I received an off-list comment on a recent posting and feel it necessary to respond to the list in case others have interpreted my remarks the same way. It is an unfortunate fact that anyone who lodges a complaint, whether of disrimination or other wrongdoing (e.g., whistleblowers) may come out the worse for it. For example, if a graduate student brings charges against her advisor and is fully supported by the university -- even if they dismiss the professor -- it leaves her without an advisor. and if there are no other faculty competent in her field she may have to switch fields or move elsewhere.
I most certainly do not think that the victim of discrimination should be punished. I am sorry that I gave that impression. But if a graduate student has the misfortune to go to work for an advisor who turns out to be a lemon, she (or he) is unlikely to come away unscathed. I do think that the university should do everything it can to help, and perhaps it was unfortunate that I suggested that if the university cannot replace the advisor with someone of equal academic qualifications they should help the student find a good placement elsewhere, but I did not intend for this to be taken as a form of punishment. Bill Silvert ----- Original Message ----- > I was wondering if you put a lot of thought into some of the comments you > made in your last e-mail and I just want to point out how one comment may > be interpreted. You asked us to consider the possibility of removing a > student from her institution if she felt discriminated against and it > could not be resolved. This could be interpreted as a punishment for > speaking out against said discrimination. And in this scenario the > faculty adviser is not held accountable...
