When the nursing students heard that some of their evaluations
had been sent off campus, in defiance of an explicit ruling pertaining
to student confidentiality, Diana was blitzed with students clamoring
to testify at her hearing so they could protest this indecency.
As a group, they obtained hundreds of signatures on a petition
requesting the A.C.L.U. to take up their cause. The A.C.L.U
was most sympathetic, but on finding that the evaluations sent
were not signed, felt there was nothing they could do.
The students argued that since the administration put such emphasis
on handwriting identification, it might use this method to identify
the writers of SmurFFs, which were supposed to be anonymous.
The group sent a strong letter of protest to The Pope and continued
their campaign across campus. One of the leaders of these
concerned students, Jennifer Glass, was the next witness for Diana.
Jennifer Glass worked in a downtown social service agency full time.
She was taking the nursing nutrition course under the Continuing
Education Department.
A rather large woman of thirty, she dressed well and showed
no embarrassment or nervousness. She was educated extensively
in New York State schools and had graduated an education major.
Erudite and accomplished, she faced the panel with a most
positive sense of anticipation.
"Yes," she answered the direct examination question posed by Diana,
"I am in your nutrition lab and I have talked with you extensively
about the way evaluations are handled in the medical school.
"I came to you first to complain, thinking that the department
was lax leaving them around in the lecture hall. I or anyone else
could have filled out any number of them, since we were told to leave
our finished evaluations in the NERD office. I was disturbed that
the students were not taking them seriously. It seemed to indicate
to me that the nutrition course was not considered important enough
to be properly evaluated. That bothered me.
"You assured me that the evaluation process wasn't unique
to the nursing course and took me to the NERD office to see
how the medical students evaluation was conducted.
"I was appalled. Throughout my training, it was stressed
how important the process is. At the colleges I attended,
they were taken seriously--a representative from the student
government would sign out the required number of forms from
the administration official and bring them to the classroom.
"All teachers or instructors had to leave the room while
we filled out our evaluation. They were collected, counted
and brought back to the administration official. The data was
given to the instructor but never the evaluations themselves
because student confidentiality was considered to be an
important step in the process.
"In contrast, at Belmont the evaluation process is a joke--
even the, er, enriched acronym, SmurFFs, this university
has chosen to call the evaluation forms for student feedback
attests to this."
"Were you ever given specific instructions relating to
the evaluations?" asked Diana.
"Yes, Dr. Lyle Stone, at the beginning of the course,
told us that there would be evaluations periodically and that
it was very important for us to fill them out since they would
provide feedback on the course content and the instructors.
He also stressed that they would be confidential.
"I remember being impressed, thinking, Oh great! Then instead
of a proper evaluation procedure, the forms were left in piles
at the end of rows to be filled out during the lecture or
taken home to do. Just get them back before the end of the week,
they told us."
"Did you ever initiate a conversation with Lyle Stone regarding
how you felt about document examiners and student confidentiality?"
"Yes, right after the lecture, the first part of this May,
Roz Peel and a couple of other students and I went up to him
after lecture.
"We told him that we were concerned that our student evaluations,
which we had been told were confidential, and which we had been told
had a specific purpose, had been sent outside the university without
permission or knowledge of the students."
"Would you be referring to these documents?" Trenchant got up
from her chair and walked around the table until she came to where
Jennifer was sitting and handed her exhibits 3 and 4--the SmurFFs
Jimbo Jones was reported to have discovered.
"Yes."
"What happened then?"
"He said that no student evaluations were sent out
and that our confidentiality had not been breached.
"I disagreed with him and said that I had seen copies of
those evaluations and the report of the document examiner.
He started yelling then and became very defensive. He said that
the only evaluations that were sent out had been written by you.
We said that if he knew that, why send them out. Then he got
abusive of you and said like you were crazy to do something like that.
He said that they sent them to a document examiner because they
knew you wrote them. He said he would never do that with
any evaluation that a student made out."
"Can you recall anytime during the first semester that I had
an injured wrist and couldn't put instructions on the board?"
"Yes, it was in December--exam week, the 9th through the 13th.
I did some of it for you."
The panel started to bombard Jennifer with questions. Good,
Henry thought, apparently they aren't interested in her direct
evidence relating to the incapacity of Diana as they are totally
ignoring that testimony. Instead, they are giving all
indications of being hurt by her denunciation of the way
the evaluation process is carried out at Belmont.
A typical faculty reaction, Henry chuckled to himself as he listened.
