Plagiarism Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Final Four West Liberty Presidential Candidates To Visit Campus In Coming Weeks

West Liberty University announced its four final presidential candidates. They are expected to visit the university over the next few weeks for campus tours and interviews with faculty, staff and students. The university has been searching for a new president ever since the BOG voted last year not to extend the contract for former President W. Franklin Evans.

“I am pleased to announce that we have four strong candidates for the next president of West Liberty University. The Search Committee looks forward to introducing these leaders to our campus community and to the public as we begin the final steps in the extensive process of finding a president,” Thomas Cervone said in a press release. Cervone is the chairman of the Search Committee and an active alumnus and member of the West Liberty Board of Governors (BOG).

The four university presidential candidates are Tim Borchers, vice president for Academic Affairs at Peru State College; David Christiansen, chancellor of Penn State York; Kelly Ryan, interim chancellor of Indiana University Southeast; and Robert T. Smith, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at Valdosta State University.

There were 59 applications for president in total, according to the university.

Borchers has 18 years of higher education administrative experience. He holds a doctoral degree in communication from Wayne State University, a master’s degree in communication from Wayne State and a bachelor’s degree in Speech Communication from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Borchers is expected to visit campus April 19-21.

Chistiansen has overseen the development of more than 90 academic programs at Penn State. He co-chaired Penn State’s Enhanced Education Pathways committee, which created several programs to increase the enrollment, retention and graduation rates of first-generation and low-income students. He earned his bachelor’s degree in History and Latin from Texas Tech University and his master’s and doctoral degrees in Classics at the University of Wisconsin.

Christiansen is expected to visit campus April 25-27.

Ryan became the eighth chancellor and fourth woman chancellor to serve Indiana University Southeast. She holds three degrees in history, a bachelor’s degree from George Mason University, a master’s degree from Boston College and a doctoral degree from the University of Maryland.

Ryan is expected to visit campus April 16-18.

Smith has focused his career on student success through expanding experiential learning opportunities, improving retention and graduation rates, particularly among underrepresented students. He earned his master’s and doctoral degrees in Mathematics from the University of Delaware, as well as bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and German from Widener College (now Widener University). More recently, Smith earned certificates from the Institute for Management and Leadership in Education at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education and the Becoming a Provost Academy, sponsored by the American Academic Leadership Institute.

Smith is expected to visit campus April 23-25.

West Liberty hopes to have a president on board sometime in late spring, with an expected date of contract to begin July 1, 2023.

Read detailed bios about each candidate on West Liberty’s website.

The university has been searching for a new president ever since the BOG voted last year not to extend the contract for former President W. Franklin Evans.

Evans’ two years at West Liberty were marked with controversy after he was accused by the school’s faculty senate of plagiarizing sections of his speeches.

He admitted to at least one instance of failed accreditation, while national news publication Inside Higher Ed alleged that he failed to give proper attribution in several speeches.

“It was not my intent to give anyone the impression that those were my words,” Evans said in an interview with West Virginia Public Broadcasting last year. “I was just trying to provide a framework of knowledge, information that would help our students to be successful.”

In fall 2021, West Liberty’s BOG voted to publicly censure Evans following the allegations. In the spring of 2022, a survey of the school’s faculty was conducted, gauging their level of support for Evans since the censure. More than 80 percent of respondents to that survey disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement, “I am confident in the integrity of President Evans.”

Evans had stated he felt the survey was unfair, claiming race played a role in his continued criticism. Evans was the school’s first Black president.

A representative of the faculty senate, however, said the survey was intended to provide feedback to the president who had promised to rebuild trust with the campus community.

Cathy Monteroso has been interim president at West Liberty since December.

West Liberty Board Of Governors Calls For Unity, Professionalism In Wake Of Faculty Survey Controversy

West Liberty University’s Board of Governors met Friday to discuss the school’s president, W. Franklin Evans, after he was publicly censured last fall following at least one instance of plagiarism in a speech.

After a two hour executive session, the board said it would conclude the president’s first year assessment by the middle of June.

The board also said it expects staff, faculty and the president to work together to foster unity and professionalism.

Recently, a faculty survey, that was intended to be internal, was provided to the Charleston Gazette-Mail anonymously. The survey found that more than 80 percent of the 149 respondents are not confident in the president’s integrity.

Evans has fired back on the survey saying it was poorly constructed and unfairly distributed. He also said his continued criticism is race related. Evans is the university’s first Black president.

