Before this meeting please look over the this material concerning an extreme case of plagerism.
Scenario for Faculty Panel Discussion: Is There an Error?
You have recently graduated from Prof Pompous's lab, and taken a job as an Assistant Professor at another university. While a grad student, you had developed a new measurement method and built an elaborate apparatus for making the measurements. Before you left, you trained Student Adam in the use of the machine, and helped him get started on his own research. In your new position, you are now building an improved version of that apparatus to form the basis for your own independent research, and the tenure clock is running.
You notice a paper in a current journal by Adam and Prof Pompous in which it appears that there has been a serious error in the data interpretation, because of a subtlety in the apparatus which Adam appears to have overlooked. Since you know that at that moment Prof Pompous is on sabbatical and travelling out of the country, you contact Adam, who assures you that there is no error, but because of your insistence, he promises to discuss the matter with Prof Pompous when he returns.
The next thing you hear on the subject, through conversation with a colleague nine months later, is that Prof Pompous has signed Adams's thesis, and Adam has left for a position in industry.
Questions:
Has some kind of error been committed, either by Adam or Prof Pompous (or both)?
What, if anything, should you do?
Scenario: The Disappearing Bottles
Gina is a new student who joins the group of Professor Ford. Mike is a senior grad student in Ford's group. Prof. Ford has just moved her group into a new lab, which unfortunately contains some leftover chemicals from a previous lab occupant. Gina overhears Ford tell Mike in a very loud voice to "Get that hood cleaned out, and do it NOW." Over the next few days, Gina notices progress in the lab clean-up, but is curious that she never sees the actual waste -- just a net decrease in the number of bottles in the hood. One evening, she returns late to the lab, and encounters Mike leaving the lab with a cardboard box containing some bottles. They greet each other in passing, but there is no mention of the box or its contents. Gina recalls hearing that there are pretty strict rules on chemical disposal, but as a new student hasn't yet had any formal orientation. She wonders if Mike is sneaking the chemicals out of the lab in order to throw them away. Gina would have asked Mike if they were friends, but she finds him remote and a bit intimidating and doesn't know how to raise the question without accusing him.
Questions:
Is there a good path of action for Gina?
If it is ultimately determined that Mike has been sneaking chemicals out of the lab for disposal (which is illegal), what action in the form of a sanction should the lab community take?
Scenario: Is Cost-Cutting the Right Answer?
The following conversation occurs between grad students Frank and Peter who are roommates in an off-campus apartment, but who are in different research groups within the lab.
Frank: "Well the lab is really pushing on the rules and procedures these days. Today at the lab meeting, there was more talk about being sure to use the On-Line Log for all machine use. You should have been there. Some of the students complained about the hassle factor, and the slow response, but the lab manager made the usual comments about how it was essential to provide accurate lab charges, they were fixing the system to make it faster, and everybody had to use it, period.
Peter: "My attitude is to finesse the whole thing."
Frank: "What do you mean?"
Peter: "Well, my project just lost it's funding, and my supervisor is really worried about whether there will be enough funds left in the kitty to complete my thesis. I figure if I punt on the On-Line Log from time to time I can save my project enough money so that when I really NEED to make runs, we'll have the money to pay for them."
Questions:
What does/should Frank do now?
More generally, what should the lab as a whole do if it discovers that Peter is not following procedures?