You may remember the lawsuit of Emily Brooker, in which she alleged that the Missouri State University School of Social Work discriminated against her due to her religious beliefs. President Nietzel launched an investigation and a sad update was posted on the university website today.
The investigation is done and the report, in it’s entirety, is available by clicking the links below. The report found that the social work faculty are intolerant to differing opinions and often take those opinions personally.
This is a very disturbing fact. No department should try to force students into a particular belief system. The university is a place for discussion and debate. An intolerance to differing viewpoints should not be … tolerated. The report goes on to say that there is an “atmosphere where the (Social Work) Code of Ethics is used in order to coerce students into certain belief systems regarding social work practice and the social work profession”.
As to the instructors themselves, well this pretty much says it all: "Overall, the faculty are incredibly underproductive particularly in the areas of research, scholarship and service.” This can’t be good for the faculty and I’m sure that this will cause some huge changes. This is extremely embarrassing to the university and I’m glad that they are working to correct the problems. I have seen, first hand, some of the problems that the School of Social Work had when I supervised social work students in the field. They were serious.
Click here for the School of Social Work Site Visit Report.
Click here for the Report of the Committee on Freedom of Expression.
Click here for the announcement from the Office of the President.
The investigation is done and the report, in it’s entirety, is available by clicking the links below. The report found that the social work faculty are intolerant to differing opinions and often take those opinions personally.
"Many students and faculty stated a fear of voicing differing opinions from the instructor or colleague. This was particularly true regarding spiritual and religious matters however, students voiced fears about questioning faculty regarding assignments or expectations. In fact 'bullying' was used by both students and faculty to characterize specific faculty. It appears that faculty have no history of intellectual discussion/debate. Rather, differing opinions are taken personally and often result in inappropriate discourse."
This is a very disturbing fact. No department should try to force students into a particular belief system. The university is a place for discussion and debate. An intolerance to differing viewpoints should not be … tolerated. The report goes on to say that there is an “atmosphere where the (Social Work) Code of Ethics is used in order to coerce students into certain belief systems regarding social work practice and the social work profession”.
As to the instructors themselves, well this pretty much says it all: "Overall, the faculty are incredibly underproductive particularly in the areas of research, scholarship and service.” This can’t be good for the faculty and I’m sure that this will cause some huge changes. This is extremely embarrassing to the university and I’m glad that they are working to correct the problems. I have seen, first hand, some of the problems that the School of Social Work had when I supervised social work students in the field. They were serious.
Click here for the School of Social Work Site Visit Report.
Click here for the Report of the Committee on Freedom of Expression.
Click here for the announcement from the Office of the President.
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1 comment:
I saw this story. How sad that those that preach tolerance are the most intolerant of all. It does not bode well. I read the recommendation to shut down the program but I understand that President Nietzel wants to wait and see if change can occur. Let us hope that it does.
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