that Forgot to Mention Sexual Misconduct with Minors". Read my posting and you will see I did cover it from an ethics standpoint. This sort of thing is discussed in class. Also, we discussed in class the topic of rap music that seemed to endorse violence, and the ethics of music producers putting it out. That seems similar to my Polanski post. That article, starting on page 100, even goes so far as to quote the lyrics:

Her bodys beautiful,
so Im thinkin rape
grabbed the bitch by her mouth
slammed her down on the couch.
She begged in a low voice:
"Please don't kill me."
I slit her throat
and watch her shake like on TV
-Geto Boys, "Mind of a Lunatic"  

See page 104 of the Ethics Book

If that sort of thing is discussed in the book, and in class, how can my Polanski post be "violation of the assignment, course rules, professional judgment, and online etiquette"? After an explanation of what the professor was looking for, I can see as how the direct article does not fill the requirments as I had extended it's to talk about ethics, but the content can hardly be seen as a  "violation of the assignment, course rules, professional judgment, and online etiquette" considering the sort of items in the book.


o Title of thread was not the article title ("Polanski to Fight U.S. Extradition
Request" vs. "Polanski: Picture Producers Protect Pedos")

Student's Comments:I don't recall it stated that the title of the post had to match the title of the article. As for my choice in naming, that is an aesthetic choice, one the book mirrors with case titles like:


Making A Basket Case
A Grease Monkey's Uncle, er, Agent
"Reining" Deer at the Local Wal-Mart
Shelf Space Is My Life: Flipping Out over Oreos
Shooting for Payment from a Minor
A Slick Deal by the Olive Oil Agent
Ships and Liability Passing in the Night
Buying Property from the Adams Family: How Scary must it be?
The Artist, The Crayon, And The Contract
Ford to Bette, "Do You Want To Dance"; Bette To Ford, "Not Really?"
Jangling Jewels on the Internet: Can the Court Loop Them In?

Are these considered acceptable considering the gravity of the subjects covered?

o Title of thread was completely unprofessional and unacceptable

Student's Comments: See above.


o Focus of discussion was not in application of the course materials; only
one brief mention of one point at the end, not developed.

Student's Comments: I disagree, read the posting, but if the teacher had asked on the post for expansion I would have been glad to. This was one of the very first posts on the forums, so I did not have much to judge by. Also, was the same treatment given to the posts
High Court Agrees to Hear Gun Right Case - Cody Benjamin Wheeler (cbwheele) (Oct 1, 2009 3:57 PM)
which was not at all business related, but eventually was deleted, but I don't know if Cody got the same chastisement I did. Then there was this post:
Interracial couple denied marriage license in La. - Emir Galijatovic (egalijat) (Oct 16, 2009 4:48 PM)
Which did not even come from the Wall Street Journal, and was also not business related. It was still on the forums last I saw, and has been there for many days. Miscegenation
laws are one of those types of laws I would refer to as illegal to break, but ethical. I have archives of these posts if you would like to see them, and I'm fairly sure I could find others.


o Usage of IMDB.com and thesmokinggun.com
as sources
Chat Room

Student's Comments: Assuming the topic itself would have been approved of, this is a nitpick meant to just tack on more complaints. The IMDB link provides information that the motion picture companies were still supporting him, and the SmokingGun article had court documents that shed more light on the case.



• Questions and complaints about class should be directed to instructor, not chat
room

Student's Comments: The question/complaint was a question asking what had happened to the posts after they were deleted. It affected everyone, and seemed appropriate to ask on the forum.



• Oncourse Tools for coverage of course material and to support learning
Ethics Question Submission
• Question 1 was absolutely unacceptable
• Question 2 was not well-written, including problems with punctuation , spelling,
grammar. This is the minimum standard for submissions in a graduate course.
• Questions 3 and 4 are not questions.

Student's Comments: The first was an obvious joke, and the email was not meant to be a final submission (the dead line was a few weeks off). Considering how people banter in class with examples like:

Shopping for Lingerie
Flowers and boy friends (and what bad things the boyfriend must have done)
Wedding Dresses
The show Snapped, which as I recall from the discussion involves women killing their husbands/boyfriends
Dolphin safe tuna

along with the facts that I have communicated before with the teacher in a friendly manner about other topics,  that she has referred students to me for technical problems, and considering the generally jovial nature of communications up until that point, the colloquial nature seemed appropriate. In hind sight, I should have treated this instructor more as I would have an unknown professor. If I offended with my jest I am sorry, but the time to complain or ask for a change of format would be in the reply email, not to save it up with many other minor complaints an bring it to the director of the MBA program. As for questions 2, 3, and 4 they were not meant to be as formal as a submission email, and when asked I modified them. This seems like another example of something in this complaint to cast doubt on the student in the minds of readers of the complaint that were not there for the event.



Grade Concerns
• Participation grade is currently F - zero

Student's Comments: Quite unjustified, even if some of the topics were a little out of field most were not. I do not have a transcript of the class sessions so I can not point out specifics. I worked it good faith to add to the class participation as I knew it was part of the grade. If the professor did not like the way I participated she should have told me before there was only one live class left.


• At least one violation of the "Online Etiquette" penalty on the syllabus

Student's Comments: It has not been shown that there was any violation of "Online Etiquette". Below is that section of the syllabus and as you see it is unrelated:

Online Etiquette

Please be respectful of classmates in the course of your online posting.  You are required to make comments on the work of your classmates, and often you will have to be corrective to help in the learning for that student as well as the other classmates reading the posting.  In fact, you will be rewarded by your grade when you do this in an effective manner.  Please make sure that your comments are respectful and constructive.  Any violation of this rule will be reported to the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, and will result in the reduction of one full letter grade from your final course grade.



This is your final warning. Any other violations of course conduct, whether violations of
this class, program standards, university standards will results in:

Student's Comments:This was my first warning.

• Referral to and discipline by Vice Chancellor Ruth Garvey-Nix
• Report to the Director of Graduate Programs
• Referral to the School of Business Dean and Graduate Policies Committee for
review
• Further deductions or lack of additions to course grade

 


A summary of this meeting will be included in student's file.

Student's Comments: I plan to submit this into the file as well. As was pointed out in another email, I was not given time to defend myself, and was denied assess to a fourth party to view the proceedings in the meeting. I was also denied an electronic copy of the complaint, but OCR software seems to have done a good job. I approached this class in the same manner as I have all others in my 17 year academic carrier, and if my classroom conduct was seen as disruptive it would have been better to have told me at the time then to save it up for one large complaint. The class is on law and ethics, so controversy will naturally ensue from group discussions. Now I feel that my academic freedoms have been infringed, and I'm fearful to speak up in class. As the IU student code states:

 


Have the freedom to raise relevant issues pertaining to classroom discussion (including personal and political beliefs), offer reasonable doubts about data presented, and express alternative opinions without concern for any academic penalty. Students have the right to expect that their work will be evaluated by academic standards alone.

and I feel this has not been honored. While I understand the instructor is in charge of the course and how it is conducted, I do not believe this was handled fairly, nor that adequate guidance or warning was given. Diversity of opinion is a diversity that matters, and the purpose of an educational program should be to learn--not to make cookie cutter copies.

 



Shouting Gmail - Questions.pdf
Originally I did not have this email in my write-up, but I figured it was good to show how we had communicated previously. I wonder if this is why she said I used excessive jargon? Was I making her feel bad because she did not understand it? Also, when Jay said some of my "posting seemed extremely risqué and inappropriate" was he also referring to me asking about child porn laws in this email? Sorry, business law and ethics is more than just tax fraud, and security research is the business I'm in. Complaining about my typos when she sometimes writes in all caps seems pretty silly. This email shows some of my participation in class. It's pretty unethical in my opinion to give someone a 0 in class participation (without warning) because they brought up some subjects that made you feel uncomfortable when there were plenty of other on topic items to get credit for (and I still maintain that my Oncourse posts were also on topic).

 

Questions
4 messages

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Wed, Sep 9, 2009 at 9:48 PM
To: "Christiansen, Linda A" <lchristi(-at-)ius.edu>
The business in question is my Irongeek.com site, where I do research and publish articles and videos on security topics. Here are some ideas for research:

When is expunging data valid to keep from e-discovery costs, and when would it be considered "destruction of evidence"? Is having set policy of "records are delete every x days",  or "free hard drive space is wiped nightly" enough?

If one runs a segment an anonymizing network, when and how is it legal to monitor traffic?

While doing research on anonymizing networks, what is the best policy to follow concerning inadvertently captured contraband (child porn, copyright infringing files, etc.)? In the case of child porn, the authorities should be notified under normal circumstances, but with anonymizing networks the origin of the files is hard if not impossible to determine. Would it be correct to just wipe the data after research on the network is done?  As I understand it, even having it on your hard drive because of peripherally relevant research would be a crime.

Thanks,
Adrian

ps. As a side note, I'm having a hard time looking at employment law from the perspective of employers. I'd be interested in knowing more about what extra protections state workers have over private employees, and how being a student at a university comes into conflict with being an employee of a university.

Linda Christiansen <lchristi(-at-)ius.edu> Sat, Sep 12, 2009 at 1:36 PM
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>
SEE COMMENTS BELOW EACH QUESTION.

On Sep 9, 2009, at 9:48 PM, Adrian Crenshaw wrote:

The business in question is my Irongeek.com site, where I do research and publish articles and videos on security topics. Here are some ideas for research:

When is expunging data valid to keep from e-discovery costs, and when would it be considered "destruction of evidence"? Is having set policy of "records are delete every x days",  or "free hard drive space is wiped nightly" enough?

GOOD QUESTION.  MAKE SURE THAT YOU MAKE THE QUESTION AND THE RESEARCH BROAD ENOUGH TO HAVE A GOOD SOLID ANSWER AND GET GOOD CREDIT.

If one runs a segment an anonymizing network, when and how is it legal to monitor traffic?

I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THIS IS AND WHETHER THERE WOULD BE LAW ON IT.  AS A RESULT, I CANNOT GUIDE YOU ON WHETHER IT IS A GOOD QUESTION OR NOT.


While doing research on anonymizing networks, what is the best policy to follow concerning inadvertently captured contraband (child porn, copyright infringing files, etc.)? In the case of child porn, the authorities should be notified under normal circumstances, but with anonymizing networks the origin of the files is hard if not impossible to determine. Would it be correct to just wipe the data after research on the network is done?  As I understand it, even having it on your hard drive because of peripherally relevant research would be a crime.
I UNDERSTAND THIS QUESTION A LITTLE BETTER, AND IT SEEMS TO BE A GOOD ONE FOR YOU.  BUT I DON'T UNDERSTAND IT ENOUGH TO GIVE YOU GUIDANCE ON HOW IT WILL WORK FOR THIS ASSIGNMENT.



Thanks,
Adrian

ps. As a side note, I'm having a hard time looking at employment law from the perspective of employers. I'd be interested in knowing more about what extra protections state workers have over private employees, and how being a student at a university comes into conflict with being an employee of a university.

THIS IS ALSO VERY GOOD.  YOU SHOULD CONSIDER RESEARCHING THIS!


Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Sat, Sep 12, 2009 at 2:01 PM
To: Linda Christiansen <lchristi(-at-)ius.edu>
WHY ARE YOU SHOUTING :)

I've looked into the monitor traffic one a little, and it seems you can if you an ISP and are doing it for maintenance reasons. If someone is doing it to snoop, then there are wiretapping laws that cover it. I'll do some more research.

Adrian

Linda Christiansen <lchristi(-at-)ius.edu> Sat, Sep 12, 2009 at 2:04 PM
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>
I definitely think you should do the e-discovery one and the employment law (in the PS) issues.  They would be the best for the project and probably give you some very good information.
 

 

Gmail - Ethics Question.pdf
The ethics questions/ideas I submitted for comment, but not a formal submission for the final question. It is incredibly petty and hypocritical of her to complain about my typos in something that was not even a final submission when she had typos in her response to this very same email.

Ethics Question
5 messages

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Fri, Sep 25, 2009 at 10:42 AM
To: "Christiansen, Linda A" <lchristi(-at-)ius.edu>
I'm debating on my ethics question, but I have three ideas:

1. If you are having an affair with a co-workers spouse, and they have a hear attack during, is it ok to use garbage bags from the janitor's closet to dispose of the body since it's technically a work related expense?

2. What is the ethic of teaching things that can easily be misused. For example in my home bussiness I teach people how to do withs that makes it possible to break into others computers and violate their privacy, but it also has legitimate pen-test applications.

3. The ethic of full disclosure:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_disclosure

4. Workplace monitoring of computer usage.

Thanks,
Adrian
 

Linda Christiansen <lchristi(-at-)ius.edu> Fri, Sep 25, 2009 at 5:58 PM
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>
Hey Adrian,
1.  I think you should probably pass on this one.  And by that, I mean pass on the analysis and pass on doing any of this.
2.  This could work.
3.  These is no question here.  So if you want to resubmit with a question, I will review.
4.  Same thing.  This is just a general topic, rather than a fact situation with a question.

 
You might want to wait until we do some practice to do a final decision on you ethical dilemma.  
 

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Fri, Sep 25, 2009 at 6:08 PM
To: Linda Christiansen <lchristi(-at-)ius.edu>
Okey doke. I'll wait till I see some of the other analysis.

To phrase 3 and 4 in to form of questions:

3. Is it ethical to reveal the details of a software/process exploit? On the one hand, it could lead "bad guys" to know how to attack systems, on the other revealing the details could help system planers not to make the same mistake in the future as well as mitigate current problems. 

4. If you think a worker is shirking/doing unethical things with network resources is it ethical to "spy" on their activities? What side effects would the monitoring have?

I'm currently heavily leaning towards question 2.

Thanks,
Adrian
 

Linda Christiansen <lchristi(-at-)ius.edu> Fri, Sep 25, 2009 at 6:11 PM
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>
I think 2 or 3 are your best options.  Question 4 has the potential to be a good legal research question.  
 

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Fri, Sep 25, 2009 at 6:16 PM
To: Linda Christiansen <lchristi(-at-)ius.edu>
I do have an interest in wiretapping laws, which is what applies to network sniffing (I've done a little looking into this in the past). A while back I made this posting to my blog:

http://www.irongeek.com/i.php?page=computerlaws/state-hacking-laws

So I already have some stuff to look at. I've also been looking into it because of my Darknet research (you have to sniff it to figure out what is going on and what it's being used for).

Adrian
 
 



Gmail - meeting tomorrow m2.pdf
The set up for the meeting, where I was not given a chance to prepare (please read about policy violations in the main grievance document, and White's excuses in his messages to me).
 

meeting tomorrow
15 messages

Linda Christiansen <lchristi(-at-)ius.edu> Tue, Sep 29, 2009 at 5:10 PM
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>
Cc: Jon Bingham <jebingha(-at-)ius.edu>
Adrian, Jon Bingham and I need to meet with you tomorrow (Wednesday).  We must have this meeting before class tomorrow evening.  Would you be available at 1:00?  We will be meeting with you in the Dean's Conference Room in the School of Business office area.
Linda Christiansen
 

Linda Christiansen <lindachristiansen(-at-)gmail.com> Tue, Sep 29, 2009 at 5:14 PM
To: "irongeek(-at-)gmail.com" <irongeek(-at-)gmail.com>

 

 
Begin forwarded message:

 
From: Linda Christiansen <lchristi(-at-)ius.edu>
 
Date: September 29, 2009 5:10:19 PM EDT
 
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>
 
Cc: Jon Bingham <jebingha(-at-)ius.edu>
 
Subject: meeting tomorrow
 

 
Adrian, Jon Bingham and I need to meet with you tomorrow (Wednesday).  We must have this meeting before class tomorrow evening.  Would you be available at 1:00?  We will be meeting with you in the Dean's Conference Room in the School of Business office area.
Linda Christiansen
 

 

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Tue, Sep 29, 2009 at 5:18 PM
To: Linda Christiansen <lchristi(-at-)ius.edu>
Cc: Jon Bingham <jebingha(-at-)ius.edu>
Sure, any details on what this is about?
Thanks,
Adrian
 

Linda Christiansen <lchristi(-at-)ius.edu> Tue, Sep 29, 2009 at 5:22 PM
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>
Expectations for participation in the course.  See you Wednesday at 1:00p.  Have one of the office staff let Jon know when you arrive.
 

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Tue, Sep 29, 2009 at 5:24 PM
To: Linda Christiansen <lchristi(-at-)ius.edu>
Did I do something wrong?

Adrian
 

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Tue, Sep 29, 2009 at 7:34 PM

Bingham, Jon <jebingha(-at-)ius.edu> Wed, Sep 30, 2009 at 11:08 AM
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>, "Christiansen, Linda A" <lchristi(-at-)ius.edu>

Adrian,

In response to your phone message this morning, the meeting is in regard to expectations in the B516 course.  More specific discussion will be in the meeting.  See you at 1:00p.

 

Jon Bingham

Director, Graduate Business Programs

Indiana University Southeast

(812) 941-2364

www.ius.edu/business

 

*************************************************************************************************

IU Southeast's part time MBA achieves national prominence (top 20) in BusinessWeek ranking.

http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/nov2007/bs2007111_310993.htm

The IUS MBA Program also was ranked 5th in the nation for "Best Classroom Experience" in the 2009 edition of The Princeton Review.

http://www.princetonreview.com/business-school.aspx

*************************************************************************************************

 

From: irongeek(-at-)gmail.com [mailto:irongeek(-at-)gmail.com] On Behalf Of Adrian Crenshaw
Sent: Tuesday, September 29, 2009 5:18 PM
To: Christiansen, Linda A
Cc: Bingham, Jon
Subject: Re: meeting tomorrow

 

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Wed, Sep 30, 2009 at 11:12 AM
To: "Bingham, Jon" <jebingha(-at-)ius.edu>
Cc: "Christiansen, Linda A" <lchristi(-at-)ius.edu>
Jon and Linda,
     Since I can no longer access the Oncourse site for the class, I'm assuming I've done something that is considered wrong. Is that the case?

Thanks,

Adrian
 

Bingham, Jon <jebingha(-at-)ius.edu> Wed, Sep 30, 2009 at 11:13 AM
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>
Cc: "Christiansen, Linda A" <lchristi(-at-)ius.edu>

Adrian,

We will meet at 1:00p.  See you then.

 

Jon Bingham

Director, Graduate Business Programs

Indiana University Southeast

(812) 941-2364

www.ius.edu/business

 

*************************************************************************************************

IU Southeast's part time MBA achieves national prominence (top 20) in BusinessWeek ranking.

http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/nov2007/bs2007111_310993.htm

The IUS MBA Program also was ranked 5th in the nation for "Best Classroom Experience" in the 2009 edition of The Princeton Review.

http://www.princetonreview.com/business-school.aspx

*************************************************************************************************

 

From: irongeek(-at-)gmail.com [mailto:irongeek(-at-)gmail.com] On Behalf Of Adrian Crenshaw
Sent: Wednesday, September 30, 2009 11:12 AM
To: Bingham, Jon
Cc: Christiansen, Linda A
Subject: Re: meeting tomorrow

 

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Wed, Sep 30, 2009 at 11:14 AM
To: "Bingham, Jon" <jebingha(-at-)ius.edu>
Cc: "Christiansen, Linda A" <lchristi(-at-)ius.edu>
I understand, but if I'm being accused of something I would like the ability to prepare an answer.

Thanks,
Adrian
 

Bingham, Jon <jebingha(-at-)ius.edu> Wed, Sep 30, 2009 at 11:16 AM
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>
Cc: "Christiansen, Linda A" <lchristi(-at-)ius.edu>

The meeting at 1:00p will be sufficient to clarify any questions.  See you then.