The board of governors issued a statement Friday:

“As we move forward, we expect our faculty and staff to be professional, unified and work together to achieve our mission. We also expect our president to lead us and unify the campus. The board of governors is solely responsible for the president’s performance, and while we value the feedback from all constituents – and respect that – that input is a portion of the president’s assessment.”

Last week, West Liberty’s president and staff requested a one-on-one interview with West Virginia Public Broadcasting. Listen to that conversation here.

West Liberty Faculty Survey Questions President's Integrity; President Calls It Inadequate

Recently, a survey of West Liberty University’s faculty was conducted, gauging their level of support for Evans since he was censured last year by the board of governors. More than 80 percent of respondents to that survey disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement, “I am confident in the integrity of President Evans.” Evans has said he thinks the survey was unfair and that race plays a major role in his continued criticism. Evans is the university’s first Black president.

West Liberty University’s Board of Governors last fall voted to publicly censure its president. W. Franklin Evans was accused by the school’s faculty senate of plagiarizing sections of his speeches since taking office in January 2021.

Evans admitted to at least one instance of failed accreditation, while a national news publication called Inside Higher Ed, alleged that he failed to give proper attribution in not one, but several speeches.

Recently, a survey of the school’s faculty was conducted, gauging their level of support for Evans since the censure last year. More than 80 percent of respondents to that survey disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement, “I am confident in the integrity of President Evans.”

Evans has said he thinks the survey was unfair and that race plays a major role in his continued criticism. Evans is the university’s first Black president.

In a statement to West Virginia Public Broadcasting, West Liberty’s Faculty Senate Chairman Sean Ryan said, “There has been a lot of reporting lately on the faculty survey here at West Liberty. Overwhelmingly, faculty responses compel me to make a statement to properly contextualize this situation.

The survey was intended to be an internal effort to provide candid feedback to the president and the board of governors. It is important to keep in mind that the genesis of this is rooted in behavior. As the president acknowledged … he compromised his integrity last fall. When the board of governors censured him on Nov. 3, they also tasked him with rebuilding trust and unifying the campus, and they were clear that he would be evaluated.

This survey provides the president and the board candid feedback toward those objectives. The Board Governance Committee indicated before the survey went out that they wanted to see the results and would include the information in their assessment. They collect feedback from across the campus and board in their routine process. The president and the board have the information from the faculty and I am told that they will review it.”

The board of governors is expected to meet on Friday, May 6 at 10 a.m.

President Evans sat down remotely with West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s education reporter Liz McCormick on Tuesday to discuss the situation.

The transcript below is from the original broadcast, which was shortened for time. Listen to the extended version of the interview to hear more of the conversation.

Listen to the extended conversation with WLU President W. Franklin Evans

McCormick: I want to share with our listeners that you and your staff requested this interview with West Virginia Public Broadcasting. Let’s begin our conversation by hearing your side of the story. First, when it comes to those accusations of plagiarism last year.

Evans: I acknowledged the fact that during our fall convocation, as I was providing tips, and certainly, motivation and encouragement to our freshmen students, that I did use some information, and I did not attribute it to the person, well, persons who actually came up with it. And once I did that, I actually apologized, not only verbally, but also in writing. There were other allegations in other speeches. There were things that I did not cite, and that the faculty certainly went through great lengths to go through and do some type of plagiarism check on every speech that I’ve done.

But it was not my intent to even give anyone the impression that those were my words. I was just trying to provide a framework of knowledge, information that would help our students to be successful. I sent out my apologies and I vowed that I would be much more careful as I’m speaking to make sure that even if it’s something that I’m familiar with, I am much more mindful and careful now that I’ve got eyes and ears watching and listening to me. So I don’t want to give the impression that I purposefully take the writings of the words of other people and misuse them.

McCormick: President Evans, I feel I have to ask, when you think about a university president, and you think about a college, anyone who’s gone through college, there’s always those warnings ahead of the class – plagiarism is a big no, no. And considering everything that’s happened, everything that’s transpired, if a student at West Liberty, on three or four occasions, were to lift passages from various sources for either papers or presentations without attribution – should a student that would do this get at least one pass?

Evans: You know, we have a policy here at the university that deals with plagiarism. It’s in the student handbook. There are parameters and guidelines that faculty members are expected to follow, that allows them some leeway and some freedoms. But, as I’ve said before, to others, that whatever that policy is, faculty members and others are expected to adhere to it. So in many instances, it does fall upon the professor’s ability to proceed and move in a manner that he or she thinks is appropriate.

