A Special Advisory Panel Determined that College of The Bahamas President, Dr. Rodney Smith's Action Indeed Amounted to Plagiarism

The Special Advisory Panel's Report Recommends the Termination of Dr. Rodney Smith as President of The College of The Bahamas COB

Panel Denounces Smith

By Candia Dames

candiadames@hotmail.com

Nassau, The Bahamas

2 September 2005

Three days after former College of The Bahamas President Dr. Rodney Smith lashed out at COB’s Council for asking for his resignation, the Council released portions of a report written by a special panel that had been appointed to look into his plagiarism blunder.

In the report, the panel recommends termination saying it did not see how Dr. Smith would have cause to complain or feel aggrieved.

Four of the five panel members recommended termination while Professor Rex Nettleford, vice chancellor emeritus of the University of the West Indies, wrote a dissenting view.

Dr. Smith has insisted that his use of portions of a speech given by New York University President Dr. John Sexton without providing attribution does not amount to plagiarism because Dr. Sexton later said that his work is the property of the academic community.

However, the panel determined that Dr. Smith’s action indeed amounted to plagiarism.

"While we are aware of some emerging thoughts on plagiarism which appear to be less demanding, a comparison of the Sexton text and the Smith text, using any widely accepted authoritative definition of plagiarism, leads easily to the conclusion that his omissions amounted to plagiarism," said the report, written by retired Justice Joseph Strachan on behalf of a majority.

"Nothing that was said to us by President Smith erases that.  On the contrary, a part of what he said discloses ambivalence at best and being disingenuous at worst.  We note his studious refusal to use the word ‘plagiarism’, choosing instead, ‘intellectual property rights’.

The panel’s report also said, "There are two occasions on which President Smith omitted to acknowledge his indebtedness to President Sexton, at the Honours Convocation and at the Commencement; and hence, since each omission has the specific gravity, a conclusion that the requirements for cause are met follows irresistibly."

It also notes that the law provides that the Council may remove the president from office on the ground of misconduct, inefficiency or other good cause.

"Of this subsection, it is enough to say that we consider the omissions to fall within that provision," the panel wrote.

The panel also recommended various options for handling the situation moving forward, saying that should Dr. Smith fail to resign within a specified period to be chosen by the Council, the Council would have no option but to terminate him.

The Council was also advised to take the steps necessary for the "timely discharge of its contractual obligations to him."

Dr. Smith resigned in early August and revealed this week that the Council had asked him to, based on the panel’s recommendations.

On Tuesday, Mr. Wilson confirmed that Dr. Smith had been paid the nearly $300,000 agreed to as a part of his buyout arrangement with the Council.

In a press statement on Thursday, the Council said it took the decision to accept the recommendations of the advisory panel and agreed to implement them through a committee of Council consisting of Chairman Franklyn Wilson, Dr. Earl Cash and Simon Wilson.

The Council noted, "The matter of Dr. Smith’s settlement was faithful to all the recommendations of the panel, accepted as satisfactory to him as signaled by his signing of the settlement and fully acquitted by the College of The Bahamas."

The Council also expressed its "deep displeasure" at those elements of Dr. Smith’s recent statement, which seem to be impugning the integrity of Mr. Wilson, the Council chairman; other members of the Council and the Council in general.

"Equally distasteful are those aspects of the statement that needlessly and unfairly belittle the contributions of his former colleagues," the Council’s statement said.

It was referring to such statements in Dr. Smith’s release such as, "Throughout a highly successful ten months of my tenure, I found myself doing the work of several persons, persons that carried the titles and job descriptions, but had no other work experience other than at the College of The Bahamas."

The Council said that more could be said about the veracity and or completeness of various details addressed by Dr. Smith.

However, the Council said it chose to be reticent out of compassion for the immediate past president of the college (Dr. Leon Higgs).

The Council also said that it had no desire to engage in an "unseemly exchange of accusations" with Dr. Smith.

It chose instead to focus on the recommendations contained in the panel’s report, which only last week Mr. Wilson had maintained he was not going to make public.

In addition to Justice Strachan and Professor Nettleford, panel members included Anglican Archbishop Drexel Gomez; Bahamas Ambassador to the United Nations Dr. Paulette Bethel; and President-elect of John Carroll University of Cleveland, Ohio and former Vice Provost of the University of San Francisco, Father Robert Niehoff.

