The Sentinel did another article on the cheating scandal. Taylor Ellis tends to speak his mind.
The midterm exam was 55 multiple-choice questions, with different versions generated by a computer program each day during the midterm testing period. Quinn set up the test so that each version was pulled from the test bank, a practice Ellis said was not ideal.
Monday, November 22, 2010
First Chink in the Armor
I haven’t gotten a particularly bad vibe from the new Provost, but this essay is really weak. Surely he could have done better.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Grant Heston Sucks, Part III
UCF spends a lot of money on PR, yet UCF gets terrible press coverage. As best I can tell, UCF PR does two things. They write good news stories that have a state-run media vibe, and they deny UCF’s culpability in the scandal of the week (e.g., they tell the press that the football stadium doesn’t need water fountains).
But they don't get UCF good press coverage.
But they don't get UCF good press coverage.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
UCF Loves Getting Sued
From the Sentinel:
A former University of Central Florida professor has filed a lawsuit against the school after she said she was let go because she refused to use a textbook that "contains antiquated and offensive racial, ethnic and other stereotypes."
Hitt hates dissent and from reading the lawsuit it appears this mentality has filtered down to the College of Nursing.
A former University of Central Florida professor has filed a lawsuit against the school after she said she was let go because she refused to use a textbook that "contains antiquated and offensive racial, ethnic and other stereotypes."
Hitt hates dissent and from reading the lawsuit it appears this mentality has filtered down to the College of Nursing.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Answer the Question, Jerk!
Knight News has some fun video of Quinn ignoring an inquisitive reporter.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Grant Heston Sucks, Part II
From the Sentinel:
The university is still trying to figure out how students acquired the test questions. It appears they accessed them online somehow, said UCF spokesman Grant Heston.
Quinn, Heston acknowledged, did not write his own questions for the test. Citing an ongoing investigation, he could not say whether the questions were publicly accessible online.
Publishers often create exam questions from their textbooks that are made available to instructors and professors. And sometimes those questions end up on websites.
In this case, Quinn's test questions came from the publisher of the textbook used in his class, Heston said
Heston would not speculate if the incident could have been avoided had the instructor come up with his own questions.
"Let's be sure to keep the focus where it belongs," Heston said. "Not on the instructor who administered the test but on those students who chose to acquire the test beforehand and use it inappropriately."
The scandal, which ended up on Good Morning America this week, has been a public-relations nightmare for UCF and has sparked a lively debate online about who's to blame.
The coverage has drawn dozens of comments to orlandosentinel.com — some from readers who argue that students were not cheating if they did not steal any questions.
One Sentinel reader blamed both the students and the professor: "These students knew their professor well. They know he has been using the same resource for test questions for years. They took advantage of his shortcomings."
Heston insists that the professor was not the problem.
"I think it's really unfortunate that there seems to be an effort to cast blame on this instructor when he is blameless in this," Heston said.
Why is the instructor blameless, Grant, because you say he’s blameless? If you don’t know how the students obtained the questions then how can you be sure that they are cheaters? Is every fraternity and sorority that keeps files of past tests guilty of cheating? It is certainly a debatable point where it would be nice if you offered something besides circular reasoning.
More importantly, why is UCF so down on these students? The school doesn’t have a problem with cheating. An obvious example is the million dollar football coach who lied on his resume and along with other UCF employees engaged in a cover-up of the facts surrounding the death of a player.
But what about David Mealor? He was paid by UCF while he was serving in the state legislature. When this became public, he didn’t get fired. He didn’t have to attend an ethics seminar. All he had to do was pay the money back over several years with no interest and no penalties. And if you try to argue that it was an oversight, you are living in a fantasy land. Everyone talked about what a double-dipping bastard he was way before all this stuff became public. And, yes, Mealor is dumb but he is not so dumb as to not notice that he was getting paid when he wasn’t working.
These are the questions I would like to see someone answer, Grant.
The university is still trying to figure out how students acquired the test questions. It appears they accessed them online somehow, said UCF spokesman Grant Heston.
Quinn, Heston acknowledged, did not write his own questions for the test. Citing an ongoing investigation, he could not say whether the questions were publicly accessible online.
Publishers often create exam questions from their textbooks that are made available to instructors and professors. And sometimes those questions end up on websites.
In this case, Quinn's test questions came from the publisher of the textbook used in his class, Heston said
Heston would not speculate if the incident could have been avoided had the instructor come up with his own questions.
"Let's be sure to keep the focus where it belongs," Heston said. "Not on the instructor who administered the test but on those students who chose to acquire the test beforehand and use it inappropriately."
The scandal, which ended up on Good Morning America this week, has been a public-relations nightmare for UCF and has sparked a lively debate online about who's to blame.
The coverage has drawn dozens of comments to orlandosentinel.com — some from readers who argue that students were not cheating if they did not steal any questions.
One Sentinel reader blamed both the students and the professor: "These students knew their professor well. They know he has been using the same resource for test questions for years. They took advantage of his shortcomings."
Heston insists that the professor was not the problem.
"I think it's really unfortunate that there seems to be an effort to cast blame on this instructor when he is blameless in this," Heston said.
Why is the instructor blameless, Grant, because you say he’s blameless? If you don’t know how the students obtained the questions then how can you be sure that they are cheaters? Is every fraternity and sorority that keeps files of past tests guilty of cheating? It is certainly a debatable point where it would be nice if you offered something besides circular reasoning.
More importantly, why is UCF so down on these students? The school doesn’t have a problem with cheating. An obvious example is the million dollar football coach who lied on his resume and along with other UCF employees engaged in a cover-up of the facts surrounding the death of a player.