McCormick: Now, back to this recent survey of your faculty. The Charleston Gazette-Mail reported that the survey was leaked to them anonymously – that 149 faculty members responded, and more than 80 percent of them disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement, ‘I am confident in the integrity of President Evans.’ How do you respond to the findings in this survey?

Evans: Well, you mentioned that 149 people responded. It has come to my attention that although we have 149 full time faculty members, the survey was distributed to many more persons than the 149 individuals. And so I’m not sure who actually responded. I was told that members of the cabinet had received a survey, and I can tell you that my cabinet members are not faculty members. And although there are 149 faculty members, the survey went out to about 235 individuals. So I’m not sure who made up that list, nor am I aware as to whether the 149 respondents were all faculty members. So that within itself, lets me know that the survey has some inadequacies.

Aside from that, if it was a survey that was designed to certainly assess what I am doing as a president, I think that it is only fitting that as the president, and the person who is the subject of this particular instrument, that I would have had the opportunity, or at least when this was being designed, to sit down with them to make sure that the items of the survey were appropriate, were relevant, were meaningful, were realistic expectations. That was not done.

And then when I look very specifically at the survey, the things that I’m being assessed on, I don’t think they were even realistic. And some of the things in my opinion, were not appropriate things that a president does, but the expectation that apparently some faculty members have for the president certainly does not align with how I view the role of the president.

McCormick: You have outlined why you feel this survey is unfair. You have also said, you feel the continued criticism you’ve been receiving is race related, part of a series of microaggressions and discrimination on West Liberty’s campus. Why do you think this? And would you give us some examples?

Evans: This is 2022 in America, and I don’t have to just focus on West Liberty University. Across this country, time and time again, there are instances of discrimination. There are instances of microaggression. And so to think that here on the campus of West Liberty, we’re in a bubble, and we’re immune from society, that would be a mistake to make such an assessment. But the fact that I am here on campus, and that I feel I am being viewed very differently and treated very differently, the expectations for me are very different than my predecessors.

For example, I think one of the survey items talked about the president’s integrity, and what is integrity? Well, in my opinion, integrity is being honest. Integrity is accepting responsibility and being accountable. Integrity is being uplifting, encouraging. Integrity is keeping your word. And so that’s how I view integrity. But when I look at those persons who are making a decision, or providing their perception about me and my integrity, ‘are you holding your own self to the same standard? Are you being honest? Are you keeping your word?’

You talked about the survey being leaked, when the faculty senate said that it would not be. It was going to be an internal type of document, so apparently, someone went against their word. So I’m being held to a higher standard than apparently other individuals are. And so when I look at why this is occurring, certainly, it leads one to believe that it really is race related.

**Please listen to the extended version of this interview to hear the full conversation.

West Liberty Faculty Senate Head Seeks To Build Trust After Board Vote To Censure President

Updated at 6 p.m. on Thursday Nov. 4, 2021

West Liberty University’s Faculty Senate Chairman Sean Ryan said it’s time to move forward and focus on rebuilding trust between the campus community and President Franklin Evans, who has come under fire in recent weeks following multiple plagiarism allegations.

On Wednesday evening, West Liberty’s Board of Governors (BOG) voted to “publicly censure” the president. Ryan said in general, he’s pleased with the board of governors’ vote.

“I think [Board of Governors Chairman Richard Lucas] has explained that the board has laid out a positive road ahead,” Ryan said. “He was pretty clear that the president is being tasked with working with the board to lay out a way ahead, to rebuild trust, and to unify the campus and the community.”

Evans will remain in his position as president, but the board has publicly asserted that it strongly disapproves of the president’s failure to cite sources in several speeches since taking his job in January.

Ryan said he thinks the board was thorough in its work, and he said the academic integrity policy for West Liberty will be strengthened.

“When it comes to administrators and staff, we did not have a plagiarism or academic integrity policy, and a lot of institutions don’t,” Ryan said. “That’s a gap. We’re going to sew up that gap, and we’re going to make it very clear to all employees, all students, and to every stakeholder that we take academic integrity and plagiarism seriously, and it’s not acceptable.”

Ryan said this is a learning moment for the school and that it will be vital for the president to focus on rebuilding trust.

“The [board of governors] has done their job, and we need to respect that decision and move forward,” said Ryan.

Last month, a survey, conducted by the faculty senate, reached two-thirds of faculty. Of that number, 86 percent felt the president’s leadership had been compromised, and 60 percent called for his resignation.

