F.Y.

I: If you attempted to count to stars in a galaxy at a rate of one every second it would take around 3,000 years to count them all. • THE METROPOLITAN • APRIL 1, 2010 • NEWS • A7

De La Torre files request to sue Metro

Professor takes legal action Timeline of events
after being fired for falsifying leading to termination
information on dossier
By Andrew Flohr-Spence March 2008
spencand@mscd.edu
Post-tenure review (PTR) process begins for De La Torre
A former tenured professor filed a complaint March
8 against Metro with the Federal Equal Employment Op-
portunity Commission, asserting the college dismissed May 2008
her unfairly.
Luis Torres requests a copy of PTR Evaluation
Angelina De La Torre, who worked at Metro for 19
the article in question from conducted
years in the criminology and Chicana/o departments and De La Torre’s dossier
was dismissed in 2008 for mistakes on her review dossier,
claims the college failed to give her enough time before a
June 2008
post-tenure review when she returned to work after more
than a year’s leave of absence. Notice of Torres submits Torres submits a De La
Her case asserts she was not given proper accommo- possible a memo report regarding Torre
dation for disability and that Metro fired her in retaliation disciplinary regarding his the investigation submits
action interview with a memo
for her work with the faculty union and for testifying De La Torre to Torres
against the college in a previous discrimination case filed
in Colorado district court, a case which Metro lost. August 2008
She is asking the EEOC to investigate the case and
grant her a “right to sue letter,” which would allow her to Notice of meeting with Metro President Stephen Jordan
take Metro to court for discrimination.
Angelina De La Torre File photo by Drew Jaynes •
“I was gone for more than a year … and the moment I ajaynes1@mscd.edu
got back, I was up for my review,” De La Torre said. November 2008
Post-tenure is an in-depth career review that all pro- conference, presented a paper and even had a cashed Jordan issues a notice of disciplinary action, dismissing De La
fessors must undergo usually every five years, unless check from the organization and a phone bill showing she Torre for cause
allowed to delay the process due to exceptional circum- talked to them. The investigation into her case could not
stances. The review process looks into everything the confirm if the journal had made a mistake in publishing, December 2008
teacher has done over the period, their conduct inside the as the journal declined to answer any questions for legal
classroom as well as what they do outside the classroom reasons. The review concluded the professor had tried Request for hearing filed by De La Torre
and compares this with the professor’s stated goals. The to deceive the school to further her career, a claim De La
process can take several months. Torre also disputed. April 2009
De La Torre said because of her long absence from De La Torre, who has a doctorate of law from UCLA,
work, she felt unprepared for the review. received Metro’s 2007 Espiritu de Aztlan Award, an Respondents trial brief Initial decision of the Hearing
officer
“So I applied for a postponement and they turned me award for commitment and mentoring in the Latino
down,” she said. “It was really kind of crazy … I thought Community, is an adviser to the Colorado Supreme Court.
there was something going on.” She is featured in a 1999 college publication high-
May 2009
The post-tenure review board, reviewed her case in lighting Metro and said she had no need to make up Final appeal made by De La Torre to the Metro Board of Trustees
spring 2008, found her review dossier included inaccu- “something as little as the proceedings of a conference.”
racies. Despite her appeal, the Metro Board of Trustees ruled
At dispute was De La Torre’s claim that a paper she to uphold her dismissal in November of 2009. March 2010
presented was published in an academic journal. The The EEOC will now investigate the claim, a process
college found that the journal did not include her article that takes up to a year, and if De La Torre’s case is suc- Complaint formally filed with the EEOC office, claiming Metro treated
cessful, she said she will take the case to federal court and
De La Torre unfairly
and in November 2008 moved to dismiss the professor.
De La Torre appealed, citing the fact she had been at the sue for damages.

Fired professor spurs in depth resume review

Reporting class checks
credentials; no major
infractions found
By DJ Reetz
dreetz@mscd.edu
A check of faculty resumes
among four state universities has re-
vealed that credentials are in order.
The search focused on 43 profes-
sors at Metropolitan State College of
Denver making up the department
chairs as well as the deans of the
three schools contained within the
college. Additionally, chairs of the
English, history, math and biology
departments were scrutinized at the
University of Colorado Boulder, Colo-
rado State University Ft. Collins, and
the University of Colorado Denver.
Of the 58 resumes checked none
were found to contain instances of
willful academic dishonesty. The
only notable error was a typo regard-
ing the publication volume in the re-
sume of Thomas Blumenthal, chair
of the molecular, cellular and devel-
opmental biology department at CU
Boulder. This error was not deemed
academic dishonesty as the date of
publication and location within the
publication was correct. The find-
ings show that school officials are
doing a good job of reviewing faculty
credentials. Additionally, employ-
ment history was checked and re-
vealed no misrepresentations.
The search follows the recently
upheld firing of Angelina De La Torre
from Metro for alleged academic dis-
honestly stemming from a discrep-
ancy found on a resume submitted
during a post-tenure review.
The error regarded an incor-
rect date of publication of a journal
submission. It was deemed an in-
tentional misrepresentation, which
is grounds for dismissal. Academic
dishonesty is a very serious matter to
institutions of higher learning.
“Consequences for outright
fraud would be dismissal,” said Vicki
Golich, Metro’s Provost and Vice
President for Academic Affairs.
According to Golich, the respon-
sibility for verifying credentials falls
on a search/hiring committee and
hiring authorities. Degrees awarded
are very easily confirmed, says Gol-
ich, by an academic transcript, while
employment history is confirmed
through a background check. How-
ever, non-academic awards such as
community honors can be harder to
check, Golich says.
CU takes the process of checking
credentials even further.
“We take it quite seriously,” says
Bronson Hilliard, a spokesman for
CU Boulder.
“Any kind of misrepresentation
would be a violation of the employee
contract,” Hilliard says, a violation
that would lead to a review, sanc-
tions, and possibly termination of
employment.
However there are steps in place
to prevent the hiring of dishonest in-
dividuals, says Hilliard. These steps
include a full criminal background
check as well as a three-part review.
Jeff Cox, CU’s associate vice
chancellor for faculty affairs, out-
lined the process that potential in-
structors must undergo. Members
of the department in which the pro-
spective employee is hired conduct
an initial check of credentials. This
step, says Cox, is most likely to reveal
academic fraud as department mem-
bers are generally familiar with the
prospect’s area of study and can con-
firm publications and claims.
After the initial departmental
review the prospective employee’s
resume is passed to the college dean
where it is further scrutinized. It fi-
nally goes to the provost’s office for
final confirmation of degrees and
employment history.
The process is amplified for ten-
ure-track employees, says Cox. Pro-
fessors seeking tenure must not only
undergo a more rigorous version of
the process described, but must also
face examination by external special-
ists. Professors must also undergo
annual salary review in which publi-
cations and teachings are confirmed.
Unintentional mistakes, such as the
one found on Blumenthal’s resume,
are not generally grounds for punish-
ment, Hilliard says. However, mis-
takes on resumes can appear sloppy
in the eyes of fellow faculty members
and, Hilliard says, are not desirable.
Most unintentional mistakes are
generally caught at a low level of the
review process, says Cox, and when it
comes to a question of intent:
“We don’t leave questions like
that unanswered,” he says.
Investigative
Reporting Class
Jesse Drotar
Michael Martinez
Benjo Morales
DJ Reetz
Sean Stebbins
Chakhan Thomas
Nacole Turner
Ramon Viallarreal
For insight into the reporting process,
visit themet.metrostudentmedia.com