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Cal Poly department head accused of sexism

June 30, 2010

By KAREN VELIE

Amid allegations of sexism and poor leadership from a faculty member, the chair of the Cal Poly journalism department’s job is on the line, CalCoastNews has learned.

The news has raised the hackles of journalism students, faculty and staff who take issue with the allegations.

Because of the nature of the complaint, department chair Bill Loving said he thinks his time as chair, after a little more than two years, is close to an end.

“It appears I am in a position where there is an accusation followed by judgment,” Loving said. “The dean has said she has doubts about my ability to lead.”

Loving noted that Liberal Arts College Dean Linda Halisky met with journalism faculty earlier this month and told them that she was unsure if Loving would remain chair of the department.

Meanwhile, criticism of the professor who mounted the allegations, Teresa Allen, started soon after she made her disapproval of Loving’s leadership public, with some of her critics claiming she is retaliating against the chair over policy disagreements.

In the past Allen was considered by many to be one of the most popular teachers in the department.

Now, however, some of her colleagues and students question if Allen’s decision to start a for-profit online magazine that will compete with the campus newspaper for content and advertisers has created a conflict of interest.

“If any faculty or staff is involved in a for-profit business and using free labor from students to benefit their own pocketbook, it is unethical,” said Paul Bittick, the general manager of the Mustang Daily. “Professor Loving is doing a good job here. He is trying to make this department succeed.”

When asked to comment on her alleged accusations of sexism and her colleagues’ concerns about her business, Allen said that the issues didn’t appear to qualify as news and declined to answer the questions.

Critics of Allen question changes she recently made to her feature writing class curriculum. They contend the changes are for the benefit of Allen’s new magazine and not her students.

Allen’s feature writing class syllabus has changed from requiring students to produce longer standard features to short stories of under 500 words, accompanied by photo galleries that focus on the local nightclub scene.

One of Allen’s partners in the magazine, former Cal Poly lecturer and the magazine’s content editor Kim Lisagor, said that it benefits students to learn to write for the web because it gives the students the tools to compete in the future, with the industry expecting more jobs to be online.

In the past, Allen’s students were encouraged to submit their stories to the Mustang Daily for publication. Now, however, she has instructed her students to publish their work on web magazines.

To make up for the lack of content from journalism students, the editors of the Mustang Daily said they began paying students from other departments for content.

“You walk into this position thinking you will have the support of the entire department to find that a professor is trying to compete with you,” said Leticia Rodriguez, the editor of the Mustang Daily and an intern with CalCoastNews. “A professor should not be in competition with a group of students they used to advice.”

Lisagor said that Allen has not submitted any of her students’ work to her for publication. However, she said that their magazine, expected to go online in September, will provide a venue for the students to publish.

“The school has always wanted student to publish,” Lisagor said. “This is just another outlet for them.”

Halisky, a well-liked dean within the College of Liberal Arts who generally responds to the media, did not return repeated phone and email requests for comment.

After a faculty member rejected Allen’s request to have Megan Hassler, a student who had been serving as the paid web editor to the Mustang Daily, work for her as an intern for the summer, she circumvented the usual process and went to the dean for assistance.

“Allen bypassed my office and the department faculty, with respect to students doing unpaid internships, by going directly to the dean,” Loving said.

Nevertheless, Hassler is working on Allen’s website for a percentage of the online magazine and for credit for her senior project.

The contentious relationship between Loving and Allen escalated after Loving rotated the occupants of five department offices in order to provide advertising staff a private office. Allen complained about the room change to the dean as well as students.

“She brought a lot of attention about her feelings over the room change,” said Emilie Egger, English major and last year’s Mustang Daily editor. “Her door says Teresa Allen’s cubby hole. You can cut the tension in the department with a knife.”

Loving said he has told the faculty not to involve students in their disagreements because it can rip a department apart.

As for the claims of sexism in the journalism department, CalCoastNews asked more than a dozen staff members, faculty and students if they thought the claim had merit and, across the board, everyone said they had either not witnessed sexism in the department or that the allegations were false.