 

Jon Bingham

Director, Graduate Business Programs

Indiana University Southeast

(812) 941-2364

www.ius.edu/business

 

*************************************************************************************************

IU Southeast's part time MBA achieves national prominence (top 20) in BusinessWeek ranking.

http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/nov2007/bs2007111_310993.htm

The IUS MBA Program also was ranked 5th in the nation for "Best Classroom Experience" in the 2009 edition of The Princeton Review.

http://www.princetonreview.com/business-school.aspx

*************************************************************************************************

 

From: irongeek(-at-)gmail.com [mailto:irongeek(-at-)gmail.com] On Behalf Of Adrian Crenshaw
Sent: Wednesday, September 30, 2009 11:15 AM

 

 

 

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Wed, Sep 30, 2009 at 11:18 AM
<redacted>
The lack of willingness to put something in writing seems off putting.

Adrian

 
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Bingham, Jon <jebingha(-at-)ius.edu>
Date: Wed, Sep 30, 2009 at 11:16 AM
Subject: RE: meeting tomorrow
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>
 
 
 


Polanski.docx
The post in question.

Polanski: Picture Producers Promoting Pedos
WSJ: 09/28/2009 A3
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125413187268245957.html
(Note, the article online is not an exact match to the one in the dead trees version)
    Ok, this one is easy to tie into ethics, but what about business? That's also pretty easy since film production companies are a business, and who they decide to employ/support most certainly involves ethics.  If one was to take a look as his IMDB profile
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000591/
you would notice quite a few films he had been directly involved with since his guilty plea, then flight from justice.  Extra details on the case can be found at:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/polanskicover1.html
    The question is, should film production companies care? I imagine some do, but there still seem to be a fair number of film companies, and actors for that matter, willing to work with him.  From a "rational self interest" stand point alone, if I ran a movie studio I would not want to be associated with him. Then again, maybe his films make money despite the bad press, and it's not like the kind of films he makes are a draw for the "family friendly" crowd.  Looking at the box office draws on some of his recent films, they do make a modest profit, though most of it is made outside of the United States.
     This would be a bad case to use the Categorical Imperative on, since how would you phrase it? "You should always want it to be the case to financially support the film directing of a pedophile?"

Someone brought up Robert Downy Jr., so I replied:
I would say there is a world of difference between a drug abuser that is rehabilitated (in theory) and a self confessed pedophile who fled the country to avoid going to jail. One is harming themselves and loved ones (with some exceptions like if there was an accident causing physical damage), and the other used their position of power to have sex with a 13 year old girl. This guy would be a better example:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0759207/
As for legal, I imagine the companies financing his films are doing nothing illegal, just ethically questionable. Also, I would not support a law saying who someone can hire to make a movie (with the exception perhaps of a pedophile directing a movie with a bunch of kids). If Polanski had done his time, then went back to making movies that would be one thing, but he was still a fugitive from US authorities at the time of his arrest.



Gmail - Test day.pdf
Gmail - alternative testing.pdf
Gmail - Test Date.pdf
These three emails show that originally I was supposed to take the test with the other section of the class so I could attend an ISSA event. I even confirmed this after the meeting with Linda and Bingham. Then, suddenly, it seemed I could not take the test with the other class because "The other class has different conditions so that is not possible." What different conditions? This, and the fact that I took the test first but did not get a grade back until after others did makes these events/choices look very suspicious.

Test day
4 messages

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Mon, Sep 21, 2009 at 4:24 PM
To: "Christiansen, Linda A" <lchristi(-at-)ius.edu>
Hi Linda,
    Is it possible to take the test with the Monday class? Or maybe to start an hour earlier on the normal Wednesday time? I've got an ISSA dinner that night it seems. It is the 7th right?

Thanks,
Adrian
 

Linda Christiansen <lchristi(-at-)ius.edu> Mon, Sep 21, 2009 at 4:30 PM
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>
You can take it with Monday's class on the 12th.
 

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Mon, Sep 21, 2009 at 4:35 PM
To: Linda Christiansen <lchristi(-at-)ius.edu>
Thanks. I take it it's still at 6pm in the Library classroom?

Thanks,
Adrian
 

Linda Christiansen <lchristi(-at-)ius.edu> Mon, Sep 21, 2009 at 4:40 PM
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>
Right.
 
 
Test Date
2 messages

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Thu, Oct 1, 2009 at 8:01 AM
To: "Christiansen, Linda A" <lchristi(-at-)ius.edu>
Just to be clear, I still plan to use the test date set for the 12th so I don't miss the ISSA even the night of the 8th.

Adrian
 

Linda Christiansen <lchristi(-at-)ius.edu> Thu, Oct 1, 2009 at 9:05 PM
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>
Yes, that is fine.
 
 
alternative testing
5 messages

Linda Christiansen <lchristi(-at-)ius.edu> Fri, Oct 2, 2009 at 12:37 PM
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>
Hi Adrian,
When would you be available to take a make-up exam in lieu of the taking it with the class next Wednesday?  You can make arrangements with Kim, the Graduate Programs secretary to schedule a time.  Would earlier that Wednesday be a possibility?  Or earlier next week?
Linda Christiansen
 

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Fri, Oct 2, 2009 at 12:47 PM
To: Linda Christiansen <lchristi(-at-)ius.edu>
I was under the impression from previous emails that I was taking it on Oct 12 with the other class.

Adrian
 

Linda Christiansen <lchristi(-at-)ius.edu> Fri, Oct 2, 2009 at 12:51 PM
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>
The other class has different conditions so that is not possible.  
 

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Fri, Oct 2, 2009 at 12:56 PM
To: Linda Christiansen <lchristi(-at-)ius.edu>, kwells(-at-)ius.edu
In that case, Tuesday the 6th. I would prefer after work, say about 6pm. Kwells(-at-)ius.edu is the correct address?

Adrian
 

Linda Christiansen <lchristi(-at-)ius.edu> Fri, Oct 2, 2009 at 2:00 PM
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>
The School of Business office closes at 6:30 pm so you will want to allow as much time as you can up to a limit of 2.75 hours for the exam.  The finish time would be 6:25 pm at the latest.  You can begin testing as early as 8:00 am there if you like.  
 
 



dr whites response 1.pdf
Sorry for the typos in this and the next file, I was pretty irritated by this point and not proof reading as well as I should. The dean excuses Linda Christiansen and Jon Bingham of not following policy because their actions were not an "official grievance" against me, but when I looked at the policy last, the only time the word grievance appears is in reference to a student filing a grievance against someone at the university, not a faculty member filing against a student. It is very clear from the policy that those rules are to be followed for any "disciplinary" action of this sort against a student, but it seems like Jay White feels he can rewrite them when the policy is inconvenient for him. Then again, Dr. White also had some typos and some make it look like he was copying and pasting from some other text ("the you" parts). By the way, I need to point out that Jay White's reference to the "September 20 letter" is a typo, it was September 30th (lest someone think that I got a warning before the 30th).
 

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 3:45 PM
To: "White, Alan Jay" <jwhite04(-at-)ius.edu>
Thanks,
    Please see comments below. I will bring the signed form to the MBA office shortly.

 
On Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 3:18 PM, White, Alan Jay <jwhite04(-at-)ius.edu> wrote:
 

Good afternoon Mr. Crenshaw,

 

I wanted to let you know that I've completed the investigation of your grievance against Professor Christiansen.  My investigation included a thorough review of the materials you provided, a review of comments/thread discussions from the class in questions, a review of your exam, and discussions with parties you had named in the grievance. 

 

My finding is that there appears to be no justifiable cause for an official grievance.  Grading seems to have been done in a fair and equitable manner and you are free to review the exam and go over the instructor's feedback.  The exam is property of the university however and cannot be removed nor will a copy be provided for you to keep.  This is standard procedure and one I followed when teaching regularly.

 

You should understand that the School of Business strongly supports academic freedom and diversity.  Students are encouraged to question, and posit alternative theories, and think for themselves.  This freedom doesn't mean that you are going to be free from criticism for your views however, either from the instructor or from your peers.  If you bring up a very different theory or point of view it is the academic rights of others to question you, and hard, for those view.  Nor does it mean that an instructor has to devote unlimited classroom time to one student's opinions.  According to the instructor time was devoted in class for your viewpoints, especially the ones relating to Nazi Germany.  Your right to bring up alternative views does not appear to have been infringed upon.     

 

I have no problem with people criticizing my view points, what I have a problem is being failed because of my view points. No one really even bothered to criticizing beyond saying the Nazi Germany example was "extreme".  No comments on it being acceptable to call a student anti-law and anti-ethics? That is not debating the issue. I did not ask for unlimited time, and took very little class time.
 
 

In relation to the meeting on September 30, the instructor and graduate director (who also serves as advisor to graduate students) tried to provide guidance for you regarding the expectations for success in the course.    Regarding the manner in which the meeting between the you, the graduate director, and instructor took place I do agree that it would have been less stressful for the you, and preferred by me, for a frank discussion to have conducted between you and the instructor first.  However, the instructor felt that you were not fully understanding her classroom exhortations and felt the need to have the Graduate Director there to stress the seriousness and importance of the classroom expectations.  Whereas this would have been preferred, and as there was no official student code violation grievance filed nor was this an official hearing, the method by which this was handled does not appear to have violated any rights held by you as a student.  Again, this was not an official hearing nor an official grievance filed against you, rather it was designed as an advisory session to point out the gaps between current behaviors and expectations for the program. 

If all policy can be ignored by saying they are unofficial, then there is no reason to have a policy in place at all. If it was "unofficial" why wording such as "this is your last warning" and saying the next step is to talk to the head of student affairs.  
 

 

The potential FERPA violations you mentioned were taken quite seriously and I spoke with all parties involved.  No grades or records were discussed by the instructor and nothing relating to the specifics of the Sept. 30 meeting has been revealed to anyone except those you released yourself.  This has been corroborated by all parties involved.  My conclusion is that no FERPA violations occurred.

Point taken, and descriptions of behavior are not protected in the same way as grades. Still, will you not admit this is bad form to tell my coworkers I am a distraction in class, but never bring it up with me until after the fact? Or the only warning I receive about class participation is hours before the last class I could anything about it?
 

I realize this may not be what you wanted to hear.  At this point, if you wish to continue with an official grievance you will need to provide me with a signed copy of the grievance form (the electronic version did not have a signature) so we can continue the process.  Based on what you've provided me so far to support a grievance I feel you could better spend your time by analyzing the comments from your Sept. 30 meeting with as unbiased eye as possible and determine if you can close the gap between your current situation and the expectations as laid out by the instructor and graduate director. 

Are there things I could learn from these events, certainly.  But to excuse the teachers behavior and for her not to learn form is as well is not acceptable.
 

 

Based on your replies to each of the charges in the September 30 letter I feel that you are not taking the comments constructively, as they were intended.  As evidence you use terms such as "nitpicking" and "professional judgment is an aesthetic, very flexible" to justify your stances.  In addition you state "[subject] is fairly common thing to bring up in a philosophy class" to defend your in-class comments related to Nazi Germany.  But you have to realize this is not a philosophy class, it is a business law and ethics class and we want our students to see the topics from that point of view.  All of the exhortations given in the September 20 letter are designed with that in mind.  I think if you can do that you can have success and that is the ultimate goal for all of us.

 

Nitpicking and petty are good words to describe some of the complaints against me, please reread my response. To complain about me speaking technically, or to complain about ask questions in the forum, about the forum, is very much petty. Ethics is a branch of philosophy. Is what is being thought in class ethics or "guide lines to save face"?
 

I'd be happy to meet with you and discuss this in more detail.  Please feel free to contact Cheryl Young (young24(-at-)ius.edu) in the School of Business office or Kim Wells (krwells(-at-)ius.edu) to set up an appointment.

 

So, nothing about having the tests regraded by a 3rd party? Or being able to take the class elsewhere? It really does not seem that my grievances have been answered beyond: "tenured faculty set the rules". I don't wish to make more enemies, but morally I have to continue the grievance procedures even if I ultimately get nothing out of it. I feel that my response to the letter given to me on the 30th, and my list of grievances, has been ignored.

Adrian Crenshaw
 


dr whites response 2.pdf
Notice the last section,  which is vaguely threatening that I won't be able to continue in the program if I file the grievance. He seems to care a lot about their expectations of me, but not about my expectations of them (fair treatment, communication of the issues as they come up and not saving them for a spiteful letter mere hours before the final live class, honoring a student's rights as outlined in IU policy, etc.). Which requirements was I supposedly not fulfilling? I was participating in the class in good faith, and was doing as I was supposed to according to the syllabus and according to policy. I guess it is also a requirement never to question the instructor? Then there is the section about finding a major that is "a better match for your disposition", so much for the diversity White claimed to support in the earlier email. White was not interested in resolving a conflict between a professor and a student, but in getting the student to shut up and go away.
 

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 5:02 PM
To: "White, Alan Jay" <jwhite04(-at-)ius.edu>
Dr. White,
   Please go ahead and file the grievance. More comments below. 

 
On Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 4:42 PM, White, Alan Jay <jwhite04(-at-)ius.edu> wrote:
 

Mr. Crenshaw,

 

Your reply was very swift, and although promptness is appreciated I very strongly suggest you consider my comments for a day or two at least before proceeding.  I have read ALL of your comments and materials multiple times and will reiterate that there is no cause for a grievance.  As for having a 3rd party re-grade your test I have no intention of approving that.  In short you have not made a case for such an action and you did not receive a failing grade because of your values or viewpoints.  Your grade is a result of your performance.  Let me ask you this, have you even reviewed the test yet and the instructor comments?  If not then how can you even ask for such a review?

 

Yes, I have reviewed it, however without comparison to other students there is no way to tell if the grade is fair. And I means this as no slight, but I need time to read her handwriting (I have to admit mine is fairly bad too, years of only typing on a keyboard causes that). Also, I would need more time for outside comparison, when means needing a copy.
 
 

My only intention is to help you move forward and have success in the program.  I still offer that to you and that is why I'm holding the grievance until Friday.  Unless you tell me otherwise I will proceed then but I hope you will reconsider and at least have a conversation with me.  In the meantime I ask you to consider carefully what you wish to accomplish overall.  Why are you pursuing an MBA?  What do you want to do with such a degree? Do you fully understand that you must meet all program requirements and the requirements of each of the required courses (B516 is not an elective)?  Are you willing to meet those requirement and/or work with the graduate director and instructor to ensure you understand where gaps lie?  Your answer to the last two questions is important.  If you are not willing to meet the classroom expectations for a required course then you will be unable to complete the course and therefore the MBA. 

I am willing to meet classroom expectations if they are outlined before the class, not hours before the last live class of the course (which is what happened). If she had come to me after class and explained it in the form of "Adrian, this is not really what we are going for in the class", that would have been fine. Instead, she saved it all up for a letter that was not written as a form of guidance, but as an attack (the anti-law and anti-ethics comments for example). What I wanted to get out of the MBA program is outlined in my application letter. I know B516 is a required course, but I do not believe I will be treated fairly in that course if Linda is the professor. Also, I'm not sure I'd want to take a course on Law and Ethics from someone who seems to abuse their power (changing the meaning of "online ethics", not following policy, etc), and gets upset when someone questions the material. I know the events that happened is class are a "he said, she said" sort of thing, and that you are likely to side with Linda because you know her and she is tenured faculty. That is the reason I wanted a witness at the meeting, which I was denied.
 

If you value the MBA and wish to complete the degree program you need to decide what it will take to do that and then pursue that course.  As you consider these things you may conclude that the MBA isn't the best path for you.  If that is your conclusion I will again offer my assistance to see if credits cannot transfer into a program that would be a better fit for your goals and be a better match for your disposition.

Other than Liberal Studies and Education, I'm not sure of other Masters programs at IUS. I value the MBA program, but not so much that I will disregard my principles or be bullied while pursuing my academic freedoms. 
 
 

White, Alan Jay <jwhite04(-at-)ius.edu> Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 5:05 PM

To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>

Thank you Adrian.  I will proceed as you wish.

 

 

 

 

A. Jay White

Dean and Associate Professor of Finance

School of Business

Indiana University Southeast

New Albany, IN 47150

812-941-2325

 

jwhite04(-at-)ius.edu

 

If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest. – Benjamin Franklin

 


Gmail - Chance to look over Test.pdf
This 2nd chance to view the exam was dropped, and they never contacted me after the meeting.
 

Test
6 messages

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Thu, Nov 5, 2009 at 10:26 AM
To: "White, Alan Jay" <jwhite04(-at-)ius.edu>
Hello Dr. White,
      When would be a good time for me to come by and take a longer look at the midterm test? It will take me some time to analyze it, and construct a response. Also, the issue of the F in class participation is still in question, especially since I was given no warning till hours before the last class. I'm working on getting a meeting set up for next week.

Thanks,
Adrian Crenshaw
 

White, Alan Jay <jwhite04(-at-)ius.edu> Thu, Nov 5, 2009 at 10:36 AM
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>
I just gave Kim some days/times that would work next week.
 
Regarding the exam, I'd need to ask the instructor about a time.  I don't know if she'd have to be there necessarily but it would help if you had additional questions about the expectations and responses.  You should know that you won't be allowed to take the exam or be alone with the exam.  Is your preference to have the instructor there or not?
 
I have not yet reviewed the computations/evaluations for that portion of your overall grade but will add that to my investigation prior to our meeting next week.
 
J

From: irongeek(-at-)gmail.com [irongeek(-at-)gmail.com] On Behalf Of Adrian Crenshaw [irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com]
Sent: Thursday, November 05, 2009 10:26 AM
To: White, Alan Jay
Subject: Test

 
 

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Thu, Nov 5, 2009 at 11:12 AM
To: "White, Alan Jay" <jwhite04(-at-)ius.edu>
Linda can be there, as long as I can have a witness there as well. I will need to take notes about the test.

Also, what are my option for independent study, or taking the course elsewhere to receive the credit?

Thanks,
Adrian
 

White, Alan Jay <jwhite04(-at-)ius.edu> Thu, Nov 5, 2009 at 1:12 PM
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>

I've spoken with Linda and we'll have to work out a day/time.  I want to reiterate that, although note taking is OK, you will not be able to copy the exam.

 

Regarding an independent study I'm afraid that any consideration will have to wait until after the grievance process is completed.  At that time Jon, or I, will be glad to discuss options.  I will say that granting the option for an independent study or to take a similar course and transfer it back in is rarely done and in those cases is done to assist a student who has been relocated due to work.  I don't think your situation would apply.

 

 

 

 

A. Jay White

Dean and Associate Professor of Finance

School of Business

Indiana University Southeast

New Albany, IN 47150

812-941-2325

 

jwhite04(-at-)ius.edu

 

If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest. – Benjamin Franklin

 

From: irongeek(-at-)gmail.com [mailto:irongeek(-at-)gmail.com] On Behalf Of Adrian Crenshaw
Sent: Thursday, November 05, 2009 11:13 AM
To: White, Alan Jay
Subject: Re: Test

 

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Thu, Nov 5, 2009 at 1:18 PM
To: "White, Alan Jay" <jwhite04(-at-)ius.edu>
Please let me know when there is a date time set. Thanks.

Adrian
 

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Thu, Nov 5, 2009 at 1:18 PM
To: <redacted>
It does not look good for getting the credit elsewhere.

Adrian
 
 


Gmail - Checking to make sure grievance was filed.pdf
Here I start asking secretaries if the grievance was on file already (a question no one ever answers). Between this first email, and Atnip's response, it takes more than a month (7/11/2011-8/16/2011) before Atnip responds, for what should have been as simple as a secretary walking over to a filing cabinet or typing into their workstation to figure out if it was on file or not. Also notice, they never really say when it was filed: When I first put it in, or only after almost two years had gone by.
 

