TKC BREAKING NEWS!!! UMKC SMACKS DOWN KANSAS CITY STAR RANKING STORY & DEFENDS FIRING OF 'WHISTLEBLOWER' REPORTEDLY DISMISSED FOR CAUSE!!!

Not so long ago, the Kansas City Star attacked the city college and the only real result of their writing was that one of their tipsters was fired for it.

To wit . . .

TKC TIPSTERS SHARE THIS EPIC NEWS BLAST FEATURING UMKC DISPUTING CLAIMS FROM AN ALLEGED "WHISTLEBLOWER" & REPORTING FROM THE KANSAS CITY STAR!!!

The dude's allegations from the Biz School were never really that interesting but earned front page coverage from the newspaper as if they were covering Watergate . . . Mostly it was coverage that was ignored by most readers who don't really think about college beyond sports.

And so, as the story flopped among the denizens of the local news scene . . . Here's UMKC sharing their side of the story FIRST ON TKC . . . 

A Message from the Interim Chancellor

March 26, 2018

Dear colleagues,

As a true believer in the ability of higher education to transform our community and our world, I hold dear our mission of learning, discovery, research and service. As a faculty member myself, I understand that the faculty are the intellectual core of the university and play a foundational role in serving our mission. Therefore, I strongly value the principles of academic freedom and tenure that support the work of our faculty.

At UMKC and in the UM System, we have a well-defined procedure under which faculty hold colleagues accountable. The process very rarely leads to termination. In fact, only once in the last 10 years has that happened at UMKC.

I’m writing to you today because Dr. Richard Arend, the faculty member from the Henry W. Bloch School of Management who was dismissed for cause from UMKC, persists in claiming to media that he was terminated by the university in retaliation for being a whistleblower, despite clear evidence to the contrary.

As a tenured faculty member, Dr. Arend was protected from being fired through any unilateral action by the UMKC administration or UM System administration. In accordance with the Collected Rules and Regulations of the University of Missouri, he was afforded an extensive opportunity for a hearing before other faculty members.

The facts are that a 10-person committee of his tenured faculty peers at UMKC determined that Dr. Arend failed to meet important standards enforced by faculty. Those failures were unrelated to the activity he claims prompted his dismissal. After six exhaustive days of hearings, in which Dr. Arend was accompanied by legal counsel and permitted to introduce evidence and question witnesses, that committee voted unanimously that he be dismissed for cause.

In their report, the committee cited Dr. Arend’s “demonstrated substantial lack of fitness in the professional capacity as a teacher and researcher at the University.” The faculty committee found that Dr. Arend engaged in academic misconduct relating to research; and that he committed acts of intimidation, threats, coercion, and/or harassment directed against students, faculty and staff. The UMKC Chancellor acted in accordance with the faculty committee’s wishes and terminated his appointment.
Dr. Arend later appealed the unanimous decision by his faculty peers – first to UM System President and finally to the Board of Curators. In both appeals, he had additional opportunities to make his case. At each stage, the decision made by the faculty committee was upheld.

Under normal circumstances, we would not choose to make this kind of detail public. However, Dr. Arend has called the integrity of the university into question. We believe we have no choice but to set the record straight. Members of our university community, the Missouri taxpayers who help fund our operations, and the organizations and institutions that hire and enroll our graduates deserve no less.

Below you will find a detailed timeline of the events leading up to Dr. Arend’s dismissal with links to official documents detailing the charges against him and the committee’s decisions on those charges. These documents offer a transparent look into the process and reasons for Dr. Arend’s dismissal.

Let me be clear. Dr. Arend did bring genuine problems and issues to the media’s attention. However, any claim that his dismissal was retaliation for that exposure is demonstrably false by the actual evidence.

Among our campus values are Respect, Integrity and Accountability. We value the discoveries that our faculty make every day. Your work betters the lives of every citizen of our state and the nation. That’s why it is our duty to respect tenure, and why faculty take on the responsibility to uphold the standards of tenure through self-enforcement. It also is our duty to ensure that every faculty, staff member and student feels valued and respected. Our actions in this matter have upheld these values and responsibilities.

Respectfully,

Barbara A. Bichelmeyer, Ph.D
Interim Chancellor and Provost
Professor of Management

Documents: https://info.umkc.edu/news/032618-2/

Timeline

· 2015: After receiving reports from two faculty grievance panels and a letter from the Vice Chancellor for Research about Dr. Arend’s misconduct, UMKC Chancellor Leo E. Morton appointed Provost Barbara A. Bichelmeyer to investigate whether dismissal for cause charges should be brought against Dr. Arend.

· Jan. 23, 2016: Provost Bichelmeyer presented the charges against Dr. Arend to the UMKC Campus Committee on Tenure, comprised of 10 tenured faculty members from across the university.

· April 21, 2016: The faculty Committee initiated the hearing for Dr. Arend. The hearing extended for six days during which each party had the opportunity to examine and cross-examine witnesses. Both sides presented evidence; Dr. Bichelmeyer presented more than 20 exhibits; Dr. Arend presented more than 70 exhibits. Dr. Arend was present for all hearing sessions and was accompanied by legal counsel.

· April 23, 2016: Based on incidents occurring during the hearing, the charges against Dr. Arend were amended to include two additional charges.

· June 14, 2016: The faculty Committee unanimously found that “adequate cause for dismissal of Dr. Arend, as based on the sustained counts, is directly and substantially related to his demonstrated substantial lack of fitness in the professional capacity as a teacher and researcher at the University.”

· July 22, 2016: Chancellor Leo E. Morton upheld the faculty Committee’s findings and Dr. Arend’s employment was terminated for cause.

· Sept. 26, 2016: following Dr. Arend’s appeal, University of Missouri System Interim President Michael Middleton upheld the faculty Committee’s findings and the termination of Dr. Arend’s employment for cause.

· Dec. 8, 2016: Dr. Arend presented his final appeal to the Board of Curators of the University of Missouri System. He also submitted a 37-page written argument to the Curators.

· Dec. 19, 2016: the Board of Curators upheld the faculty Committee’s findings and the termination of Dr. Arend’s employment for cause.
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