“I have never seen sexism,” Rodriguez said. “It makes me furious that one of the few professors in the department who cares more for the students than himself has to go through this.”

Note: CalCoastNews editor George Ramos, who is a member of the journalism faculty at Cal Poly, elected not to be involved in the reporting and editing of this article.


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I often find Ms. Velie’s reporting very capable, but one wonders why the lede is buried at the bottom of a 900-word document. If one is going with that, it would seem much more appropriate to hit the ground running with the issue at hand then, instead of a passing mention in the first paragraph. Sorry, but it just strikes me as more than a little National Enquirer-esque.


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Why does she call the general manager Paul Bittick ‘disgruntled’? He is quoted saying she is “unethical” for “being involved in a for- profit business” using free student labor. The irony is that this professor teaches ethics. This is only one of the many ways that she is unethical. Is it ethical to ignore the parking laws to the point of having a boot placed on your car? Is it ethical to bring your pet with you to work every single day on state property and at a workplace where dogs are not allowed? Prof. Allen acts as if the rules apply to everyone but her. Dean Halisky has either not done her homework or doesn’t care about what happens to Journalism. Please do not try to sluff this issue off as a “gossip” piece. There is a lot more to this story and a lot to lose if the department goes under.


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National Enquirer-esque.


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That was fun reading!!

Thanks


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In case some of you are in the dark, the National Enquirer is no longer just a “gossip” venue, but was the newspaper that exposed John Edwards and his mistress, and now has the Al Gore and the alleged sexual abuse story. It was up for nomination for a Pulitzer. They carry stories that the main stream media should cover, but don’t.


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I heard a little of Karen’s spot on Congalton last night and this disturbs me. However I think Karen needs to be careful here, because she has a dog in this fight (albeit a small dog). She should disclose any conflict she may have and do her best to remain objective. I believe she can.


I want to relate something that happened to me back in my college days. I was taking a class in microwave electronics. The instructor was having us build satellite dishes. This was the early days of satellite TV where the dishes were 6-8 feet across and weighed a ton. I found out half way through the class that the instructor had started a side business making and selling home satellite dishes. He was using us to experiment and perfect his dishes and come up with lower cost fabrication methods.


I thought WTF!


The whole thing so soured my opinion of the industry that I changed career path. This is what disturbs me so much here. If these students feel they are being taken advantage of and used, they may make the same choice as I did and abandon journalism as a career.


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Does anyone else think there’s a conflict of interest here? Especially considering the former chair of the Cal Poly Journalism Department, who is still a professor there, is now the editor of CalCoastNews.com.


And is this really considered investigative journalism? It reads more like gossip than anything else. This entire story and the fact that it was even published is a disappointment, to say the least.


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As is made very clear at the end of the article, Professor Ramos recused himself completely from the editorial process on this story. He had zero to do with the reporting. He stayed away completely.


What prompted this story was the statement by Dean Linda Halisky to the journalism faculty that she was “unsure” if Bill Loving was going to remain as department chair, after only two years on the job. Most of the journalism faculty seem to support Professor Loving–with the glaring exception of the one professor who tried to be department chair, but was rejected by every single member of her department.


Now Professor Allen submits a lengthy diatribe on this site where she diplomatically dances around the most important issue — Bill Loving is in trouble because of her. Why else would the dean be making those comments? Who else would be running to the dean to dump another department chairman? Let’s not lose the focus on the real issue here.


Meanwhile, Ms. Eggers feels unloved because a name is misspelled and more of her interview with Karen wasn’t used. It happens, Emilie. It wasn’t done intentionally.


Once again, Cal Poly Journalism is making news as opposed to merely teaching it. Bill Loving deserves better and CalCoastNews does not regret raising legitimate questions about the actions of an academic dean and a tenured faculty member trying to subvert the process.