Checking to make sure grievance was filed
11 messages

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Mon, Jul 11, 2011 at 1:40 PM
To: tandrews(-at-)ius.edu, psylvest(-at-)ius.edu
Hello,
    In the fall of 2009 I filed a grievance against Linda Christiansen while I was working on my MBA. I never heard back so I wanted to make sure it was indeed filed by Dr. White. Also, since the document labeled "Paper given at meeting.pdf" was supposedly put in my student file, I wanted to make sure my response was on file as well (My Response.docx). I'm emailing both academic and student affairs as I'm not sure from the flow chart who handles this. If nothing else, I'd like the attached documents added to the related files in case anyone else comes in conflict with Linda Christiansen in the future.

Thanks,
Adrian Crenshaw
 

More information in these docs:
 
 
GRIEVANCE_FORM_Adrian Crenshaw.pdf
The form from this site:http://www.ius.edu/studentaffairs/grievance.cfm

Grievances against Linda Christiansen.docx
This file contains the main body of the grievance.

B516 Fall 2009 Syllabus.doc
So the expectations of the course are clear.

Paper given at meeting.pdf
As the name suggested, the paper given to me at the meeting

My Response.docx
Same as above, but with my responses.

Other emails showing the casual nature of our conversations up until this point:
Gmail - Fraudies.pdf
Gmail - Tax Write off.pdf
Gmail - SOX Presentation.pdf
Shouting Gmail - Questions.pdf

Gmail - Ethics Question.pdf
The ethics questions I submitted for comment, but not a formal submission.

Gmail - meeting tomorrow m.pdf
The set up for the meeting, where I was not given a chance to prepare (please read about policy violations in main grievance document).

Polanski.docx
The Post in question.

dr whites response 1.pdf

dr whites response 2.pdf
 

 

 

 


 
 
14 attachments
  B516 Fall 2009 Syllabus.doc
127K
  Paper given at meeting.pdf
388K
  Gmail - Ethics Question.pdf
74K
  Polanski.docx
13K
  Gmail - Fraudies.pdf
15K
  Gmail - Tax Write off.pdf
20K
  Gmail - SOX Presentation.pdf
18K
  Shouting Gmail - Questions.pdf
24K
  GRIEVANCE_FORM_Adrian Crenshaw.pdf
136K
  My Response.docx
18K
  Grievances against Linda Christiansen.docx
17K
  dr whites response 1.pdf
85K
  dr whites response 2.pdf
78K
  Gmail - meeting tomorrow m.pdf
112K


Sylvester, Paula K <psylvest(-at-)ius.edu> Wed, Jul 13, 2011 at 8:12 AM
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>

Adrian,

 

I understand that Vice Chancellor Atnip is viewing your email and materials.  Vice Chancellor Garvey-Nix is out of state for several days-the email and information will be in her inbox when she returns.  Thanks.

 

Paula Sylvester

Indiana University Southeast

Office of Student Affairs

4201 Grant Line Road

New Albany, IN  47150

(812) 941-2420

 

From: irongeek(-at-)gmail.com [mailto:irongeek(-at-)gmail.com] On Behalf Of Adrian Crenshaw
Sent: Monday, July 11, 2011 1:41 PM
To: Andrews, Teresa A; Sylvester, Paula K
Subject: Checking to make sure grievance was filed

 

Hello,

 

 

 

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Wed, Jul 13, 2011 at 8:21 AM
To: "Sylvester, Paula K" <psylvest(-at-)ius.edu>
Hello Paula,

    Thank you very much. Was it not on file then?

Thanks,
Adrian
 
 

Sylvester, Paula K <psylvest(-at-)ius.edu> Wed, Jul 13, 2011 at 8:26 AM
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>

Adrian,

 

Please consult with Vice Chancellor Atnip's Office.  Student Affairs does not handle complaints regarding faculty but I have forwarded your information to VC Garvey-Nix as an FYI.  Thanks.

 

Paula

 

From: irongeek(-at-)gmail.com [mailto:irongeek(-at-)gmail.com] On Behalf Of Adrian Crenshaw
Sent: Wednesday, July 13, 2011 8:22 AM
To: Sylvester, Paula K
Subject: Re: Checking to make sure grievance was filed

 

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Wed, Jul 13, 2011 at 8:29 AM
To: "Sylvester, Paula K" <psylvest(-at-)ius.edu>
Hi Paula,
   Ok. Thanks and acknowledged.

Adrian
 

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 10:07 AM
To: tandrews(-at-)ius.edu, psylvest(-at-)ius.edu
Hello Ms. Andrews,
     Do you have any information on if this grievance was indeed filed? I never heard back, and if Dr. White chose not to file it then I have another grievance  to make. As per: http://www.ius.edu/studentaffairs/article/grievance

"Please note that in accordance with federal regulations, IU Southeast is required to share summary information about complaints with its accrediting agency, the Higher Learning Commission, as part of the reaccreditation process. Individual identities of those who have filed a complaint will not be provided."

     I'd like to request that they don't redact my name, and I'm fine with them contacting me. If neither of you are the right person to ask to confirm that the grievance was filed, then could you please tell me the correct contact?

Thank you,
Adrian Crenshaw
 

Andrews, Teresa A <tandrews(-at-)ius.edu> Mon, Aug 8, 2011 at 7:37 AM
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>, "Sylvester, Paula K" <psylvest(-at-)ius.edu>

Vice Chancellor Atnip is out of the office on vacation until Thursday.  I will follow up with him then to check the status of this.

 

Have a good day!

Teresa

 

From: irongeek(-at-)gmail.com [mailto:irongeek(-at-)gmail.com] On Behalf Of Adrian Crenshaw
Sent: Saturday, August 06, 2011 10:08 AM
To: Andrews, Teresa A; Sylvester, Paula K
 

 

 

 

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Mon, Aug 8, 2011 at 11:12 AM
To: "Andrews, Teresa A" <tandrews(-at-)ius.edu>
Cc: "Sylvester, Paula K" <psylvest(-at-)ius.edu>
Hello Teresa,
     Ok, thanks much.

Adrian
 

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Wed, Sep 7, 2011 at 5:38 AM
To: "Andrews, Teresa A" <tandrews(-at-)ius.edu>
Hello Teresa,
    I got a response back from Vice Chancellor Atnip that the documents are now on file. When he responded he used the name Christenson, could you place make sure it is filed under the correct spelling of Christiansen? Assuming the records are recovered electronically, it would never come up if someone searched for it under the wrong spelling. Also, I'd still like a date for when they were first filed: when I originally filed the grievance back in 2009, or only after I checked up on it in 2011. Sorry to be a stickler, but I feel it is my ethical duty to make sure.

Thanks for your time,
Adrian

 
On Mon, Aug 8, 2011 at 7:37 AM, Andrews, Teresa A <tandrews(-at-)ius.edu> wrote:
 
 
 

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Wed, Sep 7, 2011 at 6:03 AM
To: "Andrews, Teresa A" <tandrews(-at-)ius.edu>
Hello Teresa,
    Sorry about that, "place" should of been "please". As you can see, I have problems with typos/auto-correct too. :)

Thanks,
Adrian
 
 
 


Gmail - Atnip's response.pdf
He misspelled the teacher's name, hope it's filed correctly and can be found when someone looks for it. I make it known many times that I want to know when Jay White filed it with him, but never got a direct answer. When I pointed out policy that indicated a time table for them to respond to my grievance with an outcome, and that White never did, Atnip points out that the policy I found is old and points me to a new policy that is just a flow chart with little detail. He also says they are working on taking down the policy that had details. I'm not exactly sure how he can say "It's my understanding that Dean White did not ignore your grievance, but that he investigated and resolved it, albeit not in the way you had hoped." when White never got back to me on taking the class elsewhere and other matters such as seeing my test again.
 

grievance
5 messages

Atnip, Gilbert W. <gatnip(-at-)ius.edu> Tue, Aug 16, 2011 at 3:08 PM
To: "irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com" <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>

Mr. Crenshaw,

 

This is to verify that the materials you submitted in regard to your grievance against Professor Christenson are on file in my office, along with your email stating that you waive your right to have your grievance kept anonymous during any future accreditation reviews.

 

Gilbert W. Atnip

Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

Indiana University Southeast

New Albany, IN 47150

812-941-2208

 


Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Tue, Aug 16, 2011 at 3:42 PM
To: "Atnip, Gilbert W." <gatnip(-at-)ius.edu>
Hello Dr. Atnip,
    Thanks for the response and the confirmation. As I did not hear back from Dr. White I began to think that the grievance was never filed against Professor Christiansen when I put in the forms.There was the question of taking the course elsewhere, which was never resolved. Also, I had emailed the dean about having a longer chance to view the test, which he said he would set up, but they dropped contact on that and I never heard back(see attachment). Those items led me to suspect that they may have just dropped the matter without following policy. As an employee of the university also, I want to keep things separate from my role as a student. That said there's certain freedoms in my role as a student in discussing the matter I fear may be treaded on.

Thanks for your time and for checking into it,
 
Adrian Crenshaw
 
--
"The ability to quote is a serviceable substitute for wit." ~ W. Somerset Maugham

 
 
  Gmail - Chance to look over Test.pdf
25K

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Sat, Sep 10, 2011 at 12:20 PM
To: "Atnip, Gilbert W." <gatnip(-at-)ius.edu>
Hello Dr. Atnip,
    Sorry to bother you again, but there are still a few outstanding issues I would like to resolve.

1. No offence intended in this, but you seem to have a typo in the faculty member name from your last response. It should be Christiansen. I assume records are computerized, and want to make sure names are correct so they can be found in searches.

2. I'm still curious to know if Dr. White followed policy and forwarded the materials on to you, or if you only received them when I brought it up again this summer. I never heard back from him after I made the formal complaint and brought the signed copy to the MBA office. Based on my understanding of:
http://www2.ius.edu/studentaffairs/studentcode_part1.cfm
it should have been brought to you after 21 days. If it was not, then I have another grievance to file concerning Dr. White. As far as I can tell, I submitted it to him and it fell into a hole and was forgotten.

3. Did the "Campus Grievance Commission" ever see it? My understanding is there are students on this commission as well, and I would certainly like them to review it.

4. I realize I should have followed up in a quicker time frame, but I had other pressing matters with my new master program and various conferences. Granted, many of the "desired outcomes" I asked for no longer apply as I've had to move to a new program. Still, I'd like the Campus Grievance Commission to have a look at it, including all materials I submitted, and Dr. White's response (which was quite dismissive, one sided, and in part vaguely intimidating as to filing the grievance vs. being able to stay in the program).

Thanks,
Adrian Crenshaw
 

Atnip, Gilbert W. <gatnip(-at-)ius.edu> Wed, Sep 21, 2011 at 10:41 AM
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>

Mr. Crenshaw,

 

Sorry about the spelling error.  I can assure you it won't affect the accessibility of your complaint in my files.

 

The link you provided below does not direct you to the correct grievance procedures.   After consulting with Vice Chancellor Garvey-Nix, we have asked Media Services to investigate this link and to locate and deactivate any access to the old procedures.  The current procedures for this campus can be found at: http://www.ius.edu/studentaffairs/article/codeprocedures

 

As you will see, the IU Southeast procedure assigns responsibility for resolving academic issues to the dean of the relevant school.  Any complaint about a dean would come to the vice chancellor for academic affairs, as would any appeal of a dean's decision.  Please also note that in the case of a grade appeal, the dean's decision is considered final and thus is not subject to appeal.  See:

 

http://www.ius.edu/registrar/register-for-classes/grades/grade-policies-procedures.html#grade-changes

       

It's my understanding that Dean White did not ignore your grievance, but that he investigated and resolved it, albeit not in the way you had hoped.

 

G. Atnip

Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

From: irongeek(-at-)gmail.com [mailto:irongeek(-at-)gmail.com] On Behalf Of Adrian Crenshaw
Sent: Saturday, September 10, 2011 12:21 PM
To: Atnip, Gilbert W.
Subject: Re: grievance

 

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Wed, Sep 21, 2011 at 11:54 AM
To: "Atnip, Gilbert W." <gatnip(-at-)ius.edu>
Hello Dr. Atnip,

     Thanks for the updated link. I think it's unfortunate that the current procedures are less detailed (just a flow chart), and do not involve members from the student body like the older ones I found (which seem to be based on ones I have found in Bloomington as well).

     Under just the flow chart I would still not categorize Dr. White's response as "Prompt Thorough Clear" as I never heard back after the meeting we had as part of what I would guess to be the "Advising Session" (though this meeting did take place after I brought over the formal signed grievance, which might make it part of step 2). No final word was given on if it would be possible to take the class for credit elsewhere for example. I also question whether students not being able to have a copy of their test is "standard procedure" as Dr. White states.

     I feel that the "Student's Right" as outlined in the other documents have no teeth as they can be wiggled out of pretty easily if faculty decide to. When I point out in an email issues concerning student academic freedom, White says they care about such issues but then launches into an attack on me indicating that others have a right to criticize my views and the teacher did not have to give me unlimited class time. These are both straw man attacks to get away from the issue of the teacher failing a student because of values and viewpoints expressed that made her uncomfortable. Criticism did not happen in class beyond referring to the the case example as extreme (and criticism would have made for a more interesting class discussion, so I welcome it). I never asked for unlimited class time and very little was taken, especially as compared to other topics that were less related to the course material (see "My Response.docx").

     White also indicated policy did not need to be followed when setting up the meeting because it was not an "official hearing". So, you can call anything "informal" or unofficial and you do not have to follow written polices? How could it ever be informal/unofficial if the next step as said in the paper handed to me at the meeting was "Referral to and discipline by Vice Chancellor Ruth Garvey-Nix" and that it was going into my student file? That is in no way informal or unofficial. (see "Grievances against Linda Christiansen.docx"),

     Dr. White maintains that the meeting was held to inform me of my gaps and that I'm not taking it as constructive criticism like I should. I certainty felt attacked in the room, but I was not allowed a witness in the meeting (going against university policy). The paper from the meeting is not phrased as constructive criticism but as an attack, with many allegations that are not clarified (my supposedly anti-law and anti-ethics statements and positions for example). Many of the teacher's claims are indeed nitpicky and petty. Also, what good is it to store up all of these complaints, tell me I'm getting a 0 in class participation because of it, and only bring them to my attention hours before the last live class of the semester I could do anything about it? Disregarding the test, I had been effectively failed at that point with no warning since participation is 30 percent of the grade, and the alleged (and not clarified) "At least one violation of the "Online Etiquette" penalty on the syllabus" would have lowed it at least one letter grade (this would take it below the minimum grade requirements for the masters program, unless I aced everything else).

     They have a very myopic view of ethics in the MBA program it seems. In one of Dr. White's responses he states:

    "In addition you state "[subject] is fairly common thing to bring up in a philosophy class" to defend your in-class comments
related to Nazi Germany. But you have to realize this is not a philosophy class, it is a business law and ethics class and we want our students to see the topics from that point of view."

Ethics is a branch of philosophy, the text book even goes so far as to mention famous philosophers in the field of ethics and common schools of thought. If it's in the text book, how can it be out of scope? Saying you can't bring philosophy into a law and ethics class is like saying you can't bring math into an accounting course.

     I seem to have gotten into a bit of a he said she said, and since Linda is tenured faculty I lose. This is another reason I wanted a witness at the meeting. I'm not sure White went into reading the documentation I sent with an open mind (something he accused me of), but I guess there is not a lot I can do about that. I'm still not confident policy was followed, but what policy I can find is either: 1. said to be outdated, 2. ill-defined, 3. IU general.

     If there is a way for a commission with students on it to see the grievance I'd like it forwarded on to them. At this point the only thing I can really get out of the grievance it is to bring attention to the issues. Maybe what I have submitted for the record will help some other student by establishing a pattern of behavior, but my guess is it won't matter. Sometimes you just have do something because it's the right thing to do.

     Thank for taking the time to respond, and in a far less insulting manner than Dr. White.

Thanks,
Adrian Crenshaw
 
 

Most of the Documents above I received again when I did an Indiana Open Records/FOIA Request. I did however receive a few interesting new items.

I had asked a professor that has a JD if a student's exam was really property of the university. Looks like she was told not to answer, and Atnip did not want to ask IU counsel.

From:                              Atnip, Gilbert W. <gatnip(-at-)ius.edu>

Sent:                               Friday, November 13, 2009 11:50 AM

To:                                   Wyandotte, Annette M

Subject:                          RE: Legal question

 

I happen to know that there is an ongoing complaint by this student about a faculty member.  The appropriate answer is that if he wants legal advice, he should talk to a lawyer.  I can't give him legal advice and I will not ask the IU counsel this question, either.

 

From: Wyandotte, Annette M
Sent: Friday, November 13, 2009 11:42 AM
To: Atnip, Gilbert W.
Subject: FW: Legal question

 

Gil,

In scrolling thru pending items sent others by email the past week, I came across this issue.  Could you provide me your perspective on what the student below is asking?

Thanks,

Annette

 

From: Wyandotte, Annette M
Sent: Monday, November 09, 2009 2:36 PM
To: 'Adrian Crenshaw'
Subject: RE: Legal question

 

Thank you for your email and apologize that it has taken a week to get to it; however, several deadlines conspire at once to compel my attention.  Concerning your question, I would prefer to get an answer for you from the Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs.  I have a law degree but I am not currently practicing law, and I always direct legal questions that arise in my role in dean either to the Vice Chancellor or on occasion, to an IU attorney.

 

I will contact you again when I have an answer. 

Sincerely,

Dean Wyandotte

 

 

From: irongeek(-at-)gmail.com [mailto:irongeek(-at-)gmail.com] On Behalf Of Adrian Crenshaw
Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2009 6:01 PM
To: Wyandotte, Annette M
Subject: Legal question

 

Hello Dr. Wyandotte,
    I'm student here at IUS. I was told you had a JD, and since you are very involved in academics I was hoping you could clear something up for me. I recently asked for a copy of a test I had taken, for which there is in grad dispute. I was told I could see it but not keep a copy of the test. The exact quote is:

"The exam is property of the university however and cannot be removed nor will a copy be provided for you to keep. "

Is that the case? Do students not have legal right to their own work?

Thanks,
Adrian Crenshaw

 

I'd like to know what posts he thought were disturbing. What I posted was no more disturbing than what was in the book. See my response above. At least I know he sent some stuff to Atnip, not that Atnip seemed to care.

From:                              Atnip, Gilbert W. <gatnip(-at-)ius.edu>

Sent:                               Thursday, November 05, 2009 3:49 PM

To:                                   White, Alan Jay

Subject:                          RE: Grievances against Linda Christiansen

 

I don't see a copy of the grievance form – I don't think it was attached.

 

From: White, Alan Jay
Sent: Thursday, November 05, 2009 2:24 PM
To: Atnip, Gilbert W.
Subject: FW: Grievances against Linda Christiansen

Gil,

 

This is Mr. Crenshaw's first correspondence to me.  The most relevant documents are the Grievances document and the "My Response" document although some of the email/ONCOURSE threads are interesting, and disturbing.

 

J

 

 

A. Jay White

Dean and Associate Professor of Finance

School of Business

Indiana University Southeast

New Albany, IN 47150

812-941-2325

 

jwhite04(-at-)ius.edu

 

If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest. – Benjamin Franklin

 

 

Guess he did know. Funny that Jay White says my grade is because of my performance, but is afraid to even let a 3rd party see the test with me (is that why he dropped the ball and never let it happen?).

