Vanguard Dahlonega is a student-operated newspaper and media outlet at the Military College of Georgia at the University of North Georgia (UNG) in Dahlonega. On April 14, 2015, Julia Regeski authored a story titled “UNG Faculty Responds to Inaccurate Vanguard Article” about controversy at UNG regarding Dr. Victoria McCard, a professor whom the paper reported had been improperly fired by the university.
Journalistic errors can create devastating consequences for individuals who are impugned, whether by malice or error, even if corrections are insignificantly posted after any damage has been done.
We offer you this news not to punish the students at Vanguard Dahlonga, who have admitted their errors (see below) but to help publicize correct information regarding Dr. McCard.
UNG faculty members Dr. Elizabeth Combier, Dr. Kristi Hislope, Dr. Gordon McNeer, Ms. Mariana Stone, Dr. Brian Mann, Dr. Alvaro Torres-Calderón, Dr. Maria Calatayud and Mr. Nico Hu wrote the statement below that was published by Vanguard Dahlonega.
“On February 8, 2015, The Vanguard published a story with the headline “Administration Fires One Professor, Suspends Another.” Our focus here is solely in reference to the faculty member incorrectly labeled in the story as having been fired. It should be clear to anyone following the affair that the original article contained a great many errors regarding basic and easily verifiable facts, as well as serious problems in its approach and tenor. There were so many problems, in fact, that The Vanguard removed the article from the web shortly after it was published. Unfortunately, The Gainesville Times picked up the story and repeated many of the same errors, so it had to issue a correction the next day. Neither story should have been submitted for publication in the first place, and the university community needs to know why.
First, Dr. McCard was not fired or terminated. Last October she was placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation. This action was not taken lightly, and perhaps most importantly, there was a long and well documented history of unacceptable behavior that influenced the decision to place Dr. McCard on leave. As a result of recent mediation between Dr. McCard and the University, Dr. McCard decided to retire effective June 1, 2015.
Second, this was not a First Amendment issue. That is, Dr. McCard was not being investigated for anything she said to a speaker at a forum last fall.
Third, this was not an administrative attack on tenure. Indeed, this was not an attack on anyone. It was an investigation prompted by a report. The proper administrative officials did a preliminary investigation that included a faculty review of the report, found extensive evidence to support the initial claims regarding Dr. McCard’s behavior, made a recommendation to the provost, which was accepted, and it led to her being placed on paid administrative leave.
Fourth, UNG followed the policies in the Faculty Handbook and the BOR, specifically 8.3.9, Discipline and Removal of Faculty (http://www.usg.edu/policymanual/section8/C245/) to the letter. There was nothing improper about the investigation, the recommendation, or the settlement. Everything was handled as it should have been.
Beyond that, we will add that the faculty quoted in the stories did not have any direct involvement in the matter. It was telling to us that neither the Vanguard nor The Gainesville Times bothered to speak with anyone who had direct knowledge of the situation from the departmental or administrative side. We are equally disappointed that some of our colleagues in the UNG community have taken sides in the matter based on faulty reporting and that these colleagues did not demonstrate the critical thinking skills to know better.
This particular situation aside, it is important to note that tenure protects faculty in many ways that are critical to the full functioning of the university. What tenure does not protect, however, is abusive, threatening, and bullying behavior, including but not limited to efforts to intimidate colleagues and students when differences or conflicts arise. It is important to remember that administrators have to balance many things, take into account many perspectives, and consider the consequences of actions for all faculty, staff, and students in our areas.
As members of the Department of Spanish-Dahlonega and the College of Arts & Letters, and as professional educators who have decades of direct experience with the faculty member in question, we were tremendously disappointed to see how seriously flawed the Vanguard article was with regard to the facts of the case. We were also disappointed to see how poorly researched and constructed the article was when it comes to basic standards of journalism.
In the end, the Vanguard has done a serious disservice to the entire UNG community as well as to its name and reputation.
Respectfully submitted by
Dr. Elizabeth Combier, Dr. Kristi Hislope, Dr. Gordon McNeer, Ms. Mariana Stone, Dr. Brian Mann, Dr. Alvaro Torres-Calderón, Dr. Maria Calatayud and Mr. Nico Hu.”
End of Statement
In response to that submission, Vanguard Dahlonega published this response:
“Editor’s Note: The following was submitted to the Vanguard Dahlonega by a group of UNG professors and faculty. The article mentioned was not permanently removed, as the submission suggests, but temporarily taken down, corrected, thoroughly edited, and replaced soon after the editors were notified of any error. It can be found here[1]. A Vanguard journalist was misinformed by a UNG faculty member and later neglected to conduct comprehensive research regarding this unfortunate issue. Furthermore, the Vanguard would never intentionally publish false information. That is directly against the journalistic standards we strive for everyday. We, the student editors, mistakenly published the piece without any guidance or approval from the journalism department faculty, although we had made the request for assistance prior to the editing of the article. As student journalists, we have taken a great deal of lessons from our mistaken publication, and fully appreciate the care that the UNG community has taken in maintaining a truthful representation of our shared institution.”
We at lakelanier.com hope this story benefits our many readers who are interested in this issue. We commend the students at Vanguard Dahlonega for publishing their correction.
Link to Vanguard Dahlonega’s Story on Dr. McCard
