April 2014
Clinton Beckford, the dean of the faculty of education at the University of
Windsor, has been suspended over plagiarism.
In
a tersely worded statement issued Monday morning, the university announced that
Beckford has begun an “administrative leave” and has been suspended without pay
from his position.
According to the statement, the penalty comes “in recognition of an academic
integrity breach involving plagiarism.”
The
suspension will last until June 30, 2014.
In
a phone interview on Monday, U of W president Alan Wildeman repeatedly refused
to go into specifics about the nature of Beckford’s plagiarism — such as the
number of instances and the extent.
“Those are details that we’re not going to talk about,” Wildeman said. “They
aren’t relevant to the bigger issue — which is academic integrity, and the
importance of it to the institution.”
Wildeman said Beckford’s publication record was brought to the attention of
university administration about two months ago, and a formal investigation took
place over a number of recent weeks.
Wildeman would not explain who brought the breach to administration’s attention,
or how exactly it was discovered.
“The breach in this particular case involved plagiarism, which means using
sources … in an unattributed way,” said Wildeman, adding: “When work appears
that is not properly cited, or is not properly acknowledged as coming from a
different source.”
Pressed about the severity of Beckford’s plagiarism, Wildeman would only point
to the fact that Beckford will eventually be resuming his duties at the
University of Windsor as an indicator of the degree of the breach.
“If
you look at the kind of sanctions that get imposed as a result of academic
integrity breaches, there’s a wide range — often times including termination of
employment,” Wildeman said.
“Dr. Beckford has the ability to come back as a faculty member of the University
of Windsor. He would not be extended that opportunity were we not completely
confident he would be … a contributing member of the faculty.”
But
Wildeman said Beckford will not be returning to the dean of education position.
Asked if he’s concerned about how this controversy reflects on the University of
Windsor, Wildeman replied: “I think every university is concerned about … the
issue of academic integrity. Were we not to take academic integrity very
seriously — that would be far worse.”
“We
need to be seen to be vigilant about it. We certainly are vigilant about it with
our students, and we need to be seen to be doing that (with faculty),” Wildeman
said. “That’s the most important issue here.”
“Certainly, we want to hold everyone to the same standards in this.”
Beckford could not be reached for comment.
A
PhD graduate from the University of West Indies, Beckford joined the University
of Windsor’s teaching staff in 2003.
His
areas of research interest are listed on the University of Windsor website as:
geography and environmental education, international education, aboriginal
education, and education of marginalized groups such as racial minorities,
immigrants, refugees and children of war.
Among his published work, the ebsite lists 16 principal publications,
three book chapters and two conference proceedings.
Many of his papers have examined teaching for ecological sustainability and
Jamaican agriculture — yam farming, in particular.
He
has also led students on humanitarian expeditions to the east African country of
Tanzania.
Beckford became associate dean of pre-service education in 2007.
He
was appointed to the top position of the faculty of education in July, with his
term as dean originally to last until 2017.
At
the time the appointment was announced, university provost Leo Groarke praised
Beckford’s experience in external partnerships, advocacy and curriculum
development.
“His strengths in team building, community collaboration and international
education will be an asset as the faculty of education embarks on its future
course,” Groarke said in June.
Six
months later, on Monday, Groarke sent a letter to all faculty of education
students confirming that Beckford “will not be continuing as Dean.”
“I
expect the university to appoint an Acting Dean in the very near future,”
Groarke wrote. “In the interim, classes, examinations and the Education program
will continue as normal.”
The
university’s annual public sector salary disclosure lists Beckford’s 2011 salary
— prior to his appointment to dean — as $134,007, with $898 in benefits.
Patricia Rogers, the dean of the faculty of education before Beckford, was paid
$250,475 in 2011, with $1,483 in benefits.
The Windsor Star, December 10, 2012.
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