From: White, Alan Jay <jwhite04(-at-)ius.edu>
Sent: Thursday, November 05, 2009 2:51 PM
To: Atnip, Gilbert W.
Subject: RE: Student Grievance

I think he's considering bring <redacted>.

 

-----Original Message-----

 

From:  "Atnip, Gilbert W." <gatnip(-at-)ius.edu>

Subj:  RE: Student Grievance

Date:  Thu Nov 5, 2009 2:46 pm

Size:  1K

To:  "White, Alan Jay" <jwhite04(-at-)ius.edu>

cc:  "Garvey-Nix, Ruth C" <rgarvey(-at-)ius.edu>

 

I think if he brings someone and asks for them to sit in, he has effectively waived any FERPA claims.  But I am copying Ruth on this as she knows more about it than I do.

 

From: White, Alan Jay

Sent: Thursday, November 05, 2009 2:20 PM

To: Atnip, Gilbert W.

Subject: Student Grievance

 

Gil,

 

One of our students, Adrian Crenshaw, is wishing to proceed with a grievance against Professor Christiansen.  I've advised him that I don't see grounds for a grievance but he wishes to proceed anyway.  I've nearly completed my investigation and have only a few tasks left before rendering my decision.  They are: (1) a meeting with Mr. Crenshaw (all documents and dialogue have been via electronic means thus far); (2) I will review Professor Christiansen's evaluation and scores of Mr. Crenshaw's participation to date; and (3) Mr. Crenshaw wishes to review his exam.

 

Mr. Crenshaw has asked to have an advocate present when we meet and also wishes to have an advocate present when he reviews his exam.  I'm OK with the advocate during my meeting provided Mr. Crenshaw sign a waiver or release so that we are in accordance with FERPA but am not sure about an advocate to review an exam.  He has been told that he cannot keep or copy the exam.

 

I anticipate that Mr. Crenshaw may not be satisfied by my remedy or decision so this may continue on to you.  I'll forward our correspondence to date to you in a separate email (or emails).

 

Jay

 

 

A. Jay White

Dean and Associate Professor of Finance

School of Business

Indiana University Southeast

New Albany, IN 47150

812-941-2325

 

jwhite04(-at-)ius.edu<mailto:jwhite04(-at-)ius.edu>

 

If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest. – Benjamin Franklin

 

 

 

 

Not sure how Atnip is "not quite sure why he decided to send all this stuff now", I state the reason in my email, and I would not want to reenter a program that cares so little for students. You can see even Jay says he does not recall the outcome. In my opinion the reason for that is that after our meeting he let it drop because he did not think it worthy of his attention. It seems the idea of a legitimate student grievance is foreign to these two. Also, I never technically left the MBA program.

 

From:                              Atnip, Gilbert W. <gatnip(-at-)ius.edu>

Sent:                               Wednesday, July 13, 2011 11:34 AM

To:                                   White, Alan Jay

Subject:                          RE: Checking to make sure grievance was filed

 

Thanks.  I am not quite sure why he decided to send all this stuff now.  Maybe he's thinking about coming back into the program. 

From: White, Alan Jay
Sent: Wednesday, July 13, 2011 11:21 AM
To: Atnip, Gilbert W.
Subject: RE: Checking to make sure grievance was filed

 

Gil, I don't recall.  I know I met with Adrian and then had a few communications with him and Linda.  I believe I left it with an opportunity for him to re-engage and complete his degree but he eventually decided to leave the MBA program. 

 I'll retrieve his file and see what we have.

 J

  

From: Atnip, Gilbert W.
Sent: Wednesday, July 13, 2011 10:57 AM
To: White, Alan Jay
Subject: FW: Checking to make sure grievance was filed

 

Jay, I don't remember much about this.  Did you resolve it at your level?  I don't recall the grievance actually coming to me, although I was aware of it.

 

From: Andrews, Teresa A
Sent: Monday, July 11, 2011 1:44 PM
To: Atnip, Gilbert W.
Subject: FW: Checking to make sure grievance was filed

 

Do I need to print these off and add them to our "student issues" file?

 

From: irongeek(-at-)gmail.com [mailto:irongeek(-at-)gmail.com] On Behalf Of Adrian Crenshaw
Sent: Monday, July 11, 2011 1:41 PM
To: Andrews, Teresa A; Sylvester, Paula K
Subject: Checking to make sure grievance was filed

 

Hello,
    In the fall of 2009 I filed a grievance against Linda Christiansen while I was working on my MBA. I never heard back so I wanted to make sure it was indeed filed by Dr. White. Also, since the document labeled "Paper given at meeting.pdf" was supposedly put in my student file, I wanted to make sure my response was on file as well (My Response.docx). I'm emailing both academic and student affairs as I'm not sure from the flow chart who handles this. If nothing else, I'd like the attached documents added to the related files in case anyone else comes in conflict with Linda Christiansen in the future.

Thanks,
Adrian Crenshaw


More information in these docs:
 

GRIEVANCE_FORM_Adrian Crenshaw.pdf
The form from this site:http://www.ius.edu/studentaffairs/grievance.cfm

Grievances against Linda Christiansen.docx
This file contains the main body of the grievance.

B516 Fall 2009 Syllabus.doc
So the expectations of the course are clear.

Paper given at meeting.pdf
As the name suggested, the paper given to me at the meeting

My Response.docx
Same as above, but with my responses.

Other emails showing the casual nature of our conversations up until this point:
Gmail - Fraudies.pdf
Gmail - Tax Write off.pdf
Gmail - SOX Presentation.pdf
Shouting Gmail - Questions.pdf

Gmail - Ethics Question.pdf
The ethics questions I submitted for comment, but not a formal submission.

Gmail - meeting tomorrow m.pdf
The set up for the meeting, where I was not given a chance to prepare (please read about policy violations in main grievance document).

Polanski.docx
The Post in question.

dr whites response 1.pdf

dr whites response 2.pdf

 

 

Some how Jay convinces himself I dropped out of the program. I never official did that, only the class. I never "agreed to that resolution". What Jay calls excuses I call reasons, and the only evidence that clear instruction was given he seems to have is that the instructor said so (Unless he is not referring to the classroom but instead referring to the attack memo from Sept. 30th, in which case it came too late to do any good, was vague & petty, and what "directions" did I supposedly not follow from it? Maybe an implied direction was not to file a grievance because of Linda Christiansen's bad behavior?). From Jay's choice of language, you can see he does not like it when a student defends himself. He states "After a lengthy meeting with Mr. Crenshaw, he indicated to me a desire for a course substitution which I did not grant." and "In any event, since I did not feel that his rights were violated I did not grant a waiver for this course or permission to take it elsewhere." These statements by Jay are falsehoods, he never gave final word, just said the class substitution decision would have to wait until after the grievance process was over (which he never let happen by just dropping the matter), only saying he did not think my situation would apply (see the quote from him above on the matter). Also, I requested the course substitution before the meeting, not after. Glad I had a witness at the meeting who can corroborate these things. His version of the events in the email below are incredibly one sided (in the instructor's favor of course) and lack important details, but that is to be expected considering how he handled his "investigation". He does not seem capable of understanding that the rights I had filed the grievance about do not so much involve being allowed to say something as the fact I was given a 0 in class participation without warning because of expressing my view points. Being "allowed" to say something and being penalized because of it are two separate issues, so yes, student rights as outlined above were violated. Jay saying "Once the instructor communicated to Mr. Crenshaw that he needed to stay on topic and bring in relevant business examples Mr. Crenshaw replied by saying his student rights were violated." is an over simplification to the point of being an outright lie. I did not start complaining about my rights being violated until I got the attack/complaint memo, which was not phrased as constructive communication and effectively told me I had failed the class without warning. Even then, I did not file the grievance until I got back an F on the exam, which they seem afraid to even let me have a copy of. This quote is another example of Jay using a straw man argument (he does a lot of that). Also, the instructor did not communicate to me that I needed to "stay on topic and bring in relevant business examples", she passive aggressively held on to it until the meeting to tell me, and my examples were on topic and at least as business related as other items in the book and that were mentioned in class. If she had problems with my examples/class participation she should have told me in or after class, not passive aggressively save things up and fail me, that is not communication. Also, saying I was infringing on other's rights to continue with the subject at hand is a low form of rhetoric. As I stated elsewhere I took very little time, they were not tangents and they were not from "other disciplines" (I assume he is referring to philosophy, which was in the book and ethics is a branch of philosophy). Were MY rights to "continue with the subject at hand" infringed upon by other students talking about wedding dresses/boyfriends bringing flowers (and the bad things they must be compensating for)/the tv show Snapped/etc? Apparently all of my communications with Jay were as pointless as speaking to a brick wall, he seems to only care about the instructor's side of the story and treats it as gospel without considering my side at all.

 

From:                              Atnip, Gilbert W. <gatnip(-at-)ius.edu>

Sent:                               Wednesday, September 07, 2011 9:47 AM

To:                                   White, Alan Jay

Subject:                          RE: Checking to make sure grievance was filed

 

Jay,  can you tell me when he first filed his grievance with your office?  It was probably in the form of an email with attachments.  Can I assume that you kept a copy of all the documents?  I am not quite sure why he is asking questions about this so long after it was resolved (albeit not to his satisfaction).

 

From: White, Alan Jay
Sent: Monday, August 15, 2011 12:14 PM
To: Atnip, Gilbert W.
Subject: RE: Checking to make sure grievance was filed

 

That is my understanding Gil. 

 

After a lengthy meeting with Mr. Crenshaw, he indicated to me a desire for a course substitution which I did not grant.  I did not grant the substitution because I did not find the grievance allegations warranted such an action.  When addressing issues related to behavior and appropriate classroom topics Mr. Crenshaw provided excuses as to why what he was doing was OK as opposed to following the very clear directions of the instructor (for example making statements like "Opinions of professional behavior vary" when the instructor alleged the student had engaged in "unacceptable and unprofessional behavior.")

 

Once the instructor communicated to Mr. Crenshaw that he needed to stay on topic and bring in relevant business examples Mr. Crenshaw replied by saying his student rights were violated.  Since the student WAS allowed to bring up his examples, thoughts, and theories from other disciplines in class I did not find his rights to have been violated.  The instructor only strongly objected when the student continued to return to certain subjects and concepts after they had already been vetted.  Mr. Crenshaw did get to relay his thoughts/beliefs but a continuation of his tangents were infringing upon the other students rights to continue with the subject at hand.

 

While I do feel the instructor could have managed the situation better, Mr. Crenshaw's rights were not violated.

 

In any event, since I did not feel that his rights were violated I did not grant a waiver for this course or permission to take it elsewhere.  Since Prof. Christiansen is currently the only instructor for that course Mr. Crenshaw decided to withdraw from the program.

 

 

J

 

 

From: Atnip, Gilbert W.
Sent: Monday, August 15, 2011 11:22 AM
To: White, Alan Jay
Subject: FW: Checking to make sure grievance was filed

 

Jay,  I wanted to follow up on this by email.  It's my understanding from our phone conversation that your perspective is that you dealt with this grievance and that as a result, Mr. Crenshaw withdrew from the course and from the MBA program, and that he agreed to that resolution.  Is that correct?

 

 

In this one Jay tries to wiggle out of having to be the one to file the grievance by saying the form requires me to submit it straight to academic affairs, not him. That's not what the flow chart seems to show,  nor is it the way other IU documentation seemed to indicate. If I had not filed it correctly, then it is his duty to tell me, not to just let it drop because it is inconvenient. If Jay did not think he was the one that the grievance was to be filed with, then why did he write "At this point, if you wish to continue with an official grievance you will need to provide me with a signed copy of the grievance form (the electronic version did not have a signature) so we can continue the process."? I did not choose "to bring over a signed copy of the grievance on the 6th anyway so that we would have a signed copy on file", I brought over the signed copy so the grievance process would continue, as Jay White said I would need to do, I never accepted Jay White's informal resolution as he seems to be trying to say.  Jay also has the dates wrong, I brought the signed copy over on the 4th, Jay is the one who said he was holding it until the 6th (and I told him on the 4th to go ahead and file it). I also submitted my signed copy before we ever had a meeting, not afterwards as Jay says (he made all of his decisions before ever talking to me in person). So, because he responded to the first round before I brought over a signed copy, he does not have to respond there after when an official grievance is filed? I think that it is pretty clear that I disagreed with his opinions and intended to appeal it up the chain after the official filing, but I guess he assumed he had the right to ignore it and not send it on to the next level. Face it Jay, after the meeting which took place on 11/11/2009 you just let it drop, and never told me it was in a stopped state so I could appeal.

From:                              White, Alan Jay <jwhite04(-at-)ius.edu>

Sent:                               Wednesday, September 07, 2011 3:47 PM

To:                                   Atnip, Gilbert W.

Subject:                          Dean White's finding and communication to Adrian Crenshaw regarding grievance

 

Gil,

My investigation finding email to Adrian.  I also have his response, my response to his response and his response to that.  I think I clearly stated that there was no justifiable cause for an official grievance.  He filed anyway and I still stand by my original statement that there is no support for his claims.

He also wanted to take the exam and have a 3rd party "grade" it.  I refused that request. 

Jay

<His response already printed above>

 

From:
Atnip, Gilbert W. <gatnip(-at-)ius.edu>
Sent:
Thursday, September 08, 2011 2:22 PM
To:
White, Alan Jay
Subject:
RE: Adrian Crehshaw

Thanks, Jay.  It would probably be good if my office had a copy of what's in your files.

 

From: White, Alan Jay
Sent: Wednesday, September 07, 2011 3:35 PM
To: Atnip, Gilbert W.
Subject: Adrian Crehshaw

 

Gil,

 

Although Adrian sent an email version of his grievance to me on Oct. 20, 2009, he later supplied a signed copy (after a few days of discussion and a meeting with him).  He delivered a signed copy on 11/6/2009.  With that signed copy he provided no new information or evidence to support his original claim made on 11/20/2009.  

 

Regarding the recording/filing I'm not sure if there was a problem with his procedure or not.  The grievance form clearly states that the grievance is not "officially filed" until the form is submitted to either (1) Office of Equity & Diversity, (2) Office of Student Affairs, (3) Office of Academic Affairs, or (4) Office of Human Resources.  That was not done as the grievance was filed directly to the dean's office.  There is room to think that filing directly, in the case of an academic complaint, to the dean was appropriate because the grievance form states "Please read the IU Southeast Grievance Process (flow chart) prior to filing a complaint."  The form is online here (http://www.ius.edu/ccp/studentaffairs/files/GRIEVANCE-PROCESS-FLOW-CHART.pdf ).  Because this form shows the deans role in investigation he may have thought that the grievance form was supposed to come directly to me.

 

In any event, after an investigation involving a discussion with all parties, including trying to advise Mr. Crenshaw on what he needed to do to continue in the program, I found the grievance did not have merit.  I informed Mr. Crenshaw by email on Wednesday November 4, 2009 that there was not cause for the grievance (based on his electronic submission).  He chose to bring over a signed copy of the grievance on the 6th anyway so that we would have a signed copy on file.  In addition he also chose to respond to me via email, point-by-point why he disagreed with my finding.

 

All of this correspondence is on file both electronically and in paper format in my office.  If that is not the appropriate location for it we can make copies, or the original file, available to your office.

 

J

 

A. Jay White

Dean and Associate Professor of Finance

School of Business

Indiana University Southeast

New Albany, IN 47150

812-941-2325

 

jwhite04(-at-)ius.edu

 

If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest. – Benjamin Franklin

 

When I show policy Atnip does not like, he freaks out a bit. Not sure how Googling might be "thought he could put one over on us", the old policy (the one with details) was still out there, and I did not know it was "old policy" at the time. His tone seems adversarial, as oppose to just trying to sort out the facts.

From:                              Atnip, Gilbert W. <gatnip(-at-)ius.edu>

Sent:                               Monday, September 19, 2011 1:58 PM

To:                                   Garvey-Nix, Ruth C

Subject:                          RE: grievance

 

I'll wait to hear from you before I respond.  I was concerned when I saw where the link led.  Of course, he is very tech savvy and maybe thought he could put one over on us.

 

From: Garvey-Nix, Ruth C
Sent: Monday, September 19, 2011 12:55 PM
To: Atnip, Gilbert W.
Subject: RE: grievance

 

This is weird---I need to spend some time looking into this.  This link below and the info it goes to is NOT out there now---and hasn't been for quite a while.  I'll have to research when that was active and how he could access that now. 

 

 

_______________________________­­­­­­­­____

IUS_STUDENTAFFAIRS H.bmp

Ruth C. Garvey-Nix, Ph.D.

Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs

4201 Grant Line Road

New Albany, In  47150

812-941-2420

___________________________________

 

 

From: Atnip, Gilbert W.
Sent: Monday, September 19, 2011 12:46 PM
To: Garvey-Nix, Ruth C
Subject: FW: grievance

 

Ruth, see the link in #2.  He seems to have found a link to the old policies.  Did you know this was out there?  It makes responding to him more complicated.

 

From: irongeek(-at-)gmail.com [mailto:irongeek(-at-)gmail.com] On Behalf Of Adrian Crenshaw
Sent: Saturday, September 10, 2011 12:21 PM
To: Atnip, Gilbert W.
Subject: Re: grievance

 

Hello Dr. Atnip,
    Sorry to bother you again, but there are still a few outstanding issues I would like to resolve.

1. No offence intended in this, but you seem to have a typo in the faculty member name from your last response. It should be Christiansen. I assume records are computerized, and want to make sure names are correct so they can be found in searches.

2. I'm still curious to know if Dr. White followed policy and forwarded the materials on to you, or if you only received them when I brought it up again this summer. I never heard back from him after I made the formal complaint and brought the signed copy to the MBA office. Based on my understanding of:
http://www2.ius.edu/studentaffairs/studentcode_part1.cfm
it should have been brought to you after 21 days. If it was not, then I have another grievance to file concerning Dr. White. As far as I can tell, I submitted it to him and it fell into a hole and was forgotten.

3. Did the "Campus Grievance Commission" ever see it? My understanding is there are students on this commission as well, and I would certainly like them to review it.

4. I realize I should have followed up in a quicker time frame, but I had other pressing matters with my new master program and various conferences. Granted, many of the "desired outcomes" I asked for no longer apply as I've had to move to a new program. Still, I'd like the Campus Grievance Commission to have a look at it, including all materials I submitted, and Dr. White's response (which was quite dismissive, one sided, and in part vaguely intimidating as to filing the grievance vs. being able to stay in the program).

Thanks,
Adrian Crenshaw

 

 

Ok, so there were notes made, and I seem to be right about the copy and paste job.

From:                                         Atnip, Gilbert W. <gatnip(-at-)ius.edu>

Sent:                                           Thursday, September 08, 2011 1:00 PM

To:                                               Andrews, Teresa A

Subject:                                     FW: Notes on review of Adrian Crenshaw grievance against Linda Christiansen.docx

Attachments:                          Notes on review of Adrian Crenshaw grievance against Linda Christiansen.docx

 

Print and file the attached with all the materials that Crenshaw sent us.

 

From: White, Alan Jay
Sent: Wednesday, September 07, 2011 4:02 PM
To: Atnip, Gilbert W.
Subject: Notes on review of Adrian Crenshaw grievance against Linda Christiansen.docx

 

Gil,

 

Attached are my notes from 11/4/2009 summarizing the steps I took and findings regarding Mr. Crenshaw's grievance.

 

 

Now for this one, I'm going to add my comments in red.

Notes on review of Adrian Crenshaw grievance against Linda Christiansen.