Dr. Rodney Smith Alleges that The Council of The College of The Bahamas Forced Him to Resign as President of COB

Mr. Franklyn Wilson, Chairman of the Council of the College of The Bahamas Refuses to Confirm Whether the Council had Asked Dr. Rodney Smith to Resign 

COB Council Shocked

By Candia Dames

candiadames@hotmail.com

Nassau, The Bahamas

31 August 2005

Chairman of the Council of the College of The Bahamas Franklyn Wilson yesterday said the actions of former C.O.B. President Dr. Rodney Smith a day earlier were “shocking” and unbecoming of someone who has led such an important institution.

But Mr. Wilson declined to speak directly to the content of Dr. Smith’s statement in which he alleges that the Council forced him to resign even though it had already been proven that his use of material in a speech without proper attribution was not a violation of intellectual property rights.

Dr. Smith also showed up at the College on Monday to tell his side of the story.  But Mr. Wilson said what he did was out of line.

"I regard it as inappropriate, unfortunate, shocking, sad, whatever one wants to call it, that Dr. Smith saw fit to go about this matter in the way he did without the courtesy of letting the acting president of the institution, the secretary to the council, the chairman, or somebody know what was happening," he said.

"I just do not think that this is appropriate conduct for someone who has been the president of the College of The Bahamas."

Dr. Smith indicated in his statement that the Council did not show him support during the firestorm that surrounded the speech he gave at the college’s Honours Convocation in May.

He also intimated that Mr. Wilson went back on his word after implying that he was going to give him a copy of a report that had been completed by a special panel appointed to look into the matter and make recommendations for the way forward.

Mr. Wilson responded to this saying, "If it was his intention to accuse me of having lied I deny that and the truth is at all times I was very candid with him.  He did not say I lied to him, but this thing that I implied [that I would give it to him], I’d prefer if he were more precise in his choice of words [since] he’s such a scholar."

He said when he looks at the substance of what Dr. Smith had to say beyond his claims about the advisory panel’s reports, the only thing he could add is, "Dr. Rodney Smith has my prayers because when you read that very carefully I think, to me, there is evidence of the value of prayer."

Mr. Wilson refused to confirm whether the Council had asked Dr. Smith to resign.  He said the Council will first address this whole matter before it makes a formal statement in response to Dr. Smith.

"There is a whole lot of things [in that statement and] since he has chosen to go on the record, Council has an obligation to correct the record and we will do that," he said.  "I don’t wish to characterize [his statement] in any particularly way.  All I would wish to say is that it is not a balanced record of the circumstances."

The Council Chairman said he doubted the statement would negatively impact the college community.

He again assured Bahamians that the College of The Bahamas is not void of leadership.

"There are a lot of good things happening and it’s unfortunate that these personality things keep overshadowing that.  I also draw to the public’s attention the fact that Dr. Smith in his letter to the college community upon his resignation pointed to the fact that the College of The Bahamas has a plan," Mr. Wilson said.

"We are not without a plan; we are not adrift.  I strongly believe that if you take plan and passion which we definitely have, those two things would put you a long way on the road to progress."

In his statement, Dr. Smith informed that the Council had agreed to pay him $296,000 to buy out his contract.

Mr. Wilson confirmed that Dr. Smith has been paid all of the money already.

Dr. Smith said that he had given all of the facts on the whole matter involving his resignation.

"Others might refute what I say, but I know beyond any doubt that this is precisely what happened," he said.

The former college president also questioned whether he landed in a "political quagmire" and became just another victim.

Asked whether the Council regretted hiring Dr. Smith in the first place, Mr. Wilson said it did not because he was the right man for the job when he was chosen.

Mr. Wilson was also asked what Dr. Smith’s legacy has been as college president.

"It was different 24 hours ago than it is today," he said yesterday morning.  "The actions of [Monday] have coloured it, but the fact is that yes, he came and brought some energy.  He brought some enthusiasm.  He reflected the fact that he had the experience and that showed in terms of the way in which we were able to get some projects moving.

"In the long run, I believe he showed others another way that the job can be done and I think that whoever succeeds him would likely learn from that."