But what about David Mealor? He was paid by UCF while he was serving in the state legislature. When this became public, he didn’t get fired. He didn’t have to attend an ethics seminar. All he had to do was pay the money back over several years with no interest and no penalties. And if you try to argue that it was an oversight, you are living in a fantasy land. Everyone talked about what a double-dipping bastard he was way before all this stuff became public. And, yes, Mealor is dumb but he is not so dumb as to not notice that he was getting paid when he wasn’t working.
These are the questions I would like to see someone answer, Grant.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Question of the Day
From a reader:
Hey,
I like the blog, at least someone is watching.
Have you ever thought about working to change any of these problems?
That’s what I’m trying to do with this blog. I want UCF to be better. By paying attention, I’m hoping that some things change.
Hey,
I like the blog, at least someone is watching.
Have you ever thought about working to change any of these problems?
That’s what I’m trying to do with this blog. I want UCF to be better. By paying attention, I’m hoping that some things change.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Like Taking a DMV Test
There is a video circulating that shows Quinn implying that he writes his own exams when it is now well known that he simply used the textbook’s test-bank.
If I were a student in that class, I wouldn’t even bother listening to the lectures. I would just read the textbook.
If I were a student in that class, I wouldn’t even bother listening to the lectures. I would just read the textbook.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Quinn is Lazy
From a reader:
There is more not to like. When he decided to give the second test,
he made his graduate students make up the questions. They are making up the final too. He has been using questions that the textbook publisher produced, and these are the ones that he has apparently been using for years.
I was embarassed for him as he did not seem to have a problem with this.
There is more not to like. When he decided to give the second test,
he made his graduate students make up the questions. They are making up the final too. He has been using questions that the textbook publisher produced, and these are the ones that he has apparently been using for years.
I was embarassed for him as he did not seem to have a problem with this.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
I Bet the Kool-Aid Tastes Good
When I watched Quinn’s cheating lecture, I disliked him. I went looking for something about him to like. That didn’t work out:
With more than 53,000 students, UCF is now the largest university in the state, but Quinn believes the institution has grown in a positive way. "For me, it is not just how much the university has grown in the past 10 years, but how it has grown. With most large universities, the surrounding community grows primarily to service the needs of the university. At UCF, the opposite is true," he explained.
"UCF has systematically grown to serve the needs of the communities that surround us. The bond between UCF and the central Florida region is not only strong, but impressive in its vitality and sense of purpose," he added.
With more than 53,000 students, UCF is now the largest university in the state, but Quinn believes the institution has grown in a positive way. "For me, it is not just how much the university has grown in the past 10 years, but how it has grown. With most large universities, the surrounding community grows primarily to service the needs of the university. At UCF, the opposite is true," he explained.
"UCF has systematically grown to serve the needs of the communities that surround us. The bond between UCF and the central Florida region is not only strong, but impressive in its vitality and sense of purpose," he added.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Fifteen Minutes
The “cheating” scandal gets national coverage on Good Morning America. From the segment, it seems like Richard Quinn is enjoying being in the limelight.
Tone Deaf
At the October meeting where they voted to deny the faculty raises, Tom Yochum and Rick Walsh were overheard talking about which Porsche they drove to the meeting.
What Will Happen?
On November 10th, there is a BOT meeting to determine if Hitt and his lackeys will get their big bonuses.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Grant Heston Sucks
A commenter on the cheating story gets it right:
"It's disappointing these actions took place," UCF spokesman Grant Heston said of the apparent cheating, but the incident demonstrates policies in place to detect cheating are working.
What policy is that; hoping a benevolent student tips you off anonymously via a drop box?
UCF is the third largest university campus in America by some counts, but only ranks #179 amongst public colleges by U.S. News and World Reports. They should stop focusing on bigger and start focusing on better.
"It's disappointing these actions took place," UCF spokesman Grant Heston said of the apparent cheating, but the incident demonstrates policies in place to detect cheating are working.
What policy is that; hoping a benevolent student tips you off anonymously via a drop box?
UCF is the third largest university campus in America by some counts, but only ranks #179 amongst public colleges by U.S. News and World Reports. They should stop focusing on bigger and start focusing on better.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Everybody Cheats (Even at Easy Schools)
From the Orlando Sentinel:
Close to 600 students in a senior-level business course at University of Central Florida must retake a mid-term exam after a professor was tipped off to cheating.
Students who admit to cheating will be given the chance to complete the course if they attend an ethics seminar, Professor Richard Quinn told students.
Those who don't step forward will be found out anyway, Quinn promised during an emotional lecture.
The incident, Quinn told students, has left him "physically ill, absolutely disgusted" and "completely disillusioned" after 20 years of teaching.
Quinn is teaching a senior level course with six hundred students and giving them multiple choice exams, and the thing that makes him ill, disgusted, and disillusioned is that, given the opportunity, students cheated?
Close to 600 students in a senior-level business course at University of Central Florida must retake a mid-term exam after a professor was tipped off to cheating.
Students who admit to cheating will be given the chance to complete the course if they attend an ethics seminar, Professor Richard Quinn told students.
Those who don't step forward will be found out anyway, Quinn promised during an emotional lecture.
The incident, Quinn told students, has left him "physically ill, absolutely disgusted" and "completely disillusioned" after 20 years of teaching.
Quinn is teaching a senior level course with six hundred students and giving them multiple choice exams, and the thing that makes him ill, disgusted, and disillusioned is that, given the opportunity, students cheated?
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