1.        Adrian forwarded email with grievance and documents supporting his position to me on. Oct. 20, 2009.  This documentation included a letter from a meeting with the Professor and with the Graduate Director, Jon Bingham, indicating that the student had engaged in unacceptable and unprofessional behavior for graduate business coursework; Disruptive and damaging to the classroom and others; and Grade Concerns and Warnings.

     (Student Comments: He seems to have the preconceived notion that the above is more than opinion.)

2.       It should be noted that the instructor, Professor Christiansen, had approached me with issues related to this student prior to the student's meeting with the professor and the graduate director.  The instructor indicated that the student had been bringing up what she thought were inappropriate examples in class and on some of the discussion threads. (Student Comments: Are you sure you have the timing right? The discussion threads had just started, and pretty much my first post got me in the meeting. I don't see how she could have discussed previous ones with you as there was no time. Can you name one? I don't think you are remembering this correctly.) When she asked the student to move on or indicated that the subject was closed the student continued, or brought the subject up again at a later time.  (Student Comments: I addressed those in my comments, so much for seeing both sides. Read what I posted, seemed on topic, and again no clear instruction was given and I did not take a lot of time. I also recall raising my hand, if she had a problem with what I said why respond and let me speak?) This return to a closed subject or a subject the instructor had deemed irrelevant to the discussion at hand was disruptive to the flow of the class.  A student is free to express a disagreement with an idea as part of student/academic freedoms.  However, when bringing up outliers or risky subjects one must realize that the instructor, and peers, also have a right to disagree. (Student Comments: I never said they did not have a right to disagree. Also, what does "outliers or risky subjects" have to do with it, don't they have a right to disagree regardless? And who decides what is an outlier or risky subject?) Furthermore when the instructor has indicated that it's time to move on, a wise person would move on. (Student Comments: What an insulting way to put it, and she never clearly said to move on as I have stated elsewhere such as in my grievance. So much for listening to both sides.) My suggestion to Professor Christiansen was to have a sit-down discussion and try to guide the student towards classroom and thread discussions that were more in-line with what she was trying to achieve for the class.  This discussion did not happen as the student posted another thread/topic that the instructor viewed as out-of-bounds, or beyond the scope of what was to be discussed. (Student Comments: The out of bounds post was the one on pedophiles and picture producers, read my comments on the book and the rap song above, I'm not sure Jay did.) This, in turn, precipitated the meeting with the graduate director on September 30.

3.       Investigation:

a.       I reviewed all of the student's documentation.  The student wishes:

                                                              i.       to have his midterm exam results compared to others in the class by someone other than Professor Christiansen,

                                                            ii.      Take the law and ethics course elsewhere,

                                                          iii.      That someone inform Professor Christiansen that her method of handling the situation was inappropriate,  and

                                                           iv.      The letter of Sept. 30 from the Grad Director removed from his file.

b.      I discussed the situation again with the Graduate Director and with the Instructor to get clarification on the need for, and intended results from, the September 30 meeting between the Grad Director, Instructor, and student.  The meeting, and letter, were informal and intended to guide the student on expected behaviors for the class.  This was done informally to avoid the formal grievance process against a student and to prevent a "permanent" record going on file in the Student Affairs office. (Student Comments: It said in the letter that it was going in my student file, and that the next step was to talk to the vice chancellor of student affairs, how is this unofficial? Are the School of Business' records (my student file which lists the incident, but only the instructor's version and not mine according to the copy I got from IU legal) not "permanent"? Basically they deliberately bypassed the rights I had to a fair hearing as outlined in policy by making it "informal ", yet were still able to penalize me by giving me a 0 in participation. Given this, why would a professor with a grudge ever choose to do things formally? If Jay thinks the complaints against me from the memo were guidance, then why does he call them "charges" in his email to me?)  The intent was advisory and was strongly worded so that there would be no ambiguity as to expectations for remaining class discussions.  A copy of the letter, which summarized the meeting, was given to the student although the student seemed concerned that it was in paper form, and not electronic. (Student Comments: I think it is obvious why I wanted an electronic version, so it could easily be duplicated for comment and to show others. It's also interesting that the IU lawyers decided to send me scanned PDFs of printed emails rather than a more search engine/Internet friendly format.)

c.       I discussed the situation with the Vice-Chancellor for Student Affairs.  She felt that, based on the instructor's unsuccessful attempts to guide the student back towards appropriate discussion that a grievance could have been filed against the student if we chose to pursue it based on violations of the Student Code of Conduct.
(Student Comments: Again, presumption of guilt. Tell me, in what way did I violate the Student Code of Conduct? I've showed you where you have violated student rights, can you even quote a rule I broke without using a radical reinterpretation? In addition, your choice of words, "if we chose to pursue it" instead of "they", shows you were already taking sides and not being impartial.)

d.      My analysis of the documents provided by the student lead to the following conclusions:

                                                              i.      Some of the material and questions did seem appropriate for the course subject matter, keeping in mind that I am not an expert in the area.
 (Student Comments: Well, at least he will admit that much.)

                                                            ii.      Some of the student's posting seemed extremely risqué and inappropriate (the co-worker affair example).  The instructor headed this off, in what appeared to be a most pleasant manner and went on to provide advice on the other, more relevant questions.  (Student Comments: Read some of the examples from the book and stop being a prude (see "My Response" above). What about the other students talking about the TV show Snapped, lingerie and their boyfriends' misbehavior? It's convenient to be able to pick and choose your facts.) From my discussion with the instructor questions/comments that were similar to the co-worker affair question were typical from this student. (Student Comments: Hardly, and if that particular jest was really a major factor why is it not explicitly mentioned in her complaint memo?) In addition they were often not related to the discussion (according to the instructor) and the student would return to such topics even after being told the class was moving on. (Student Comments: As I indicated so many times in my original grievance materials, she did not make it clear that the topic was closed, and never really addressed it, so much for not being bias and taking both sides into account.) The student indicated that he was "joking" with the comment but I fail to understand why someone would "joke" when submitting questions for a graded discussion thread.  (Student Comments: The questions in email were not in a discussion thread, nor graded, nor a submission. I pointed this out in my grievance files, which you claim to have read multiple times. How can you call what you do investigating when you don't even know where something was said, nor in what context?) Furthermore, considering the student's large amount of experience in the electronic world, one would expect him to realize the ease with which something can be misunderstood.  To me, it is not obvious that the student was joking considering the student's past comments about Jews in the basement and so on.  This comment is in poor taste, inappropriate, and shows poor judgement. (Student Comments: What was wrong with that comment? Did you even know what I said? That part was not a joke, and I think the Holocaust is a great (if extreme) example to use when illustrating unethical laws. Or are you referring to the first question in the email? Your imprecise use of the terms post/email/comment makes it hard to follow, and makes me wonder if you really know what was actually said and where.)

                                                          iii.      There seems to be a situation where the student pushes the envelope on what is considered polite, meaningful discussion.  For example, the student re-named an article, "Polanski: Picture Producers Protect Pedo."  The student correctly noted that there are other examples from the textbook such as "A Grease Monkey's Uncle, er, Agent," but in my analysis not come so far or use language that is quite as titillating.  This kind of behavior is exactly what the instructor described to me prior to the Sept. 30 meeting. (Student Comments: Again, did you even read the rap song and other titles? Also, how much attention did you really pay if you can't even get the title right of my supposedly offensive posting (the one you quote it closer to Linda's incorrect version)? I called the write-up (not sure why you referred to it as "re-named", it's a write-up) "Polanski: Picture Producers Promoting Pedos". All you had do to was copy and paste it. I also find it disturbing that you think the word pedo is "titillating", that says more about you than it does me. If "This kind of behavior is exactly what the instructor described", care to give examples? To me this sentence demonstrates a bias Jay had going into the whole process.)

                                                           iv.      The student disagrees in multiple instances on the instructors' evaluation of the student and often states that he disagrees and the professional judgment is an aesthetic, flexible item.  This may be true, but the instructor is the ultimate arbitrator as to what is appropriate, and to how much flexibility is allowed, when conducting classroom or online discussions.  The instructor's responsibility is to communicate when something is out of bounds, or beyond the scope, or irrelevant and move on.  This was attempted verbally in class, and in the Sept. 30 meeting.  (Student Comments: No, she did not try to communicate it, she saved it up for one big complaint and then told me I had a zero in class participation when it was too late for me to do anything about it.)

                                                             v.      Instead of taking the advice from the Sept. 30 meeting the student seems intent on arguing his point.  In my opinion this attitude seems pervasive as evidenced by the student's attempts to get consultation from other members of the campus community such as <redacted>.  My strong suggestion would be for the student to look at doing what's needed to complete the coursework, and listen less to people who want to be combative and obstructive.  (Student Comments: So it's wrong to look into your rights, and defend them? So, helping a fellow student find policy that protects his rights is "combative and obstructive"? Jay, have you read the tone of your own emails?) Related to this is the whole "Jews in the basement" discussion relating to Nazi Germany.  The student's right to share an idea, or point of view was not infringed upon and some classroom time was devoted to the subject.  Rather it seems the student is upset that he was unable to sway the instructor and the majority of the class to his view point and seems upset that the instructor eventually had to move on to another subject.
(Student Comments: Where is Jay getting this? No, not being able to sway them was not my problem (I have no idea if I "Swayed" them or not), and I'm not sure swaying is even the right term. Not sure most of the people in the class even had an opinion.  Also, my "view point" was "While it's illegal to lie to a stormtrooper in Nazi Germany about keeping Jews in your basement if you are, it is ethically mandated that you lie to save lives". Do you really think that the majority of the class would not agree with that? Did you even know what I really said? You never seem to spell out in your write-ups what I said, which may leave someone to think I said something positive about Nazis (which I did not). You also take the word of the professor that I took a lot of time with my point, which as I explained in my other comments to you I did not. You basically took the teacher's version without listening to mine, or giving me any of the benefit of the doubt. My problem is how the instructor reacted after the fact (0 in class participation), not my ability to "sway" anyone to a view point.)

                                                           vi.      The instructor chose to have her discussion in the presence of the graduate director because she was physically afraid of the student. (Student Comments: Why? What did I do that was physically intimidating? This seems like it will become the new go to excuse when a teacher does not want to deal with a student in a professional manner. If she was physically afraid of me, why did she walk up to me in Wal-Mart after the meeting, lay a hand on me, and say she understood it was stressful for me?)   I do not believe the fear was irrational (Student Comments: Based on?) and in any event the discussion was extended to the person most likely to be able to provide academic advice to the student, the Director of Graduate Business Programs.

                                                         vii.      I personally examined some of the student's exam questions and some questions from another student in the class.  Although I am not personally an expert in the field it appears clear that there is a qualitative difference in the responses and that the instructor was not biased in grading the exam.  Furthermore the instructor provided a great deal of detail regarding what would have been appropriate responses to the questions.  I have not had another instructor in this area examine the questions and do not feel that it is warranted in this case. (Student Comments: And who chose which student's to compare to mine? Did she hand pick the most extensively written out exam to compare to mine? Why are you scared to even let me have a copy?)

                                                       viii.      The student feels his participation and exam scores are unjustified.  Such an assertion is common for a student who has received a grade below what they feel they deserve.  Every student has a right to question their grade and get clarification but ultimately the grade is the instructor's assessment.  The instructor has provided adequate feedback in this case, both through the advising meeting and through written comments on the exam and written replies to Mr. Crenshaw's online threads.  Mr. Crenshaw retains the right to go over his exam with the instructor but the exam is property of the university and will not be turned over to the student to keep nor will a copy be provided. (Student Comments: Again, why not just let me have a copy of the exam? Also, did you not say elsewhere that you had not analyzed the participation part of the grade yet? See the document above labeled "Gmail - Chance to look over Test.pdf". In addition, what good is feedback that comes too late for a student to do anything about it? The "advising meeting" was not useful feedback that a student could act on and essentially told me I had already failed the class, the exam feedback was illegibly (which you did not let me see again to decipher) and I'm not sure what thread replies you are referring to (he may be confusing terms again and referring to email).)

                                                           ix.      The student makes multiple comments that he feels the instructor is "nitpicking" but again, that's what instructor's do.  They take an argument, answer, etc. and pick it apart and provide feedback, hopefully constructive.
(Student Comments: No, her "nitpicks" were not constructive, if you think the wording or content of the attack memo was constructive criticism then I am glad I never worked for you or had you as a professor.)

                                                             x.      The student mentioned the "Jews in your basement" comment was a fairly common thing to bring up in a philosophy class when talking about ethics.  This is not a philosophy class but a business law and ethics class and should be viewed through those eyes. (Student Comments: Again, ethics is a branch of philosophy, and the text book brings up philosophy and philosophers. Read my comments above on philosophy for more details.)

                                                           xi.      On November 4, I spoke with <redacted>, Coordinator of Access Services, as Mr. Crenshaw indicated that conversations regarding his classroom performance may have taken place between Ms. <redacted> and the instructor.  Ms. <redacted>'s report to me corroborates that of the instructor that no pertinent student performance or grade details were discussed. 
(Student Comments: Ok, but what was said and was it appropriate for the teacher to make those comments to a coworker of a student? You don't seem to want to tell the full story here of what was said. I think throughout your "investigation" you were not looking for the truth, but for slivers of evidence to support the verdict you had already decided was most convenient for you and fellow faculty.)

                                                         xii.      On November 4, I spoke with <redacted>, the Coordinator of Public Services in the Library. The discussion was in relation to Mr. Crenshaw's assertion that a possible FERPA violation had occurred. <redacted> indicated that a friendly discussion was had by the instructor, Mr. Crenshaw, and herself. <redacted> said she told Ms. Christiansen that "she just loved Adrian" and that Ms. Christensen commented that "well we just need to keep him focused."  This seems to be the extent of any classroom discussion and no public records or grades were revealed.  This does not appear to be a FERPA violation.
(Student Comments: See my comments above, but talking to a student's coworkers about him being disruptive or a distraction is not appropriate. I don't remember being involved in the conversation, and I don't think you are recounting all of what was said in points xi and xii above.)

                                                       xiii.      A discussion between <redacted> and Linda Christiansen apparently happened on Sept. 30th relating to Mr. Crenshaw.  However, Mr. Crenshaw brought <redacted> to the meeting himself although she wasn't allowed to sit in on the conversation.  Mr. Crenshaw has not indicated that he has an issue with any discussions between <redacted> and Ms. Christiansen.
(Student Comments: Maybe because I did not know at the time.)

e.      Overall Conclusion:  There appears to be no justifiable cause for an official grievance.  The student is free to express his dissatisfaction with his grade and disagree with the topic at hand but the grading process has been done in a fair and equitable manner.  The instructor and graduate director (who also serves as advisor to graduate students) tried to provide guidance for the student for this course.  At this time Mr. Crenshaw does not seem inclined to follow such advice. (Student Comments: Read: Does not feel like rolling over and taking it without defending himself.) As the advice relates to the expectations of Prof. Christiansen for the B516 course I do not see how the student will be able to successfully complete the course.  The course is a requirement of the MBA and MSSF programs and cannot be waived without approval of the Graduate Business Programs Committee. (Student Comments: Which you dropped the ball on.) Regarding the manner in which the meeting between the student, graduate director, and instructor took place I do agree that it would have been less stressful for the student, and preferred in my opinion, for a frank discussion to have been had between the instructor and the student first. (Student Comments: I thought it was a copy and paste job (see comments above). I wonder if I should do research into "copy & paste text forensics"?) However, the instructor felt the student was not fully understanding her classroom exhortations and felt the need to have the Graduate Director there to stress the seriousness and importance of the classroom expectations.  Whereas this would have been preferred, and as there was no official student code violation grievance filed, the method by which this was handled does not appear to have violated any rights held by the student. (Student Comments: The grievance policy is meant in part to protect student rights, by calling the meeting unofficial you bypass those rights (like me having a witness and being able to prepare a defense) but can still penalize the student. More comments on this subject and how they like to wiggle out of respecting student rights are above.)

 

When I got my student file from IU Legal, it did not include my response to the memo given to me on at the Sept. 30th meeting (I assume they sent me the complete file). They could not even bother to put my side of things in the record, just the bare meeting memo itself. Bizarrely, one of the things in my student file was a garbled message I tried to post to Oncourse. It was garbled because I copied and pasted from MS Word, and I guess it looked a little like an XSS. No idea why they decided to include that in my student file.

Things to learn for others filing academic grievances: Ask to see your student file, don't just trust that they will add your side because you requested it. The "Amendment of Education Records" section of FERPA may help you with this.

Well, I suppose I've said my peace on the matter. Hope these notes help some other student if they ever have to file a grievance, but if the admins want to ignore your side, they will. Best of luck to all others fighting the good fight.

 

Continued: Amendment of records, FERPA and getting your side put in the record

 

    This section will be more advice than anything I imagine. As stated above, there were many questions I had about IUS policy, if it was legit, and if certain statements were true. I addressed these questions to people dealing with IU policy. It took some time to get a response since some people deferred to others, who had to request information from IUS administration. Based on previous experience I imagine a lot of the delay was not the IU people's fault, but waiting on the IUS administration to respond and having to send them reminders. As for getting back a formal answer to a signed grievance, apparently Jay White felt he had the right to ignored the grievance after it was formally filed, and that his first answer was enough. This lead the IU lawyer to think I never appealed. I never knew I had to appeal! Even some of Jay's emails seemed to indicate things would have to wait until after the formal grievance procedures had finished, which he never got back to me on, so I never knew to appeal, and he knew I intended to. Granted, after a few months went by with no answer I should have asked again, but one of the people in the chain was my boss's boss's boss so I had some fears of retaliation and I had just started a new degree program. I also asked that my version of events be put in the records, as well as amendments. By my understanding of FERPA, they have to do this or tell you they are not, but you have to be given a response. I assumed they had, but when I got my student file my amendment/side of the story was not there.

Things to learn for others filing academic grievances:  You have to drag university administration kicking and screaming through the grievance and records amendment process, you can not trust them to do something just because you asked them to and you can not expect them to follow through. It's unfortunate, but if they feel like they can ignore you they will, by dragging their feet and being obstructive in hopes that you will just forget the whole matter. In other words, you have to be a pest to make sure they do what they are suppose to do. I've contacted FPCO (the people in charge of handling FERPA violations) about the matter. Getting the FPCO to listen is another matter however. Apparently the right to even have your side put in the record has exceptions. To quote from their site, first they say "If, as a result of the hearing, the school still decides not to amend the record, the eligible student has the right to insert a statement in the record setting forth his or her views" but later put in exceptions "Thus, while FERPA affords eligible students the right to seek to amend education records which contain inaccurate information, this right cannot be used to challenge a grade or an individual's opinion, or a substantive decision made by a school about a student." Wait, so I can't put my side in if the record I have a problem with involves a grade, opinion, or substantive decision (which could possibly mean anything)? So, when would a student ever be allowed to put their side in? Everything I can think of where a school would want to not change a record falls into those categories, so when does a student ever get a chance to have their side of events put into the record as well?

IUS MBA Grievance, FERPA and IU Policy vs IUS Policy
16 messages

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Fri, May 4, 2012 at 6:38 PM
To: kennedjc(-at-)indiana.edu
Hello Mr. Kennedy,
      While this grievance happened long ago, I wanted to see if IUS Policy can differ as much as it seems to from IU General Policy. I noticed this on the following IU site:

http://policies.iu.edu/policies/categories/academic-faculty-students/university-student-services-systems/USSS-06-student-rights-under-FERPA.shtml
The right to request the amendment of the student's education records that the student believes are inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of the student's privacy rights under FERPA. A student who wishes to ask the University to amend a record should write the University official responsible for the record, clearly identify the part of the record the student wants changed, and specify why it should be changed. If the University decides not to amend the record as requested, the University will notify the student in writing of the decision and the student's right to a hearing regarding the request for amendment. Additional information regarding the hearing procedures will be provided to the student when notified of the right to a hearing.