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Well said, Dave. Too many politics at Poly. What sane person would want to work there? This story seems to be a mirror image of the Noori piece: many, many faculty wanted him out and he lasted five years. One faculty member wants Loving out and he’s about to get pushed?


I’m betting that there is more to this story. Why would Halisky give so much weight to one surly faculty member?


And to Teresa Allen: when everyone but you, in the story, is “disgruntled” or “misinformed,” it might be time to take a peek inside.


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I’m betting that there is more to this story. I am betting with you on this one.

Perhaps the Cal Poly Foundation will step in to over see student profits.


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My name is Emilie Egger.


As a long-time SLO county resident and avid news reader, I am appreciative of CCN’s commitment to investigative journalism. However, the blatant errors in the story “Cal Poly Department Head Accused of Sexism ” implored me to write in.


There are more than a handful of errors in this story The article contains much questionable and unattributed information, which could ultimately harm the people involved.


First, CCN should have consulted Megan Hassler or at the very least explained their attempts in contacting her before revealing her personal, student work in a published news story. Federal laws govern what information can be publicly shared about students without their permission; senior project information would certainly fall under a protected category.


Second, there are a variety of departments and colleges represented at the Mustang Daily This did not come about, “to make up for the lack of content from journalism students,” as the story implies. As last year’s editor, I saw it as a positive thing to get more students involved, not a last resort.


I went on the record to CCN, because I considered Bill Loving to be a good boss and a good leader of the journalism department. Unfortunately, the short quote attributed to me (kind of) does not reflect that sentiment, although it formed the basis of my 30-minute interview with the reporter.


In addition and more seriously, the plethora of errors in this story make it unlikely to be considered with great weight among the people responsible for Professor Loving’s future position with the university, which is unfortunate, as it seems his job is precarious.


Once again, I appreciate CCN for reporting stories that other news organizations shy away from. However, this story will make me more cautious in further reading.


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Calcoastnews has once again published a story that is woefully short on facts and long on innuendo, gossip and reporter opinion/speculation. The two named sources in the story, on which the publications hangs some serious allegations, are a disgruntled staff member and a misinformed student (who currently works as an intern at Calcoastnews). What happens in the department, at least in terms of personnel issues, should stay there. I will say that I was as surprised as anyone to see the sensational and largely erroneous headline and story regarding issues in our department. And my alleged part in it. My participation in department business is no greater or no less then any other single faculty member. To insinuate that I am solely responsible for anything happening in the department–whether it be what copy machine to buy or what faculty member to hire or fire-may be flattering. But it is not how this democratic operation works.


Velie’s scattershot approach in her article, too, misrepresents my involvement in an online, off-campus media site I am working on with two other journalists, and a feature writing class I have taught for years. There is no blurring of the lines, as she infers, between these two publication activities. In the feature writing class, students train for the real “new media” world in which they must soon compete. In class this spring, students began their own start-up entertainment Web site called “The Slodown” (a name they voted on) for their publication. They worked as “beat” reporters for this site, writing both short and long format stories, editing each others copy, posting their work, producing accompanying slideshows, and learning various new media tools and writing techniques that will surely make them more marketable when they graduate. Their stories and work were published solely on The Slodown Web site, available on the Internet. They are also free to publish these stories in any other publication they like.


The “other” website is still in the talking phase and has yet to even see the light of day. It will cover the county, (sort of like Calcoastnews, humm…) and is not in competition with the Mustang Daily. Our motivation in starting this site is to teach ourselves more about the new world of media and hopefully, someday, provide more opportunity to our journalism students. There is no free content and, unlike Calcoastnews, we are against unpaid internships and do not accept them. We believe that students should be paid for their work. The above was carefully explained to Karen Veile prior to the publication of this article.


I continue to root for the success of Calcoastnews because the community needs another media venue in a dwindling marketplace. But to gain the respect and credibility of the readership, and to stand the test as a media organization we can trust over time, the publication must not forget about the basic tenets of the profession-in particular, the importance of objective and ethical reporting. “Investigations” should begin at a neutral point and not, as is often the case at Calcoastnews, a pre-conceived notion on Velie’s part that she then sets off to “prove” with selective sourcing, rumor and speculation.