Evans shared the following statement with press and the campus Wednesday evening following the vote by the BOG:

“I am grateful to the West Liberty Board of Governors for its support of my leadership as president of this great institution. I have expressed regret for the mistakes that I have made and am taking this opportunity to once again apologize to the university community. Please note that I am unable to address any specificities pertaining to issues handled by the board pertaining to me as they are personnel matters. With that in mind, I am determined to move forward and humbly ask for the West Liberty family to join me in doing so.

“As president of WLU, along with my executive cabinet, we are working collaboratively and collectively with faculty, staff, students, alumni and community partners to reunite and emerge even stronger. I have a great responsibility as the Chief Executive Officer of WLU to lead this institution to its next level of greatness. There are decisions that will be made that might not be popular, but those decisions will be made in the best interest of the university and the students we serve. We will encounter challenges, but with focus and a single-mindedness on achieving the vision of this university, we can move forward. And it is my resolve that West Liberty comes out even better than imagined.”

He added: “I see the dawning of an institution where everyone is valued, respected, and appreciated for the uniqueness they bring to this family…”

Original Post:

After a nearly two-hour executive session Wednesday evening, West Liberty University’s Board of Governors voted unanimously to “publicly censure” President Franklin Evans following allegations of plagiarism by school faculty in early October.

This means Evans will remain in his position, but the board publicly asserts that it strongly disapproves of the president’s failure to cite sources in several speeches since taking his job in January.

“According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the definition of censure is an ‘official strong criticism and severe disapproval.’ This public censure will be placed into the permanent record of the minutes of the Board of Governors meeting,” said Chairman Richard Lucas.

The board said it expects Evans to “implement actions” to reunify and rebuild trust with the campus community, alumni and university donors, and the board will “directly oversee the rebuilding process and evaluate the progress” of the president.

“The [board] has listened to students, alumni, faculty senate, staff, the West Liberty University Foundation, administration and other stakeholders. [We] now believe it is time for West Liberty University to move forward and face the many challenges that all universities across the country are dealing with,” said Lucas.

A story first published by Inside Higher Ed outlined multiple instances where Evans used remarks from others in his public speeches but never properly cited them.

In late October, West Liberty’s Board of Governors voted to discipline Evans following the allegations and following a survey conducted by the university’s faculty senate. That survey reached 66 percent of the school’s faculty. Of those surveyed, 86 percent thought the president’s leadership had been compromised, and 60 percent said they’d like to see him resign.

In a statement emailed to West Virginia Public Broadcasting on Oct. 21, Evans said he is “grateful to the Board of Governors for giving me the opportunity to continue to serve as president of West Liberty University, and I look forward to completing whatever actions and steps it deems appropriate to move the university forward in carrying out the vision and mission of this great institution.”

**Editor’s Note: The original version of this story said the faculty senate survey reached 70 percent of faculty members. The correct number is 66 percent.

West Liberty University President Under Fire Amid Plagiarism Allegations

West Liberty University’s President Franklin Evans has come under fire in recent days for alleged plagiarism of several speeches since taking the job as president in January.

University staff and its faculty senate have accused Evans of multiple counts of plagiarism in his recent speeches.

The faculty senate sent a letter to the Board of Governors asking its members to review the allegations and “act appropriately given the seriousness of these incidents.”

“Academic integrity underpins the core values and reputation of West Liberty University,” the letter read. “Plagiarism stands in direct conflict with these values. As our most visible representative, the president either reinforces or detracts from West Liberty’s reputation and image.”

The news came to light in a story first reported by Inside Higher Ed.

In a statement Monday from West Liberty University’s Board of Governors, chairman Rich Lucas acknowledged the board is aware of Evans’ not giving proper attribution in his recent speeches. Lucas said the board believes it was an “oversight,” and they remain confident that Evans is “the right person to lead” the university.

However, in a statement sent to West Virginia Public Broadcasting on Wednesday, Lucas said the board of governors will look into the issue at its Oct. 13 board meeting.

“The West Liberty University Board of Governors is not ignoring the problem and we will address this matter in the appropriate manner, at the appropriate time, at the next Board of Governors meeting,” Lucas said.

Evans also released a statement Wednesday apologizing.

“I regret my lack of attribution in any speech or presentation that may have been given,” Evans said. “It was never my intent to give the impression that those were my exact words, and I failed to identify where the material came from. For that, I am sorry. I will make sure it doesn’t happen again. I want the best for West Liberty University, its students, staff and faculty. My goal is to continue serving the university in the manner expected by the Board of Governors.”

Inside Higher Ed’s report claimed Evans’ plagiarized lengthy passages in some cases from numerous speeches without giving credit to the original authors. It offered side-by-side comparisons of the original speeches to Evans’ remarks.