Most of the below is just general background information to explain the problems (granted, copied and pasted from a document I have been working on). The part that would be most relevant to you is a section in the attachment "My Response.docx" where I asked for my response to be added to my file, and the section in  "Grievances against Linda Christiansen.docx" where I ask for something removed. I was never given a written response to either, is this allowed? Also, a few other general policy questions:

1. Is just a flowchart all we really have for student grievances at IUS (See Gmail - Atnip's response)? No timetables of action, or student involvement via a grievance committee like on other campuses?
2. Are answers to essay questions on a test the property of the university, and does a student really have no right to a copy? The people I have a grievance against seem very afraid of me having a copy for some reason. Exact quote from one of Dean White's responses: "The exam is property of the university however and cannot be removed nor will a copy be provided for you to keep."
3. Is more than one and half years with no response to a filed grievance really considered reasonable?
4. I'd like to know when my grievance was really filed,  in late 2009 when I gave it to the department, or only after I looked into it again in the summer of 2011. No one seems willing to answer that.

Thanks for your time,
Adrian Crenshaw

Timeline

 <I've cut this section since it is essential an early draft of the content above>

Kennedy, James Charles <kennedjc(-at-)indiana.edu> Tue, May 8, 2012 at 11:25 AM
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>

Adrian: 

Thanks for your note. I'll review and get back to you.

 Best,

 -Jim

 

James Kennedy

Associate Vice President

University Director of Financial Aid

University Student Services and Systems

Indiana University

400 East Seventh Street PO 601

Bloomington, IN  47405

812-856-4878 Office

812-856-1029 FAX

 

From: irongeek(-at-)gmail.com [mailto:irongeek(-at-)gmail.com] On Behalf Of Adrian Crenshaw
Sent: Friday, May 04, 2012 6:39 PM
To: Kennedy, James Charles
Subject: IUS MBA Grievance, FERPA and IU Policy vs IUS Policy


Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Tue, May 8, 2012 at 11:45 AM
To: "Kennedy, James Charles" <kennedjc(-at-)indiana.edu>
Hello Jim,
    Thanks for the response. Please let me know if you need any further information.

Thanks,
Adrian

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Sun, May 20, 2012 at 10:43 PM
To: "Kennedy, James Charles" <kennedjc(-at-)indiana.edu>
Hello Jim,
    Any feed back as of yet?

Thanks,
Adrian

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Mon, May 21, 2012 at 2:27 PM
To: "Kennedy, James Charles" <kennedjc(-at-)indiana.edu>
We, I got a copy of my file and my response was not even in it.

Adrian

Kennedy, James Charles <kennedjc(-at-)indiana.edu> Mon, May 21, 2012 at 5:16 PM
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>

Adrian:

 

Sorry for the delay. I've forwarded your information.  I hope to hear more this week

 

Best,

 

-Jim

 

James Kennedy

Associate Vice President

University Director of Financial Aid

University Student Services and Systems

Indiana University

400 East Seventh Street PO 601

Bloomington, IN  47405

812-856-4878 Office

812-856-1029 FAX

 

From: irongeek(-at-)gmail.com [mailto:irongeek(-at-)gmail.com] On Behalf Of Adrian Crenshaw
Sent: Monday, May 21, 2012 2:28 PM
To: Kennedy, James Charles
Subject: Re: IUS MBA Grievance, FERPA and IU Policy vs IUS Policy


Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Mon, May 21, 2012 at 5:20 PM
To: "Kennedy, James Charles" <kennedjc(-at-)indiana.edu>
Thanks much.

Adrian

Kennedy, James Charles <kennedjc(-at-)indiana.edu> Fri, May 25, 2012 at 4:16 PM
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>

Adrian:

 

Jennifer Adams in the IU Office of General Counsel is reviewing the documents you submitted. She will be in contact with you. You can also reach her at  jeweadam(-at-)iu.edu

 

Best,

 

-Jim

 

James Kennedy

Associate Vice President

University Director of Financial Aid

University Student Services and Systems

Indiana University

400 East Seventh Street PO 601

Bloomington, IN  47405

812-856-4878 Office

812-856-1029 FAX

 

From: irongeek(-at-)gmail.com [mailto:irongeek(-at-)gmail.com] On Behalf Of Adrian Crenshaw
Sent: Monday, May 21, 2012 5:20 PM

 


Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Fri, May 25, 2012 at 8:18 PM
To: "Kennedy, James Charles" <kennedjc(-at-)indiana.edu>
Great, thanks much.

Adrian

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Tue, Jun 5, 2012 at 9:05 AM
To: jeweadam(-at-)iu.edu
Hello Ms. Adams,
   Any response to the questions I posted below to Mr. Kennedy (see rest of the conversation below)? By the way, I've already publicly posted the materials here:

http://www.irongeek.com/i.php?page=reviews/ius-mba-program

Dean White is either outright lying on some points (when our meeting happened vs. when he was given the signed grievance and made his decision) or is very negligent in checking his records for when events happened. Then again, he also was not capable of even copying and pasting a post title correctly, so perhaps this is to be expected.

Thanks,
Adrian Crenshaw

 
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>
Date: Fri, May 25, 2012 at 8:18 PM
Subject: Re: IUS MBA Grievance, FERPA and IU Policy vs IUS Policy
 

Adams, Jennifer Westerhaus <jeweadam(-at-)iu.edu> Tue, Jun 5, 2012 at 9:16 AM
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>

Adrian-Thanks for your message. I have one question for the administration at IUS; once I receive the answer, I hope to get a response to you in the next couple of days. Jennifer

 

Jennifer Westerhaus Adams

(812) 855-9739

jeweadam(-at-)iu.edu

 

From: irongeek(-at-)gmail.com [mailto:irongeek(-at-)gmail.com] On Behalf Of Adrian Crenshaw
Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2012 9:05 AM
To: Adams, Jennifer Westerhaus
Subject: Fwd: IUS MBA Grievance, FERPA and IU Policy vs IUS Policy


Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Tue, Jun 5, 2012 at 9:39 AM
To: "Adams, Jennifer Westerhaus" <jeweadam(-at-)iu.edu>
Hello Jennifer,
   Acknowledged, thanks much.

Adrian

Adams, Jennifer Westerhaus <jeweadam(-at-)iu.edu> Wed, Jun 6, 2012 at 10:48 AM
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>

Dear Adrian,

 

This message responds to your inquiry to me, as well as your inquiry to Jim Kennedy on the Bloomington campus about the grievance process. I have coordinated the responses, confirming with personnel at IUS, to make sure you receive consistent and accurate information.

 

1)      FERPA amendment – You do in fact have the right to request formal amendment of your student file. You can do so by preparing a letter that follows the procedure that you identified in your message below, along with a copy of the documents you wish to have included and/or removed. The University will then follow the procedure as written in terms of its response to you.

2)      Your questions to Jim Kennedy:

a)      Flowchart: Yes, it is my understanding that student grievances are handled via the process identified in the flowchart at IUS. There is not a formal grievance committee.

b)      Yes, tests-and their answers-remain the property of the University. There are a number of reasons for this-students may take the same exam at different times, for example, or an essay question with slightly different facts may be used in different semesters. It is my understanding that you were provided the opportunity to review your answers at length and take notes, which was designed to balance your interests with those of the University.

c)       and d), regarding the response to your grievance:  It is my understanding that your grievance was considered filed when you submitted it to Dean White in 2009. I understand that you first submitted an inquiry informally, and though it was not provided in a signed letter pursuant to the grievance procedure Dean White reviewed all of the information you provided and gave you a lengthy response in writing that denied your requests. When you submitted your formal inquiry, Dean White determined that it was the same as the prior inquiry and determined that his response fully addressed the issues you had identified and ensured that you had received due process as to your inquiry. It is my understanding that you did not then appeal the grievance further.

 

Please let me know if this does not answer your questions.

 

Regards,

Jennifer

 

 

Jennifer Westerhaus Adams

(812) 855-9739

jeweadam(-at-)iu.edu

 

From: irongeek(-at-)gmail.com [mailto:irongeek(-at-)gmail.com] On Behalf Of Adrian Crenshaw
Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2012 9:40 AM
To: Adams, Jennifer Westerhaus

 


Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Wed, Jun 6, 2012 at 11:41 AM
To: "Adams, Jennifer Westerhaus" <jeweadam(-at-)iu.edu>
Cc: Peter Bonilla <peter(-at-)thefire.org>
Hello Jennifer,

Part 1. That request was sent. See message "Checking to make sure grievance was filed" sent on "Mon, Jul 11, 2011 at 1:40 PM". It was not in the student file you sent me, they also did not say it was not being added. They need to add it now and I have contacted the FPCO.

Part 2.
     a. I know this is not your responsibility, but it is a sad state of affairs when a flow chart is all we have, with little details. Please see Dean White's excuses in the link I sent you previous where he seemed to claim he was not the one the grievance was suppose to go to (despite previous claims that he was). Exact quote:
 
"Regarding the recording/filing I'm not sure if there was a problem with his procedure or not.  The grievance form clearly states that the grievance is not "officially filed" until the form is submitted to either (1) Office of Equity & Diversity, (2) Office of Student Affairs, (3) Office of Academic Affairs, or (4) Office of Human Resources.  That was not done as the grievance was filed directly to the dean's office.  There is room to think that filing directly, in the case of an academic complaint, to the dean was appropriate because the grievance form states "Please read the IU Southeast Grievance Process (flow chart) prior to filing a complaint."  The form is online here (http://www.ius.edu/ccp/studentaffairs/files/GRIEVANCE-PROCESS-FLOW-CHART.pdf ).  Because this form shows the deans role in investigation he may have thought that the grievance form was supposed to come directly to me."

If Dean White did not think he was the one that the grievance was to be filed with, then why did he write "At this point, if you wish to continue with an official grievance you will need to provide me with a signed copy of the grievance form (the electronic version did not have a signature) so we can continue the process." in a previous email, or tell me where to file it? This of lack of detail leads to this sort of abuse.

     b. I do not remember signing away copyright to my written work, is there fine print I missed (could be)? I had a brief chance to see the test, but could not read the teacher's handwriting. White was suppose to set up another time for me to study the test at length and take notes, but dropped the ball. Also, it seems that a teacher would have to be very lazy not to make up new essay questions for a test, especially as remebering the gist of an essay question to pass on to the next class is far easier than remembering many multiple choice questions. In any event, it seems she was already making different exams for different classes as she did not allow me to take the test with the other class (after we already agreed that I could), saying "The other class has different conditions so that is not possible. "

     c. I intended to appeal, but he never got back to me after the formal grievance was filed, White even telling me things like "Regarding an independent study I'm afraid that any consideration will have to wait until after the grievance process is completed." after I brought over the signed copy and started the formal process. He never let it complete, so I did not know to pass it up the chain. In hind sight I should have been more of a pest, but as I worked there at the time I feared retribution. As I now have a formal response of a sort, I would like to file the appeal up the chain, then after Atnip most likely makes an excuse, appeal it there after as well.

Please read the link http://www.irongeek.com/i.php?page=reviews/ius-mba-program for corrections to many of the things they have said. Also, I assume you are aware that I am doing all of this in the open, and posting my correspondence publicly on that page. I'm not sure how else to get the administration at IUS to respect student rights.

Sorry if this seems hostile, and I know you are just doing your job. I started my communications with the IUS administration politely, but I find it hard to maintain that veneer after reading some of their statements towards me and the process.

Thanks for your time,
Adrian Crenshaw


 

Adams, Jennifer Westerhaus <jeweadam(-at-)iu.edu> Wed, Jun 6, 2012 at 4:40 PM
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>

Adrian--So I'm clear on your request, I understand that you want to have the message "Checking to make sure grievance was filed" sent on 7/11/11 to be included in your student file. I will see that it is. If I am wrong, please let me know. Jennifer

 

Jennifer Westerhaus Adams

(812) 855-9739

jeweadam(-at-)iu.edu

 

From: irongeek(-at-)gmail.com [mailto:irongeek(-at-)gmail.com] On Behalf Of Adrian Crenshaw
Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2012 11:42 AM
To: Adams, Jennifer Westerhaus
Cc: Peter Bonilla


Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Wed, Jun 6, 2012 at 5:17 PM
To: "Adams, Jennifer Westerhaus" <jeweadam(-at-)iu.edu>
Thanks Jennifer,
    Yes, I would like that filed, but better yet you could just print out that webpage because it is more fleshed out. Still, there is the fact that they ignored the initial request, so I'm still pursuing that. I would also like the aborted greviance process continued, tough my "Relief Requested" has changed. Now I'd like for them to enforce a grievance policy closer to the one at IU, with real details, and not just a flow chart.

Thanks,
Adrian

Adams, Jennifer Westerhaus <jeweadam(-at-)iu.edu> Thu, Jun 7, 2012 at 9:42 AM
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>

Adrian:  I will see that a printout of the text on your webpage at http://www.irongeek.com/i.php?page=reviews/ius-mba-program, as of today, is placed in your file in lieu of the other e-mail.

 

As for your request about the grievance process, I'm not clear on what you mean. It's my understanding that your next step is to contact Vice Chancellor Atnip and request formal appeal of your grievance. I'm not sure that the grievance process itself is the place to request enforcement of a different grievance policy, but you are of course entitled to make that request.

 

Regards,

Jennifer

 

Jennifer Westerhaus Adams

(812) 855-9739

jeweadam(-at-)iu.edu


Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Thu, Jun 7, 2012 at 10:16 AM
To: "Adams, Jennifer Westerhaus" <jeweadam(-at-)iu.edu>
Hi Jennifer,
   After considering it a bit more, I've decided that appealing the grievance (that was never formally responded to so I could appeal), to a person who knew about it but did not care to see things followed through, for requested relief that no longer directly matters to me, is probably not the most useful thing to do. I'm not sure how to express the previous item as one thought without making it a run-on sentence. Instead I will try to coordinate with the local SGA and whoever they hirer as the new Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs (Nix is gone) to see if I can cause enough of a stink that the administration will care and make a real enforceable grievance policy. Atnip is retiring before long, as well as the Chancellor as I understand it. Maybe with enough of the current administration gone the campus will become a better place for students. That is my goal.

   I still find it frustrating that they can ignore my requests to put my side into the file, as well as ignoring other items, without any sort of repercussions. I'm glad you are doing it now, but the point is that they should have done it and I should not have had to contact IU legal to see that it was done. It seems like a sad state of affairs that university administrators have no real oversight or reason to follow the rules or even follow common courteous conduct.

Thanks for your time, and for being far more responsive than the IUS administration,
Adrian
 

 

Asking who is on the "Graduate Policies Committee"

 

        I started asking around about who was on the "Graduate Policies Committee" that was mentioned in the memo from the Sept. 30th meeting so I could email them. Only got one response from a person that did not know. I sent another email and got this back from the same person (truncated to remove names):

As a university employee, I was informed to provide the following response to you. 

 

"We understand that you have received a full response regarding your grievance (and related concerns) from the Office of the Vice President and General Counsel on June 6 and 7 of this year.  Accordingly, we consider the matter closed.  Please direct all future communication regarding this or related matters to the Office of the Vice President and General Counsel."

Looks like the lawyers told them not to talk to me. So much for openness on campus. I also have another email conversation with Atnip that is telling of their attitudes:

Add to grievance file
3 messages

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Wed, Jul 18, 2012 at 8:11 AM
To: "Atnip, Gilbert W." <gatnip(-at-)ius.edu>
Hi Gil,
   Please print this page out and add it to the grievance files the accreditation commission sees:

http://www.irongeek.com/i.php?page=reviews/ius-mba-program

It corrects many of Jay's incorrect statements.

Thanks,
Adrian Crenshaw

--
"The ability to quote is a serviceable substitute for wit." ~ W. Somerset Maugham
"The ability to Google can be a serviceable substitute for technical knowledge." ~ Adrian D. Crenshaw

 

Atnip, Gilbert W. <gatnip(-at-)ius.edu> Fri, Jul 20, 2012 at 10:53 AM
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>

Mr. Crenshaw,

We understand that you have received a full response regarding your grievance (and related concerns) from the Office of the Vice President and General Counsel on June 6 and 7 of this year.  Accordingly, we consider the matter closed.  Please direct all future communication regarding this or related matters to the Office of the Vice President and General Counsel.

Thank you.


Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Fri, Jul 20, 2012 at 11:11 AM
To: "Atnip, Gilbert W." <gatnip(-at-)ius.edu>
Hi Gil,
    Interesting concept of "full response". Also, not really relevant to what I asked you to do. At least you are better at copying and pasting than Jay. I guess I do have a sense of closure in knowing what the real core values of IUS are (circle the wagons and make excuses), might me nice to take down the posters you currently have up on the walls all over campus though. By the way, from your emails, I'm not sure how Googling for policy you find inconvenient might be translated to "Of course, he is very tech savvy and maybe thought he could put one over on us." Your tone seems adversarial, as oppose to just trying to sort out the facts.

Adrian

Atnip, Gilbert W. <gatnip(-at-)ius.edu> Mon, Jul 23, 2012 at 3:49 PM
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>
The response was directly relevant to your request to add material to your file, as per the last sentence: "Please direct all future communication regarding this or related matters to the Office of the Vice President and General Counsel."
 

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Mon, Jul 23, 2012 at 4:19 PM
To: "Atnip, Gilbert W." <gatnip(-at-)ius.edu>, sleaster(-at-)iu.edu
Hi Gil,
    Ok, perhaps it's a little relevant, though I'm not asking you a question, I'm asking you to do something (which is put something in a file that is in your offices as I understand it). Also, I know your response is just a copy and paste, which I find lacking in the personal touch. But ok, sending it to someone at IU Counsel. Love it if you would read that page with an "unbiased eye" and correct problems at IUS, but somehow I don't see that happening. Hope I have better luck with the SGA this fall, I'm already having pretty good luck being high in the search rankings for "IUS MBA Program" and "IUS MBA Review" (not that I'm sure many student do much research before deciding on IUS). I would still love for you to explain the "put one over on us" comment you made.

     Ms. Westerfield, could you please direct the request to the appropriate party? Yes, I know it's in my "student file" already, but as the accreditation people do not see my file as I understand it, that does little good.

Thanks,
Adrian
 

        Then I also had this exchange with Jay. Does he really not understand why what he did was wrong? I'll admit I have a problem with proofreading, reading the words I meant to write instead of the typos I did. Jay seems to have a problem understanding how snide he is, and has an odd idea of professionalism that perhaps comes with tenure and no accountability. After putting up with his behavior, I find myself becoming pretty snide as well.

 
White, Alan Jay <jwhite04(-at-)ius.edu> Tue, Jul 24, 2012 at 3:42 PM
To: "irongeek(-at-)gmail.com" <irongeek(-at-)gmail.com>

Mr. Crenshaw,

We understand that you have received a full response regarding your grievance (and related concerns) from the Office of the Vice President and General Counsel on June 6 and 7 of this year.  Accordingly, we consider the matter closed.  Please direct all future communication regarding this or related matters to the Office of the Vice President and General Counsel. 

Thank you.

