Alberta medical dean accused of plagiarism resigns

[CHIMO]

Dr. Philip Baker, dean of medicine and dentistry at the University of Alberta, stepped down Friday amid allegations of plagiarism.

“On the request of the provost, and recognizing that it was in the best interests of all parties involved, Dr. Philip Baker is resigning as dean, and I have accepted his resignation,” said university president Indira Samarasekera.

"A resignation from a senior position as dean is a very serious step," she told reporters at news conference Friday. "It's the loss of a position of high academic stature."

Samarasekera said that the allegations made it difficult for the dean to "maintain his moral authority."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/story/2011/06/17/edmonton-dean-medicine-resigns.html

Accused resigns? Why?

[laundry_queen]

1. I'm guessing on this

You can tell me if I'm way off :)

I'm in school right now (not U of A, though I once attended there, I'm at another university) and the amount of instruction we get on plagiarism is insane. It's in every course outline, it's in the study notes for exams, it's in the front of exams, it's in every assignment. They are incredibly strict. They even run all of our assignments and exams through plagiarism recognition software. Every first day of a new class, the profs are spending 5 minutes explaining about plagiarism. Even paraphrasing is plagiarism now (it wasn't my first university go-round). So I'm just going to guess that the University pressured him because they otherwise would be completely unable to maintain this moral high ground they have been pushing HARD for awhile now.

[Posteritatis]

2. He's still way too employed. (nt)

[murphyj87]

3. I wonder....

I wonder if my cousin might be in line for his job. My cousin is Chair of the Department of Anesthesia and Pain Medicine at the University of Alberta.

http://www.theairwaysite.com/Faculty/Faculty.aspx?Faculty=Anesthesia