Thursday, August 4, 2011

Investigation into hostile work environment for women in SIUC athletics ends

Here's the lede from the Southern:
SIUC Chancellor Rita Cheng said appropriate action has been taken and there have been no suspensions or disciplinary action from reports of a hostile work environment or intimidation of female employees in the athletic department.
However should one translate that?  Cheng said that she could have no comment, as "the information is being held confidential to protect both parties". No disciplinary action, but no defense or endorsement of Mario Moccia, head of our athletic program, either. I can only guess that the Chancellor decided that there was something to the charges, but not enough to warrant formal disciplinary action.

I thought this should be flagged, but I don't particularly want to wade into it. We've had plenty of trouble on this campus with charges of sexual harassment; both accused and accuser have rights that need to be respected, and too often rumor and innuendo is all most of us have to go on. But a column in the sports pages by Pete Spitler argues that the charges by former SIUC golf coach Diane Daugherty are serious. Confidentiality may serve genuine privacy interests of the accused and accuser, but a vague informal 'resolution' like this also protects SIUC's reputation.  That's not an unreasonable concern to have, but let's just hope that whatever "appropriate action" was taken will also be enough to protect women employees in our athletics program.

3 comments:

  1. That is about the worst lead I ever read.

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  2. Again, as in the question of Poshard' plagiarism, no external inquiry was set in force - another damning indictment of SIUC procedure!

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  3. Anonymous (3:54 PM):

    The latest news is that an outside firm was hired to investigate. At $12,000 for one investigation, the university won't do this for every complaint.

    The university's policies and procedures lets the Associate Chancellor for Institutional Diversity, "...determine the method by which an investigation will be conducted." It also say that typically two administrators get to choose the two investigators.

    From what I recall (FA people can correct me if I'm wrong), one of the concerns in the Faculty Association bargaining is that the policy would allow administrators to select investigators who are apt to give the administration a report that the administrators will like. I think the FA is proposing that there be a panel of trained investigators who would rotate through investigations as they come up.

    ReplyDelete

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