Media publications have a powerful voice. And with this comes a great responsibility to be as fair and accurate as possible.


Sometimes this may mean waiting until you have all the facts.


Teresa Allen

Professor of Journalism


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The Slodown Web site, available on the Internet

any one have a link?

my Google Fu failed :-(


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It seems to me that your comment, “(sort of like CalCoastNews, humm…)” is the same sort of “innuendo” of which you accuse Karen, and hope you can use to distract readers from the concerns about your actions as a professor and peer.


No where in _your_ lengthy response do you unequivocally assert that you have clean hands here and that your new venture will not exploit the student.


Please write again, Theresa, and let us know unequivocally and exactly how you will not profit at the expense of tax payer supported student, how you will not use their class assignments for profit, and how they will be paid, and that the ownership of said venture will belong to the students/University.


Or, as I wrote earlier, please resign and pursue your new business with ethically clear gusto.


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The only website on the net called Slodown that I can locate is one called the Slodown Pub. It is a local beer and wine venue. There are no articles there, it’s more about advertisement. There are several links attributed to advertising various activity nights at the slodown Pub, someone did a lot of work but certainly not in reference to any efforts that might qualify under the auspice of journalism. If this site was set up and developed by the Cal Poly Students, I certainly hope that they were compensated for their abilities to develop private business media sites and advertising promo’s. Someone has designed some impressive media outlets in support of the proprietors marketing efforts.


Perhaps Teresa Allen would care to elucidate? Is there another Slodown website that we can’t locate?


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This article needs a link! Mustang Daily deserves a bookmark.


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This is so disturbing on so many different levels that one isn’t quite sure where to begin.


A department chairperson is in trouble because of complaints from a SINGLE faculty member? Are you kidding me? And this chairperson replaced an earlier chair who also lasted only a couple years before being demoted by the same college dean? Is there a pattern here?


And Professor Allen goes to the dean over the issue of an internship? That is amazing.


Sounds to me like Ms. Allen and Dean Halisky have become too close personally in all this. The dean’s judgment is seriously compromised if she is making decisions out of her friendship for Allen.


I think the provost needs to investigate what is going on in the College of Liberal Arts. Perhaps time for a new dean. Keep Bill Loving as chair. Get the renegade faculty under control.


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Lotta feather-ruffling this Allen is doing. I point out that her new venture sounds like direct competition for our very own CCN.


That notwithstanding, her actions and the comments made by the J dept seem to show a pattern of self-absorption and conniving. When (if) her claim of sexism is found to be baseless (as seems likely), I will look for a reprimand from the department, and at least one apology from her.


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Cal Poly is a “hands on” school. There is no problem with Allen starting a magazine for the students to run, produce income that pays the students an intern wage, provide for scholarships, donate to rape crisis, child abuse treatment, a better printing press.


But, what she is proposing is immoral and unethical. It’s exploitative and demeans her professorship. IIf Allen pursues this, she should not profit in any way, she should not own it in any part, it should be Cal Poly owned and student run with professor or admin oversight.


If she persists, I trust the students and the community to rise up and demand her resignation or her firing, on the spot, no enhanced compensation upon departure, either. Let’s show some leadership, folks.


To financially (or otherwise) exploit the students is an insult to all Cal Poly students who pay exorbitant fees and tuition; it’s an insult to all American’s whose taxes end up at the University.


Of further insult, this online magazine will be in direct competition with Perez Hilton. (Humor Folks)


Please teach the students how to be real reporters. Fact check. Spell check. Write stories that contribute to the betterment or honor the betterment of society. Investigate. Don’t go out to bars and “report”. Gimme a break.


If they start going downtown with camera in one hand, typewriting in another, how am I going to get my nightly drunk on? (still humor, folks – I needed a little after this.)


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