A. Jay White

Dean and Associate Professor of Finance

School of Business

Indiana University Southeast

New Albany, IN 47150

812-941-2325

 

jwhite04(-at-)ius.edu

 

 

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Tue, Jul 24, 2012 at 8:31 PM
To: "White, Alan Jay" <jwhite04(-at-)ius.edu>
Hi Jay,
   I already have, though getting in contact with someone there who will respond can be difficult. Interesting that you can copy and paste that canned response correctly, but can't bother to copy and paste the
correct title for my supposedly offensive Oncourse post right. Shows your priorities. Thanks for being, as you might say, "combative and obstructive".

Adrian
 

White, Alan Jay <jwhite04(-at-)ius.edu> Tue, Jul 24, 2012 at 8:58 PM
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>
Adrian,

I am truly sorry that this issue continues to consume you. I hope that I have been courteous and professional in my communications with you. My cut and paste response below is all that is left as there has been no new information provided since your original contact.

You have my best wishes for a successful and happy future.

Jay

Sent from my iPad, please pardon any typos or brevity of response.
 

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Tue, Jul 24, 2012 at 10:08 PM
To: "White, Alan Jay" <jwhite04(-at-)ius.edu>
Hi Jay,
    You can provide more information, such as what I asked for: Who is on the Graduate Policies Committee? No, I would not call your behavior "courteous and professional". For example:

1. Not telling the truth about when I complained about student rights, and for what reason.
2. Giving the wrong information about when I gave you the grievance/when we had a face to face meeting vs. when you made your decisions.
3. Not getting back with me after the official grievance was filed, or even letting me know it was in a stopped state so I could appeal.
4. Saying in an email to Gil that you where not the person the grievance was suppose to go to, when in an email to me you said I needed to bring the signed copy to you to proceed. If you did not think it was suppose to go to you, you had the duty to tell me who to take it to.
5. Using terms like "excuse" instead of reason for what I was doing in class. Shows bias.
6. Not even bothering to copy the correct title of the post.
7. Taking Linda's word on the time taken in class, giving me no benefit of the doubt.
8. Calling someone "combative and obstructive" for trying to help me find out my rights via IU policy.
9. So many other things if you read the document I posted, which I have already commented on.

    Actually read the things you sent me as well as others. You think of that as "courteous and professional"? It would have bothered me less perhaps if it were not for the fact "ethics" was in the title of the course. You have made be ashamed to be and IUS alumni and have lowered my respect for "higher education".

Adrian

White, Alan Jay <jwhite04(-at-)ius.edu> Wed, Jul 25, 2012 at 11:00 AM
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>

You will have to direct any inquiries to the Office of the Vice President and General Counsel. 

 

Kindest regards,

 

Jay

 

        Not real useful communication. Shortly after this exchange, Jay posted this to his Twitter feed: "Good advice, don't debate zealots or crazy people. They defy logic and reason. Yes, you know who you are. 1:37 PM - 25 Jul 12". Yes, that is "courteous and professional". Granted, he could be talking about someone else, but Jay does seem like the kind of person that would refer to someone as a zealot and crazy for demanding that a university dean follow through on what they are supposed to do, expects honesty, and asks for a simple list of names of who is on a committee. This comment was before I made my most snarky comments to him on Twitter, but I at least have the courage to add him to the Tweets so he can respond. Does he know what logic and reason are? He does not seem to know the definitions of ethics or sociopath. Anyone like Jay White who uses straw man arguments and excuses like calling something unofficial so as to bypass official policies in place to protect students clearly has little idea as to what logic or reason are. While I admit to being obsessive, I think I understand logic and reason better than he does. Shortly after I posted the Twitter quote, it looks like Jay White deleted it (some people don't stand behind their words). If Alan Jay White understood logic or reason, why would he say something as logically asinine as "My cut and paste response below is all that is left as there has been no new information provided since your original contact". What "new information" besides the name of the committee I'm trying to find the members of would I possibly need to provide for him to be able to give me the list of names? As a side note, IU Counsel did not respond either. One contact I have there was on maternity leave, and the other just did not respond. I contacted a third party at General Counsel and they did not respond either. Their answer to a problem seems to be to ignore in and put the student in the crank file. Seems like it would be easier just to tell me who is on the committee. In the end, I just emailed all of the business faculty:

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Sun, Oct 28, 2012 at 10:02 PM
To: <redacted>
Well, as I have given General Counsel plenty of time to respond to the simple question of who is on the Graduate Policies Committee and they have chosen not too, I guess my only course of action is to send it to all of the business faulty (as I assume the Graduate Policies Committee is made up of members of the business faculty) and that should cover all the bases. All that I ask is that the committee read my comments with an unbiased eye and consider if this is really the way to respond to students:

http://www.irongeek.com/i.php?page=reviews/ius-mba-program

No need to reply, especially with a copy and paste. Just consider the comments, and Google "IUS MBA". Hope it helps other students avoid the problems I had.

Thanks,
Adrian

White, Alan Jay <jwhite04(-at-)ius.edu> Mon, Oct 29, 2012 at 9:13 AM
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>
Cc: <redacted>

 
Best regards,

 
Jay White

Sent from my iPad, please pardon any typos or brevity of response.

On Oct 28, 2012, at 10:02 PM, "Adrian Crenshaw" <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> wrote:

 
You will have to direct any inquiries to the Office of the Vice President and General Counsel.

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Mon, Oct 29, 2012 at 9:28 AM
To: "White, Alan Jay" <jwhite04(-at-)ius.edu>
Cc: <redacted>
Which I have, and they refuse to respond. As I stated in my previous email, don't bother to respond if it's just going to be a copy an paste. Since I addressed every faculty email address I found on the Business faculty page, this should be mission accomplished for communicating the message to someone on the Graduate Policies Committee. No need to contact General Counsel as they will not bother to respond anyway.

Adrian

White, Alan Jay <jwhite04(-at-)ius.edu> Mon, Oct 29, 2012 at 4:08 PM
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>

Adrian, I think you're misinterpreting the lack of a reply.  The lack of any response beyond the "cut and paste" is no reflection of a bias.  Rather it is a simple lack of interest in engaging someone on an issue that has already been addressed and discussed extensively.   We've received all of your communications, including the odd "how do you sleep at night" ones you send me. We have remained courteous in all of our attempts to reply.  In all this time you have not provided anything new to your original complaint except for where you disagree with our response.  Unless you have a question about something else we have nothing further to add. 

 Kindest regards,

A. Jay White
Dean and Associate Professor of Finance
School of Business
Indiana University Southeast
New Albany, IN 47150
812-941-2325
jwhite04(-at-)ius.edu


Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Mon, Oct 29, 2012 at 4:37 PM
To: <redacted>
Yep, no interest in doing whats right by a student. How hard would it have been to answer the question of who is on the committee? Many of the issues were not address, as I point out in the site. Many of the things you said to Atnip were either not true, misleading or show poor record keeping skills on your part. You fail to address these. The "how do you sleep at night" question was not that odd, I'm really curious if you think you are in the right, or are just covering. While your communications directly with me have been snidely courteous,  I'm not sure you realize the documents I read because of the open records request which were most definitely not courteous (as I outline on the site where I posted them, and in the previous email):

http://www.irongeek.com/i.php?page=reviews/ius-mba-program

I have provide new material, as in the "misstatement" you made in the records I received, you not following through on what you were suppose to do, and the fact that you were not even courteous enough to put my version of events into my file. I tried to be courteous to you initially, but having read the emails between you and Atnip that is not very easy. I got my say on the site, I hope it helps others. It's already near the top of the Google search results when someone searches for IUS MBA, so I hope it helps others. I'm trying to do the ethical thing here for other potential student and also make you aware of the gaps between your current behaviors and the expectations of a student.

Adrian

White, Alan Jay <jwhite04(-at-)ius.edu> Mon, Oct 29, 2012 at 5:23 PM
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>

Adrian,

 I have read what you posted, including the items from your open records request.  I haven't been back to the site recently but did read everything you had posted around the time you sent your first email that had the link. I know that you are aware that I've been to the site. There is no new information there and I believe my own correspondence with others regarding your requests stayed courteous.  So, if you wish to continue the discussion with your original charge the only option for you is the Office of the Vice President and General Counsel. 

 J

 A. Jay White
Dean and Associate Professor of Finance
School of Business
Indiana University Southeast
New Albany, IN 47150
812-941-2325

jwhite04(-at-)ius.edu 

 

Of course, me adding peoples names back on the list annoys Jay.

IMPORTANT
2 messages

White, Alan Jay <jwhite04(-at-)ius.edu> Mon, Oct 29, 2012 at 5:31 PM
To: <redacted>

Many of you were copied on the email stream below.  Mr. Crenshaw has an issue for which he filed a grievance a couple of years ago.  The grievance was investigated thoroughly at multiple levels and there was no cause found for it.  If you choose to go to his website you will find that he is tracking you.  He is simply refusing to take no for an answer and apparently has significant time on his hands.  Legal Counsel has advised that we reply to him with, "You will have to direct any inquiries to the Office of the Vice President and General Counsel" or not at all.

 

I have been told by legal counsel that his continued emails, etc., while annoying, are not illegal.  So, you have my apologies for getting spammed by this individual.  I would recommend you place his email in the spam category if you'd prefer not to receive further correspondence from him.

 Best regards,

 A. Jay White
Dean and Associate Professor of Finance
School of Business
Indiana University Southeast
New Albany, IN 47150
812-941-2325
jwhite04(-at-)ius.edu

 

<Removed as it was the same content as the email directly above>


Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Mon, Oct 29, 2012 at 6:24 PM
To: "White, Alan Jay" <jwhite04(-at-)ius.edu>
Cc: <redacted>
Thanks for making it sound more diabolical than it is Jay. Sure, I know the IP of anyone that hits my site, how is knowing that tracking? I don't know where anyone goes off of my site, just on my site (same as any webmaster). The same info could be obtained by a simple reverse DNS look-up on the IUS IP range. While we are on the subject of mischaracterizations, I never asked "how do you sleep at night", and I did not ask it multiple times as you indicated. My question, once, was "Does your conscious ever bother you about lying concerning certain events and facts?", though maybe the events and facts you got wrong were just "misstatements" instead. I try to be more carefully with getting your words right than you do with mine. Let others read my site and see if "The grievance was investigated thoroughly at multiple levels and there was no cause found for it". Out of courtesy, I will stop the use of reply all, my goal was to contact the graduate policies committee, and I assume that has been done. You could have made that easy by just telling me the names to begin with. Maybe they we take my words into consideration and make IUS a better place.

Thanks,
Adrian

White, Alan Jay <jwhite04(-at-)ius.edu> Mon, Oct 29, 2012 at 6:45 PM
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>

Well, I thought you'd appreciate me being open about it.  I thought the faculty should know why they're getting odd emails from a former student.  I copied you so you'd know my advice, although you likely already do. Legal counsel has asked everyone here to refer you to them as they are the responsible party at this point.  Your own request with them made them so.  I don't know any more simple way to explain it. 

 

As to your personal attacks against me, I am choosing not to involve everyone on the planet.  The people that work with me on a daily basis know my nature and fairness.  You have chosen to call me a liar in public yet offer no evidence to support this.  What I provided to Dr. Atnip that was later forwarded to IU legal consists largely of electronic communications between you and I and others regarding your grievance.  As they are both date and time stamped I'm not sure how I fabricated anything.  Despite you calling me a liar, behaving in a threatening manner, and painting completely biased picture of events I have tried to remain professional with you.  I continue to do so.  In fact, it is your characterization of me that is a falsehood. As to phrases such as, "can you sleep at night," "how can you live with yourself," "does your conscience bother you," etc. they all mean the same thing.   

 

If you ever come up with any additional evidence or proof for your original grievance that factually supports any of your claims I'll review it.  Until then the issue is resolved.  You have no grounds for a grievance. 

 Best regards,

 J

 A. Jay White
Dean and Associate Professor of Finance
School of Business
Indiana University Southeast
New Albany, IN 47150
812-941-2325 


Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Mon, Oct 29, 2012 at 7:23 PM
To: "White, Alan Jay" <jwhite04(-at-)ius.edu>
I would say they are more professional attacks than personal. What counts as courteous I'll leave alone. I've already outlined the misstatements elsewhere, but to reiterate a few:

1. When I filed the grievance.
2. When I filed vs. when we had our meeting.
3. When we had our meeting vs. when you made your decisions.
4. Why I brought you a signed copy (it was not just so you would have it on file).
5. That I withdrew from the program and that I agreed to that resolution.

All of the evidence is in the emails, I have offered plenty of evidence in my commentary and extra emails I cited. I never said you fabricated emails, just facts in the emails. Also, it's not very professional to not get back with me after the official grievance was filed, or even let me know it was in a stopped state so I could appeal. I should have followed up I guess, but I also should not have had to. Considering the good old boy/girl mentality at IUS, it's a good thing I did not while I worked there. You also indicate in an email to Gil that you where not the person the grievance was suppose to go to, when in an email to me you said I needed to bring the signed copy to you to proceed. If you did not think it was suppose to go to you, you had the duty to tell me who to take it to. This is very much a I'm "rubber, your glue" situation, having read your comments to Atnip I'd say you were "painting completely biased picture of events".  And how have I been threatening? I've only ever used words, but I guess if you play up the specter of "threatening" it's easier to get others to shut me up. You have no grounds to feel threatened. The meanings of the sentences you list are similar, the connotations are not. The fact of the mater is, I care more about fairness and accuracy in representing what you said than you do about fairness and accuracy in what I said.

Adrian
 

        When in doubt, spread fear of tech savvy people, I guess that's one way to keep folks from wanting to read it. Notice Jay White does not specify what claims he wants me to back up in his email above. I think I have given plenty of evidence and proof that, amongst other things,
1) I was dragged into a meeting without being allowed my own witness,
2) given a 0 in class participation without warning mere hours before the last live class, with a letter that was not written as a form of feedback but as an attack,
3) that Linda Christensen talked to my co-workers about my "behaviors" she found annoying before she ever talked to me about them,
4) that she changed the test date on me for nebulous reasons (and despite taking the test first, I seemed to get my grade back after everyone else I talked to, people who I could have called as witnesses if he asked),
5) that I was not allowed to keep a copy of the exam and they never got back to me on receiving a longer chance to review it. (Jay White even going so far as to say at least three times in emails that I would not be able to have a copy. Why does Jay White care more about not allowing me to have a copy of my own essay answers on the exam and the instructor's "feedback" than he does due process?)

        I gave more evidence for my side of events than Linda Christiansen ever gave for hers. Jay White just chooses to ignore the evidence I gave him, he's used to bullying people that care more about the MBA degree than they do what is right and I think the fact that someone is willing to call him on his unprofessional and discourteous behavior upsets him.

Things to learn for others filing academic grievances:  Be aware, once you involve lawyers, FERPA, and government agencies expect folks to clam up.

        It seems someone has forwarded my site to the campus police. I talked to the campus police chief about it, but his response when I asked is that he knows nothing about it (his username was in the reverse DNS for the site visit, he may not understand how I know he or someone on his workstation visited), he would not be the one to make decisions about me, and he said something to the effect of "I don't need to know anything about you unless you have done something criminal? Have you done something criminal?" when I asked him to check in with others about me. I just wanted to see if someone in the administration had been making threat allegations to try to silence me.

Things to learn for others filing academic grievances:  Be aware that if you cause trouble for some people, they may try to mitigate you as a problem by claiming you are a physical (or maybe security) threat of some sort. Modern universities seem to have a knee jerk reaction these days after a few instances. I need to find a copy of the campus watch list they had out a few years ago that seemed to indicate you might be a threat if you played a lot of video games and did not believe in a higher power. It was so broad a list everybody matched a few points on it.

 

Talking with the IUS SGA about improving the IU Southeast grievance procedures

 

        A little while after left the University I started emailing people involved with student policy at IU Southeast to see if I could get some interest in reforming the grievance procedures to be something more substantial than just a flow chart (in other words, more like the grievance policies in Bloomington). It may be too late to help me, but perhaps something good could come out of this whole mess for some other students so they would not have to go through the same things I did. I emailed not only university officials, but also people who I thought were SGA members based on what I could scrape from websites. I also posted to numerous Facebook pages related to IU Southeast. I did not get much response. On the IUS SGA Facebook page I got the reply back from someone using the IU Southeast Student Government Association account that said "It's been years. Get over it", but this comment was deleted from the wall very quickly. Obviously this did not sit well with me considering they are suppose to be looking out for student interests. It seems more than one person has access to the IU Southeast SGA account, so I'm not sure who actually sent that reply (but I have some guesses). Here is the rest of the exchange, which became much more productive as some other SGA member got involved:

http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=457248020993921&id=111837312226571&comment_id=5022466

Please pardon odd formatting, Facebook walls do not copy and paste well into a new page

Adrian Crenshaw posted to IU Southeast Student Government Association
November 17 at 12:40pm ·
So, any progress on putting an enforceable grievance policy in place at IUS? By the way, deans get rather upset when you call them out publicly on not following through and not telling the truth (or bad record keeping, not sure which it is) http://www.irongeek.com/i.php?page=reviews%2Fius-mba-program#Asking_who_is_on_the_Graduate_Policies_Committee


Adrian Crenshaw "It's been years. Get over it" was the response the SGA gave me (or whoever is in control of the Facebook item). So, no interest in helping other students who have the same problems? Or comment on the fact IUS grievance procedures are now just a flow chart that the administration can use in anyway they like (they use to be more substantial)? What happened to me you can not change, fine, but you can help other students and that is the point. These problems still exist, the number of years do not matter (and for some it's less than a year). Does the SGA have a point besides something to add to your resume for you?
November 29 at 9:36am


Adrian Crenshaw Looks like the "It's been years. Get over it" comment was deleted right after being sent.
November 29 at 9:41am


IU Southeast Student Government Association Who did you talk to?
November 30 at 11:57am


Adrian Crenshaw Notes

     If you mean who made the Facebook comment as the SGA that got deleted, I do not know who was using the account at the time. If you mean who have I talked at the SGA about the lack of a real grievance policy, at the beginning of summer I scraped many names off of the SGA website, the Horizon and such and emailed them (May 13th). I don't have all the names, but here are the email addresses (obfuscated somewhat to cut down on spam): sechan(-at-)ius.edu, EqDiv(-at-)ius.edu, SE Student Government Association <SGAweb(-at-)ius.edu>, vlbennet(-at-)ius.edu, mmour(-at-)ius.edu, atappel(-at-)ius.edu, mcowen(-at-)ius.edu, shamwebb(-at-)ius.edu, mooreso(-at-)ius.edu, jeReich(-at-)ius.edu, ryanmalo(-at-)ius.ed. Some of those are campus offices, not SGA, but I got a reply from no one. Not having an up-to-date SGA website made it hard to find members, there seems to be new one now but it only has two contacts that I see. At a week of welcome event I met Jeremy Ray Eiler, my understanding a member of the SGA. I mentioned it to him and also emailed him more details so he could bring it to the SGA. I asked in follow up emails if he ever brought it to the SGA but received no response. I met another person at a CLU event who was an SGA member, whose name escapes me, that was supposed to bring it up with the SGA as well. I've also left short flyers/notes that explained the issue under the SGA office door.

     My case is too far gone for SGA to help, but they may be able to help other students not have to go through the same thing. I've actually gone through the process, and at the link above you will find information (partly gathered though an open records request) that shows IUS did have a real grievance policy at one time, very similar to the one in Bloomington, with time tables and real procedures. Now, according to the last Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs, a past Vice Chancellor of Student affairs and an IU lawyer, all IUS has is a flow chart. I can point out the relevant sections of my longer write-up it you wish. Here is what IUS once had for grievance procedures:

http://web.archive.org/web/20060902132445/http://www.ius.edu/StudentAffairs/studentcode_part1.cfm

     Do a find on my page for and email where Atnip said I might be trying to "put one over" on them when I found policy that made his job harder. Seems they did not know it was still out there when I Googled for it.
Here is a current document from Bloomington:

http://www.iu.edu/~code/bloomington/discipline/appendix_a.shtml

     My website about the problem is long, but I felt that it had to be to get in all that the other side said (a courtesy I was not given). I'd still like for people to read it to understand the process, but to put it more succinctly, this is what I would like to see to help current students:

Student involvement in a grievance commission, as it is done in Bloomington.