They aren't asking questions, they're defending our evaluation process
by giving long speeches. Here's Anuse explaining at length that the
university takes student confidentiality very seriously and pays
a great deal of attention to evaluations. He's trying to stroke
the witness into backing off from some of her allegations and it
appears to be working. . .no, not any more, he went too far.
Jennifer was quite sharply reminding Frank that she had
written her concerns to various administrative officials
around campus and the fact that student evaluations had been
misused had been confirmed.
I'd better help, thought Henry. "You must understand that
Lyle Stone had to give the answers he did because by that time
he knew the results of the examiners report and anything he said
was referring to that."
The witness, however, remained adamant. It was her distinct
impression that Stone had already convinced himself that Diana
had written the critiques before they were sent to the examiners.
The witness, however, remained adamant. It was her distinct impression
that before they were sent to the examiners Stone had already convinced
himself that Diana had written the critiques.
Henry was massively uncomfortable with what this suggested.
It wouldn't do to have the panel hear much more of this.
He commenced another long speech, explaining that Lyle couldn't
have said anything like that because it was not Lyle Stone that
sent the `suspect' SmurFFs out--it was Mark, the university attorney.
"So you see, you must have misunderstood," he concluded, patronizingly.
Before the witness could respond, Anuse professed not to understand
why it made any difference how the evaluation was conducted.
He went on and on in this vein in a querulous, whining voice.
Once he had wound down, Esther started to muddy the waters
because she didn't understand what was sent out and when.
"Are you saying all the SmurFFs were sent off campus?" she asked.
"No, the discussion is about these `suspect' evaluations,"
explained Jane, indicating the exhibits.
"Well, that's all right then," Esther explained in a motherly
tone to the witness, "those SmurFFs never left. The examiners
came here yesterday and looked at them." Esther had become more
of a space cadet than ever, thought Jane. And obviously,
Henry and Anuse are disturbed by this.
Stupid broad, thought Henry. He signaled Janet that the
hearing was off the record and gathered the panel into a huddle
to straighten out Esther before she did some real harm.
When the hearing reconvened, all the players went round again
with paternal and maternal advice. Rather than asking for information
from the witness, they took turns telling her that she hadn't heard what
she was testifying about. Obviously, she was mistaken.
"Now, I'm sure you see that no one was trying to attempt to
have any student identified by having a document examiner look
at these," cajoled Anuse.
"That's what you say. But I think what you have done is illegal.
I really think it is illegal and if I find a way to do it,
I am going to stop it. . ."
Anuse tried to interrupt, but Jennifer was on a roll. "We had
an oral contract. Dr. Stone stood up in front of the whole class
and told us what the evaluation forms were to be used for.
And they weren't, they were used for something else and that is not right."
Henry was stung into action. He interjected to assure her that
she must not worry because the administration would never violate
a student's confidentiality or go back on its word to them.
He thought he was pouring on oil, but Jennifer knew bullshit
when she heard it. "I don't believe it," asserted Jennifer stoically.
Diana took this opportunity to reinforce Jennifer's testimony
with another example of the kind of honesty and fair play
that the administration practiced. "You are arguing with my witness,
not questioning her. She has good reason for her belief.
When I came into this hearing, it was with the assurance
from my department chairman and the chairman of this panel,
both senior administrators, that I had been given all
of the material that would be presented as evidence relating
to the handwriting examiners.
"This proved to be unequivocally false. The evidence you
have introduced, Mr. Chairman, contains many documents
that were never given to me to examine before the hearing."
This started another bout between Diane and Anuse,
who apparently able to read Lyle's and the chair's mind,
kept insisting that what Lyle and Henry meant was that Diana
had been given all of the material available at that date.
Henry rushed in to agreed that yes that was what was meant.
"Lyle gave you everything he had at that date."
"Then it was incumbent upon this committee to see that I
had all of the evidence before the hearing."
"But," protested the chair, "we didn't get all the evidence
ourselves until today."
"Then it shouldn't have been presented until I had an
opportunity to examine it! I am finished with this witness."
Henry quickly announced that there would be a break.
When they were back on the record, Henry announced,
"Once the witnesses for Diana complete their testimony,
we will call Lyle back to clear up the misconceptions
this last witness has introduced. Also we will call
Ann Biggot, and Mark. . .," To straighten out the
panel on the document examiners, he thought to himself.
He continued, "while we are at it, we should probably hear from Jimbo."
Apparently, thought Jane, if he hears anything contradictory
to what he's already established as correct, someone has to
come back and explain it away.