May 5, 2006 8:16 pm US/Mountain
Panel Wrapping Up Ward Churchill Investigation
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) ―
An investigative panel looking into allegations of plagiarism and misrepresentation against University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill is expected to deliver its report to a faculty committee by Tuesday.
Once it receives the findings, the Standing Committee on Research Misconduct will recommend to the chancellor whether Churchill should be cleared or dismissed or face some other discipline.
Churchill, a tenured ethnic studies professor, angered many people with an essay he wrote that compared some Sept. 11 victims to a Nazi. University officials determined he could not be fired for the comments but launched an investigation into the allegations about his research.
Churchill did not immediately return a phone message.
Phil DiStefano, acting chancellor of CU's Boulder campus, will handle Churchill's case, regardless of whether a permanent chancellor is named before the standing committee gives him its report, CU spokesman Barrie Hartman said Friday.
DiStefano last month withdrew from consideration for the job on a permanent basis, saying he would return to his old position as provost, the campus' top academic officer.
Hartman said DiStefano was not available to comment on Churchill's case.
The investigative panel is made of three CU faculty members and two members from other universities.
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