2 MnSCU College Presidents Reject Plagiarism Claims

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Two community college presidents in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System are denying allegations of plagiarism made against them in the past month on a blog.

The first blog post in early February was later confirmed to be about Annette Parker, president of South Central College in North Mankato. Dorothy Duran, president of Minnesota State College-Southeast Technical in Winona, confirmed the second post made Thursday is about her.

Parker said she gave proper attribution to sources. Duran stands behind her work and said excerpts in the blog "take it out of context," leaving out some citations.

MnSCU said in a statement that it supports its presidents and called the allegations "reckless."

The accusations in Thursday's post were made by a group calling itself Minnesotans United for Higher Ed. The group wants change in Chancellor Steven Rosenstone's administration and has hired a private investigator.

Faculty unions and management in MnSCU have been in a dispute over Rosenstone's plan to overhaul the system.

"We've uncovered two academically dishonest presidents, and there are more," said group spokeswoman Nicole Helget, a former teacher at South Central College who was fired in January. She circulated an email critical of Parker's decisions.

University of Richmond professor Jeffrey Harrison, who co-authored an article Parker is accused of lifting from, said she went "far beyond what is acceptable" in academic writing.

"It is an understatement to say that Annette has 'borrowed heavily' from our work," Harrison said in a written statement. "Nobody with her background and training could have engaged in such gross misconduct innocently."

Parker has asked Western Kentucky University to review her dissertation. She got her doctorate in education from the school in 2012.

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