Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for January 5, 2007 YOU MADE 100%...

...but, you flunk!

Be careful the next time you take a test...you might get a speeding ticket!!!

From the Chicago Tribune...

Profs fail ethics test for taking it too fast

By Jodi S. Cohen
Tribune higher education reporter

In a tongue-in-cheek show of pride, Southern Illinois University Professor Marvin Zeman hung on his office door a certificate showing he had successfully completed the state's 10-question computerized ethics test.

Then he found out he had failed.

The state agency administering the program determined that he didn't spend enough time on the training and subsequent multiple-choice test, even though he said he got all the questions right.

He and thousands of other public university employees who the state says did not put enough effort into the ethics course now must read and sign a copy of the ethics rules or face discipline that could include losing their jobs.

"Most of it was common sense. You look at it, read it, and answer the questions," said Zeman, a math professor in Carbondale who finished the training in 6.18 minutes, according to a letter he received from the state. "We are not talking about very challenging reading."

The online training, which began as part of a 2003 state ethics law and is administered annually by the state Office of the Executive Inspector General, includes 80 computer screens of information about prohibited political activity, whistle-blower protections, and bans on accepting gifts. Employees then take the test.

Gilbert Jimenez, the state deputy inspector general for investigations, wouldn't give the cutoff time at which employees get busted for completing the program too quickly, but said that eight or 10 minutes would be too little time to zip through it. Employees took on average about 30 minutes, he said.

Faculty members questioned how state officials would know whether they spent 30 minutes on the training, or just left the program open while checking e-mail or visiting the restroom.

This is the first year that employees have been penalized for rushing through the program.

"The idea is that these state employees must meaningfully engage in the training," Jimenez said. "To jump to the end and deal with 10 questions is not engaging in the training as required by law."

About 200,000 state workers, more than half of them university and community college employees, are required to complete the training. About 10 percent of the 58,000 employees who had taken the online exam by the end of August were penalized for doing it too quickly, Jimenez said.

Of the 32,594 University of Illinois employees who completed the training, 2,341 were told that they finished too fast, said U. of I. spokesman Tom Hardy.

State university employees began the training in September. According to the state ethics Web site, it should have taken them "no more than one hour" to read the materials. There is no warning that employees must spend a minimum amount of time on it.

Those who finished too fast received letters from the state and the university.

"Contrary to instructions, you appear to have failed to carefully read and review the subject matter contained in the program's introduction and three lessons," according to the state's letter to Zeman.

The letter also instructs employees to sign a statement acknowledging that future failure to complete the training "on a timely basis" will result in disciplinary action "up to including termination."

Zeman, president of SIU's Faculty Association, said he is refusing to sign the letter and encouraging other faculty members not to sign. The faculty union has filed a grievance against the university.

"Imagine what would happen to me if I failed a student because he was too quickly doing an exam. I would probably be fired," said SIU math professor Walter Wallis, who also has to redo the ethics training after completing it in about seven minutes. "The whole thing is kind of absurd. Most of us did what is essentially the same thing, with the same training, a year earlier. Are we supposed to have forgotten it all?"

Jimenez, however, said that this year's training included updated lessons pertinent to an election year, including a warning that employees only could engage in political activity during half of their one-hour lunch break. The other half is state-paid time when they are prohibited from doing political work.

"The reality is that somebody who works an 8-hour day all year long works 2,080 hours a year," Jimenez said. "It does not seem unreasonable to expect state employees to take 30 minutes out of their busy work year to complete the ethics training."