Ward Churchill Academic Misconduct Investigation - Result of Investigation

Result of Investigation

At least nine misconduct charges against Churchill have been submitted to the University of Colorado's Standing Committee on Research Misconduct. The Investigation Subcommittee determined seven of the submitted allegations were worth investigating. The Committee has defined its jurisdiction narrowly in Churchill's case, limited to the three dimensions of research misconduct that are specified in the University of Colorado at Boulder’s Administrative Policy Statement on Misconduct in Research and Authorship. The Standing Committee has declined to pursue charges of copyright violation that do not meet the legal definition of "plagiarism". The Committee's investigative subcommittee completed its investigation into the seven charges of plagiarism, fabrication, and falsification, brought by Professors Brown, LaVelle, Cohen, Kevin Vaughan of the Rocky Mountain News, as well as Churchill's alleged plagiarism of the "Water Plot" pamphlet and the Fay Cohen essay.

A May 9, 2006, final report by the University of Colorado's Standing Committee on Research Misconduct stated that Churchill had falsified and fabricated information, and plagiarized two different essays.

The University released its investigative committee findings on May 16, 2006. The committee agreed unanimously that Churchill had engaged in "serious research misconduct," including four counts of falsifying information, two counts of fabricating information, two counts of plagiarizing the works of others, improperly reporting the results of studies, and failing to “comply with established standards regarding author names on publications.” The committee was split with regard to what sanctions to recommend: two recommending against dismissal because the misconduct was not serious enough; two recommending temporary suspension and one recommending dismissal.

Following the sub-committee report's release, Churchill called the report "self-contradictory" and "patently false".

The Standing Committee on Research Misconduct also disagreed on what sanctions should be imposed on Churchill. On June 13, 2006, they voted six to three in favor of recommending dismissal. Additional charges of misconduct were tabled pending the outcome of an additional investigation initiated as the first investigation concluded. Churchill was fired in July, 2007, thus mooting any investigation of the additional charges.

In defense of the investigation, University of Colorado President Hank Brown, a former Republican senator, stated that the firing of Churchill was necessary to protect the integrity of the university's research. Brown also stated that Churchill "did not express regret, did not apologize, did not indicate a willingness to refrain from this type of falsification in the future."