Claim of bias in university classrooms flares anew

SAN DIEGO ? Student Republicans at San Diego State University have rekindled an issue that arises periodically at campuses around the country by accusing some professors of injecting personal agendas into their teaching.

The SDSU College Republicans club has released a ?Teach or Preach? list calling out some faculty members they say are biased and identifying others who they contend are not.

Faculty members and a top campus administrator did not seem terribly troubled by the list and supported the students? right to express their opinions,

?There are a lot of professors here who take a class period, or the whole course, to spread their political agenda,? said Lx ?Fangonilo, ?president of the club.

He cited as an example a class he took that was supposed to be a survey of history from the 18th century to the present.

?But it was all about how corporations have taken over the world,? Fangonilo said. ?That?s class time we are paying for. For us not to get the class we signed up for, that?s not right.?

Nancy Marlin, the university?s provost, said: ?Any bias or slanting is, of course, relative to one?s own position ? We actually encourage open discussion of controversial material. This is something we think is critical; that?s how you do the exploration of new ideas. That?s why we have academic freedom and freedom of speech. Students are free to express themselves. We encourage it. All of this is part of being a vibrant university ?

Marlin said the university has a formal process for students to complain if they feel class content is ?irrelevant and unrelated to the subject.? Such cases, which she said are rare, are heard by a committee composed of students and faculty members.

Andrew Mytelka, news editor for The Chronicle of Higher Education, said charges of bias in higher education are not uncommon.

?Yes, you hear about this on a fairly frequent basis, but it?s always so anecdotal. I don?t know anyone who tallies it,? Mytelka said. ?These accusations usually come from students on the right, but occasionally on the left. They are usually so subjective and not really provable it?s hard to judge the veracity. You rarely hear about any follow through unless you have a real extreme event with a professor who has a real problem.?

The Republican club has circulated the list to approximately 700 people ? mostly students ? on its email list, Fangonilo said, as well as to the general faculty via email.

?And we?ve posted it all over Facebook and everyone?s reposting it,? he said.

Carl Barnes, vice president of the club, said it is not a coincidence that the list was released this week as registration for the new semester began.

?We want to put it out as a guide to students,? he said. ?We want them to know a thing or two about the classes they are taking. Why not take one where you are actually getting the subject you sign up for? We plan to do this every semester and our goal is to kind of inspire the other (Republican) clubs on campuses around the state to do the same.?

Source: http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/jan/07/claims-of-bias-in-university-classrooms-flares/

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