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It distinguishes discipline from quality review and conflict resolution, and discusses abuses involving investigations of performance and forced compliance, along with regulatory categories such as schedule, corruption, and harassment.",{"@graph":14,"@context":72},[15,34,55],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-use-and-abuse-of-university-discipline-discussion-of-proper-goals/588201/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-use-and-abuse-of-university-discipline-discussion-of-proper-goals/588201.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Aditya","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-10","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":26},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",{"@type":56,"mainEntity":57},"FAQPage",[58,64,68],{"name":59,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":61},"What does the author argue is the only proper goal of disciplining a professor?","Question",{"text":62,"@type":63},"The author argues the proper goal is to end the professor’s bad behavior, and only after informal means have failed.","Answer",{"name":65,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":66},"What penalty options can universities impose through disciplinary procedures?",{"text":67,"@type":63},"Penalties include letters of warning, letters of reprimand, removal from classes/courses/programs, suspensions with pay, suspensions without pay, and termination for cause.",{"name":69,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":70},"How does the author distinguish disciplinary procedures from related university processes?",{"text":71,"@type":63},"Disciplinary procedures are distinguished from both quality review and conflict resolution, and the author identifies abuses such as using discipline to investigate academic performance or to force a professor to get along with others.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":74,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":76,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":78,"site_id":7},588201,1792382711,{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":82},"success",[83,87,91,95,100,105,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":84,"show_sort_weight":85,"slug":86},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":88,"show_sort_weight":89,"slug":90},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":92,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":96,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":131},{"doc_id":78,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":111,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":26,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":111,"language":139,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":143,"read_time":117,"preview_page_count":4},962085564549,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_085a072bc5b1113ac321206ff7593b45","Acad. Quest . (2021) 34.4 DOI 10. 51845/34 .4.18  \nThe Use and Abuse of University Discipline  \nMark Mercer  \nWell-known recent cases of professors being disciplined by their universities include Rima Azar,1 David Porter,2 Derek Pyne3 and Amy Wax.4 Each case merits its own discussion, but in this paper, I will try to answer an abstract or theoretical question: what should discipline be used to do and what shouldn’t it be used to do?  \nI will argue that the only proper goal a university could have in seeking to discipline a professor is to put an end to that professor’s bad behavior—and only after informal means have failed. If my argument succeeds, discipline should not be used to right a wrong, give a miscreant what he deserves or correct anyone’s thinking. Discipline should not be used to restore or reconcile, to mollify an aggrieved party, to signal the university’s care and concern, or to deter others.  \nPenalties imposed by a university following disciplinary procedures include letters of warning, letters of reprimand, removal from classes, courses or programs, suspensions with pay, suspensions without pay, and, finally, termination for cause. I will argue that penalties should be applied only after a professor has been found, through a fair procedure, to have breached a sound  \n1 In May 2021, Rima Azar was suspended by Mount Allison University from June to December of that year for having posted opinions on her blog. The Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship has collected documents about the case.  \n2 David B. Porter was fired by Berea College in 2019 for “professional misconduct” after distributing a survey on academic freedom and Title IX. The National Association of Scholars has sent to the president of Berea a letter in support of Porter: [https://www. nas.org/blogs/article/an-open-letter-to-lyle-d-roelofs](https://www. nas.org/blogs/article/an-open-letter-to-lyle-d-roelofs)president-of-berea-college.  \n3 Derek Pyne was suspended from Thompson Rivers University for a year after tagging a few colleagues on Facebook to alert them to an article about his earlier run-in with discipline. The Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship has collected documents about the case.  \n4 In 2017, University of Pennsylvania Professor of Law Amy Wax was made ineligible to teach first-year students after commenting about achievement gaps within past first-year cohorts . The National Association of Scholars has written in defense of Prof. Wax: [https://www. nas.org/blogs/article/in-defense-of-amy](https://www. nas.org/blogs/article/in-defense-of-amy)wax .  \nMark Mercer is a professor of philosophy at Saint Mary’s University, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and the president of the Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship; [sergechestnut@gmail.com. The author](sergechestnut@gmail.com. The author)[ ](sergechestnut@gmail.com. The author)thanks Rima Azar, Janice Fiamengo, Patrick Keeney, Kathleen Lowrey, Dave Porter, Kenneth Westhuesand Frances Widdowson for critical discussion of an earlier draft. Mercer last appeared in AQ in summer 2021 with “Self-Censorship and the Academic Mission.”  \nuniversity regulation. Penalties should be only as severe as required to prevent the professor from behaving badly (in the same way) again. Professors found to have breached a regulation should be terminated only for a second or third violation and only if termination is necessary to ensure that the university can again function as it should – so that students get taught and research progresses.  \nDisciplinary procedures, we must be clear, aim neither at raising a professor’s standard of teaching or research nor at addressing the personal gripes that can keep professors and other members of the campus community from enjoying university life. Disciplinary procedures, then, are to be distinguished from both quality review and conflict resolution. One abuse of disciplinary procedures, then, is to use them to investigate a professor’s academic performan","cbCaik6WF1a1F8n6","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaik6WF1a1F8n6","pdf",265525,"English","# The Proper Goal of University Discipline\n## When Informal Means Fail\n## Limits on Penalty Severity\n# Types of Disciplinary Procedures and Abuse\n## Distinction from Quality Review and Conflict Resolution\n## Schedule and Corruption Categories\n## Harassment as a Regulation Category","[{\"question\":\"What does the author argue is the only proper goal of disciplining a professor?\",\"answer\":\"The author argues the proper goal is to end the professor’s bad behavior, and only after informal means have failed.\"},{\"question\":\"What penalty options can universities impose through disciplinary procedures?\",\"answer\":\"Penalties include letters of warning, letters of reprimand, removal from classes/courses/programs, suspensions with pay, suspensions without pay, and termination for cause.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the author distinguish disciplinary procedures from related university processes?\",\"answer\":\"Disciplinary procedures are distinguished from both quality review and conflict resolution, and the author identifies abuses such as using discipline to investigate academic performance or to force a professor to get along with others.\"}]","The Use and Abuse of University Discipline - Discussion of Proper Goals | PDF",1792064739]