A time table for action to take place, as the Bloomington policy has. This will hopefully make it so Deans can't sit on a grievance and wait for it to go as happened with me)

A clear statement of who a grievance goes to. For example, I was told by the Dean White to bring my grievance to him, but later he indicates to Atnip that he was not the one it was supposed go to as an excuse for his inaction.

Clear statements on whose property essay answers to tests are, and what a teacher can keep from you.

Policy statements that make it harder for faculty to wiggle out of following set procedures by calling a meeting informal or unofficially so they can ignore student rights.

     Will all those be possible? I don't know. As I've said before elsewhere, it's too late for me to receive due process, but maybe you can help insure it for other students. If you would like for me to come to an SGA meeting to discuss it I'd be glad to. As this semester is almost over and I'm out of town next week it may have to be early next semester, but there's always time to do what's right so I'd be glad to come to campus to speak on the matter.
November 30 at 2:25pm


IU Southeast Student Government Association Well I can assure you that whoever posted that was not speaking for this organization, and we have both read all your concerns and discussed them amongst ourselves,mainly with out student body president and other senators. It's a lot to get a handle on, and there's a lot of parts involved, but the first step is clearly to start a dialogue with Bloomington and the Deans. We really hope to make a dent in this next semester, and will definitely keep you up to date on what progress is made. We really appreciate you bringing this to our attention.
November 30 at 8:28pm via mobile · 1


IU Southeast Student Government Association You spoke with my friend Dejan at the CLU event, he's the Vice President of that organization and a senator in SGA..it really is something we've talked about and looked into.
November 30 at 8:29pm via mobile


Adrian Crenshaw Thank you. Please let me know however I can help. I'd be glad to come by and discuss it whenever needed. I just need to make arrangements with my employer, infosec is an odd profession with sometimes odd hours.
November 30 at 8:36pm

        Hopefully I will get a chance to speak to them soon so we can make IUS a better place for students (Update: The Spring 2013 semester is now over, and the SGA never contacted me).

 

Received a message from IU Southeast Chancellor Sandra R. Patterson-Randles

 

        Finally heard something back from the IU Southeast Chancellor Sandra R. Patterson-Randles. I had emailed her office before, but it took emailing the IU Trustees to get a response from her.

Quote on student rights
3 messages

Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Fri, Feb 1, 2013 at 1:12 PM
To: william.cast.md(-at-)gmail.com, pshoulders(-at-)zsws.com, marybishop(-at-)cgglawfirm.com, bdot(-at-)indiana.edu, peskew(-at-)indiana.edu, cjgriffi(-at-)iupui.edu, tomreillyjr(-at-)hotmail.com, ricedw(-at-)indiana.edu, william.strong(-at-)morganstanley.com, rgress(-at-)iu.edu
From the student code:
"Have the freedom to raise relevant issues pertaining to classroom discussion (including personal and political beliefs), offer reasonable doubts about data presented, and express alternative opinions without concern for any academic penalty. Students have the right to expect that their work will be evaluated by academic standards alone."

As a former student of one of the regionals, I wish they really believed it:
http://www.irongeek.com/i.php?page=reviews/ius-mba-program

--
"The ability to quote is a serviceable substitute for wit." ~ W. Somerset Maugham
"The ability to Google can be a serviceable substitute for technical knowledge." ~ Adrian D. Crenshaw
 

Gress, Robin R <rgress(-at-)iu.edu> Mon, Feb 4, 2013 at 10:51 AM
To: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com>
Cc: "Gress, Robin R" <rgress(-at-)iu.edu>, "Eberle, Debra A" <deberle(-at-)ius.edu>

Dear Mr. Crenshaw,

Trustee William Cast, chair of the board, has asked me to thank you for providing him and his fellow trustees with this information.  He has also asked me to refer this issue back to the chancellor, which I am doing by copy of this email.

Sincerely,

Robin Gress

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Robin Roy Gress

Secretary of the Board of Trustees

Indiana University

Indiana Memorial Union

Suite M005
900 E. 7th St.
Bloomington, IN 47405
Tel:   812-855-6783
Cell:  812-325-3602
mailto:rgress(-at-)iu.edu

http://www.indiana.edu/~trustees
http://www.indiana.edu/~ceremony
http://www.commencement.iu.edu


Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Mon, Feb 4, 2013 at 10:58 AM
To: "Gress, Robin R" <rgress(-at-)iu.edu>
Cc: "Eberle, Debra A" <deberle(-at-)ius.edu>
Thanks for the reply.

Adrian
 
 

        Not that it was particularly meaningful, I'm unsure why they bother to keep sending the same copy and paste:

FW: Quote on student rights
2 messages

Patterson-Randles, Sandra R. <srpr(-at-)ius.edu> Mon, Feb 4, 2013 at 4:35 PM
To: "irongeek(-at-)gmail.com" <irongeek(-at-)gmail.com>

 

Dear Mr. Crenshaw:

We understand that you received a full response regarding your grievance and related concerns from the Office of the Vice President and General Counsel on June 6 and 7 of 2012.  Accordingly, we consider the matter closed.  Please direct all future communication regarding this or related matters to the Office of the Vice President and General Counsel.

Thank you. 

Sandra Patterson-Randles
 


Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek(-at-)irongeek.com> Mon, Feb 4, 2013 at 5:17 PM
To: "Patterson-Randles, Sandra R." <srpr(-at-)ius.edu>, william.cast.md(-at-)gmail.com, pshoulders(-at-)zsws.com, marybishop(-at-)cgglawfirm.com, bdot(-at-)indiana.edu, peskew(-at-)indiana.edu, cjgriffi(-at-)iupui.edu, tomreillyjr(-at-)hotmail.com, ricedw(-at-)indiana.edu, william.strong(-at-)morganstanley.com, rgress(-at-)iu.edu, horizon(-at-)ius.edu, SE Student Government Association <SGAweb(-at-)ius.edu>
Hello Sandra,
     Obviously, if you had bothered to read about the problems, you would know that "the Office of the Vice President and General Counsel":

1. Does not respond anymore, at least not to questions as simple as "who is on the Graduate Policies Committee".
2. That I have received the copy and paste response before, and ignore it as while it may be relevant to you, it is a brushoff that is irrelevant to my goals. Why even bother to send it?
3. They could not implement changes at IUS to fix the problems. Their job is largely to keep IU out of legal trouble, not respect student rights or set policy at this sort of level. I'm not even asking for that much, just that IUS have grievance policies with details like IU does, not just a flowchart that can be interpreted away those in charge like.
4. Their response was not full. For example, when I point out the counter evidence to a dean's claims, it is ignored.

I'm not sure what else to say that I've not said before, no one seems to care about these sort of issues except me. If you are going to reply with a form letter, you might as well not respond at all, it saves everyone time.

Adrian
 

        Seems like everyone likes to pass the buck.

 

 

 

Change Log:

I've made many little changes over time, but I figured I should record some of them here:

 07/10/2012: I added the line:

    "I did not choose "to bring over a signed copy of the grievance on the 6th anyway so that we would have a signed copy on file", I brought over the signed copy so the grievance process would continue, as you said I would need to do, I never accepted your informal resolution as you seem to be trying to say."

to the article to point out Jay's "misinterpretation" (most polite word I can think of to call it) of events.

 07/15/2012: Add this to point 17:

"When I got my file, my version of events was not in it. This is further evidence that they just don't care about  what a student says, only listening to the professors' skewed side. It's also technically a FERPA violation as I outline towards the bottom of this page, but for what I have seen FERPA has no teeth as the FPCO is unresponsive to student complaints and inquiries. Strangely, though my version of events was not in my file, a print out of the garbled Oncourse post I made because of copying and pasting from MS Word was. Why? Did they think it was an XSS attack or something? It just seems so silly."

I also changed the word retribution to retaliation as it better captures what I was trying to say, and fixed some typos.

 07/17/2012:

I expanded the line:

Jay saying "Once the instructor communicated to Mr. Crenshaw that he needed to stay on topic and bring in relevant business examples Mr. Crenshaw replied by saying his student rights were violated." is an over simplification that boarders on being an outright lie.

to:

Jay saying "Once the instructor communicated to Mr. Crenshaw that he needed to stay on topic and bring in relevant business examples Mr. Crenshaw replied by saying his student rights were violated." is an over simplification to the point of being an outright lie. I did not start complaining about my rights being violated until I got the attack/complaint memo, which was not phrased as constructive communication and effectively told me I had failed the class without warning. Even then, I did not file the grievance until I got back an F on the exam, which they seem afraid to even let me have a copy of. This quote is another example of Jay using a straw man argument (he does a lot of that). Also, the instructor did not communicate to me that I needed to "stay on topic and bring in relevant business examples", she passive aggressively held on to it until the meeting to tell me, and my examples were on topic and at least as business related as other items in the book and that were mentioned in class.

I also expanded out a section to read:

(Student Comments: I never said they did not have a right to disagree. Also, what does "outliers or risky subjects" have to do with it, don't they have a right to disagree regardless? And who decides what is an outlier or risky subject?) Furthermore when the instructor has indicated that it's time to move on, a wise person would move on. (Student Comments: What an insulting way to put it, and she never clearly said to move on as I have stated elsewhere such as in my grievance. So much for listening to both sides.)

and added the line:

In addition, your choice of words, "if we chose to pursue it" instead of "they", shows you were already taking sides and not being impartial.

 07/18/2012:

Added this note to a section above which I had written before I got the open records request back:

"[Subnote: I found out later because of the open records request that he did compare mine to another student's himself, but I still question him as being an unbiased judge and would like to know how they chose who to compare mine to. If there was a real qualitative difference, why not let me have a copy of my exam?]"

Just want to be more fair to others than they were to me.

 07/19/2012:

Added Asking who is on the "Graduate Policies Committee" section.

 07/20/2012:

Added a new email to/from Gil to the Asking who is on the "Graduate Policies Committee" section.

 07/23/2012:

Added a bit more to the email conversation with Gil to the Asking who is on the "Graduate Policies Committee" section.

 07/26/2012:

Added some of an email thread with Jay to the Asking who is on the "Graduate Policies Committee" section. I also tacked on a bit at the end about campus police visiting my site.

 07/30/2012:

Added a blurb to the 2nd paragraph of this page pointing out that IUS has dropped to 73rd in the Business Week part-time MBA rankings. That's quite a bit behind University of Louisville at 35.

 08/24/2012:

Added line:

In addition, what good is feedback that comes too late for a student to do anything about it? The "advising meeting" was not useful feedback that a student could act on and essentially told me I had already failed the class, the exam feedback was illegibly (which you did not let me see again to decipher) and I'm not sure what thread replies you are referring to (he may be confusing terms again and referring to email).

 09/05/2012:

Added lines:

Basically they deliberately bypassed the rights I had to a fair hearing as outlined in policy by making it "informal ", yet were still able to penalize me by giving me a 0 in participation. Given this, why would a professor with a grudge ever choose to do things formally? If Jay thinks the complaints against me from the memo were guidance, then why does he call them "charges" in his email to me? (edited some more on 09/09/2012)

and

(Student Comments: I think it is obvious why I wanted an electronic version, so it could easily be duplicated for comment and to show others. It's also interesting that the IU lawyers decided to send me scanned PDFs of printed emails rather than a more search engine/Internet friendly format.)
 

and

(Student Comments: The grievance policy is meant in part to protect student rights, by calling the meeting unofficial you bypass those rights (like me having a witness and being able to prepare a defense) but can still penalize the student. More comments on this subject and how they like to wiggle out of respecting student rights are above.)

09/09/2012:

Added point 18 to the Timeline section.

09/16/2012:

Rewrote/expanded section 18 in the Timeline.

10/11/2012:

Expanded point 3 in the Timeline section to show that Linda Christiansen had the chance to communicate that there was a problem, but chose not to.

10/29/2012:

Added some more exchanges with Jay to the Asking who is on the "Graduate Policies Committee" section.

11/21/2012:

I updated the FERPA section a bit. The major addition was this:

Getting the FPCO to listen is another matter however. Apparently the right to even have your side put in the record has exceptions. To quote from their site, first they say "If, as a result of the hearing, the school still decides not to amend the record, the eligible student has the right to insert a statement in the record setting forth his or her views" but later put in exceptions "Thus, while FERPA affords eligible students the right to seek to amend education records which contain inaccurate information, this right cannot be used to challenge a grade or an individual's opinion, or a substantive decision made by a school about a student." Wait, so I can't put my side in if the record I have a problem with involves a grade, opinion, or substantive decision (which could possibly mean anything)? So, when would a student ever be allowed to put their side in? Everything I can think of where a school would want to not change a record falls into those categories, so when does a student ever get a chance to have their side of events put into the record as well?

12/12/2012:

Edited a sentence to clarify where Jay was not telling the truth (again):

He states "After a lengthy meeting with Mr. Crenshaw, he indicated to me a desire for a course substitution which I did not grant." and "In any event, since I did not feel that his rights were violated I did not grant a waiver for this course or permission to take it elsewhere." These statements by Jay are falsehoods, he never gave final word, just said the class substitution decision would have to wait until after the grievance process was over (which he never let happen by just dropping the matter), only saying he did not think my situation would apply (see the quote from him above on the matter). Also, I requested the course substitution before the meeting, not after. Glad I had a witness at the meeting who can corroborate these things.

12/18/2012:

I expanded out points 7 and 10 in the timeline a bit. As a side note, inspired by Jay White's silly notion that just because something is time stamped the contents can not be lies (the time when something is written or said does not define the truth of the statements in the words or speech) I looked at the timestamps from his "investigation" notes. This is what I found in the Word document's metadata:

Notes on review of Adrian Crenshaw grievance against Linda Christiansen.docx
Content Created: 11/04/2009 10:03AM
Content last saved: 11/4/2009 3:12PM

So, did he do all his investigation in one day? He also said he did his interviews with my witnesses that same day (November 4th), so considering the amount of time he seems to have spent on researching my side and writing his notes I doubt much real thought was put into it (metadata says 4 revisions). How does he consider this a thorough investigation? He had not even had a meeting with me yet. It seems to me as if the document was something he wrote as a justification just to back Jon Bingham's and Linda Christiansen's side of the story, and that his "investigation" was only going through the motions of a real investigation.

12/26/2012:

Prepping up to talk to the SGA next semester, I added the section "Talking with the IUS SGA about improving the IU Southeast grievance procedures". I also decided to add an ordered list after one of the more recent exchanges with Jay White to point out that evidence for my claims has been provided, but he chooses to ignore it.

02/04/2013:

Added section Received a message from IU Southeast Chancellor Sandra R. Patterson-Randles.

05/04/2013:

Had to update the line above about being a straight A student in Informatics. In my final class I only made a B. Just wanted to have more integrity than Jay White, Jon Bingham, Linda Christiansen, Gil Atnip, and Sandra R. Patterson-Randles. The IUS MBA program still boasted about being the 9th rated part time MBA from the Business Week ratings in 2009, forgetting to mention they had fallen to 74th since then (I have to question the metrics they used in the first place).

09/07/2013:

Someone pointed out a reference to a letter on September 20 that does not exist on this page, that is because of a typo by Jay White, so I added the line "By the way, I need to point out that Jay White's reference to the "September 20 letter" is a typo, it was September 30th (lest someone think that I got a warning before the 30th)."

11/10/2013:

Looks like IUS got back up to 42 on Business Week's part-time MBA rankings some how (they were at 73). Do a search for Business Week's methodologies and you will find some interesting criticisms. Seems a lot of the schools have huge swings from year to year as to where they are on the rankings. The University of Louisville did not get a new ranking this year, I assume they did not submit enough of the student surveys or some other type of paperwork was missing?  UofL's metrics still appear to be higher (and more selective). I had to change the 2nd paragraph to reflect this.

12/02/2013:

Added a few lines of commentary bellow a letter above, and changed some of the wording in the next paragraph for tense. I also posted this about "Linda's" syllabus:

Critically Plagiarizing?: Ideas On Spotting Plagiarism

What can I say, I'm a "Zealot", especially if you define that to mean holding people to certain standards of honesty and integrity in what higher education is becoming, and wanting to keep others from having to go through the same things I did. Some people should be shamed into better behavior, then again, some people have no sense of shame or self reflection.

12/07/2013:

Added the comment:

"Funny that Jay White says my grade is because of my performance, but is afraid to even let a 3rd party see the test with me (is that why he dropped the ball and never let it happen?)."

12/26/2013:

I recently heard that IU Southeast is planning to offer an MIS (Management Information Systems) Masters degree. While I think their Computer Science and Informatics Schools seem good, since the degree would be co-ran by the School of Business I would not recommend it to anyone in the Louisville area under its current leadership. Anyplace where an IU Southeast Business Law & Ethics instructor appears to plagiarize on her own syllabus that warns that students will be instantly failed for plagiarism, and asking simple questions about laws as it relates to technology is considered "excessive us of jargon", is not a good place for IT people (and especially security people concerned with integrity) to be. While the School of Business at IUS has its current leadership, I strongly recommend that you steer clear if you really want to learn. Just figured I'd help others not go through the same things I did there.

01/04/2014:
Added to a section above:

Shortly after I posted the Twitter quote, it looks like Jay White deleted it (some people don't stand behind their words). If Alan Jay White understood logic or reason, why would he say something as logically asinine as "My cut and paste response below is all that is left as there has been no new information provided since your original contact". What "new information" besides the name of the committee I'm trying to find the members of would I possibly need to provide for him to be able to give me the list of names?

01/24/2014:

Added this line to two sections to show Jay White's weird interpretation of policy:
The dean excuses Linda Christiansen and Jon Bingham of not following policy because their actions were not an "official grievance" against me, but when I looked at the policy last, the only time the word grievance appears is in reference to a student filing a grievance against someone at the university, not a faculty member filing against a student. It is very clear from the policy that those rules are to be followed for any "disciplinary" action of this sort against a student, but it seems like Jay White feels he can rewrite them when the policy is inconvenient for him.

03/10/2014:

 Fixed a typo and added the lines:

"(Unless he is not referring to the classroom but instead referring to the attack memo from Sept. 30th, in which case it came too late to do any good, was vague & petty, and what "directions" did I supposedly not follow from it? Maybe an implied direction was not to file a grievance because of Linda Christiansen's bad behavior?)"
and
"Anyone like Jay White who uses straw man arguments and excuses like calling something unofficial so as to bypass official policies in place to protect students clearly has little idea as to what logic or reason are."

Also update Critically Plagiarizing?: Ideas On Spotting Plagiarism article with the response from IU (or lack of a response).

05/22/2014:

Added an addendum about the answers I got from Jennifer Westerhaus Adams to the 4 questions at the beginning of this review.

05/24/2016:

Looks like Jay White has had some legal trouble:
http://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/indiana/2016/05/23/ius-business-dean-arrested-drug-charges/84777534/

10/04/2016:

Looks like Alan Jay White is like a dumber, low rent version of Walter White. More drug charges:
http://www.newsandtribune.com/news/ius-business-professor-faces-more-drug-charges/article_689c9d6c-89ac-11e6-8835-270e364dd2d9.html
http://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/indiana/2016/10/04/ius-business-dean-arrested-again/91536724/

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