UIUC Personnel Issues

There have been some accusations, charges, and blessings recently with professors and faculty on the local U of I campus. First the blessings of the Chicago-based Discovery Partners Institute covered last week in the News-Gazette:

UI's Urbana campus senate gives Discovery Partners Institute its blessing 
When grand plans for a new Chicago-based Discovery Partners Institute were announced in October 2017, it caught many University of Illinois faculty members off guard.

The project had been quietly discussed in top administrative circles for months, but professors at Urbana and the other two UI campuses had many questions about what exactly it would be, how it would be governed, and what it would mean for their students and academic programs.

After more than a year of intense faculty consultation, the Urbana campus's Academic Senate on Monday gave overwhelming approval to the institute, on a temporary basis. The vote was 104-3, with three abstentions...

The campus senates in Chicago and Springfield are considering the same proposal, and it must also be approved by the systemwide University Senates Conference, the UI Board of Trustees and the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

The temporary approval for DPI, used in the creation of other new programs, means the institute has five years to prove itself before the senate considers permanent status, said Professor Gay Miller, who chairs the senate's Educational Policy Committee. It will have to provide more details on how much the UI system is investing in the project, DPI's "added value" to the three campuses, and a list of long-term milestones to gauge its success.

More information about the planned institute and the vote last week here. More information on the Senate of the Urbana-Champaign campus here.

UI professor accused of pocketing $16,000 in fraudulent expenses
One professor is facing criminal charges according to the News-Gazette a couple weeks ago:
A University of Illinois faculty member is due in court next month to face criminal charges that he stole money from the UI by submitting fraudulent travel expenses.

The Champaign County State's Attorney's Office on Thursday charged Wai-Tat Fu, 47, of Mahomet with theft over $10,000, a Class 2 felony, and official misconduct, a Class 3 felony.

The charges allege that between November 2016 and September 2018, he stole money from the UI by submitting fraudulent and duplicate expenses. UI spokeswoman Robin Kaler said Fu, an associate professor of computer science, was placed on administrative leave after the inappropriate reimbursements were uncovered during an internal audit.

Full article with more information here.

Another professor has recently resigned over allegations of . Initial News-Gazette reporting at about the same time as Professor Fu's charges left the reasons for his being on administrative leave before that a mystery:

UPDATED: UI prof on leave over 'accusations regarding his conduct'
A UI economics professor and one-time Champaign mayoral candidate has been placed on administrative leave while the university investigates “accusations regarding his conduct,” a campus official told News-Gazette Media.

UI spokeswoman Robin Kaler declined to divulge the nature of the investigation into Joe Petry’s actions, citing the campus’ practice of not commenting specifically on personnel matters...

Petry has not been at his Economics 103 class since at least mid-February, according to online posts by students on a classroom bulletin board, which were shared with News-Gazette Media.

Off campus, Petry spent 12 years on the Champaign Park District’s board of directors and was serving as its president when he announced a run for Champaign mayor in 2014.

In 2015, he finished third in a four-way race for mayor, picking up 18.52 percent of the vote to fall behind Deb Feinen (40.98 percent) and then-incumbent Don Gerard (31.34 percent).

That full article here. His Champaign mayoral campaign questionnaire with additional candidate information here. Last week the News-Gazette reported that he was planning on leaving his job at the end of May over still unspecified allegations. The Daily Illini was reporting as of yesterday that Petry had resigned already, however:

Petry resigns among allegations of misconduct
...
In a statement to The Daily Illini, John Thies, Petry’s attorney, said despite Petry’s strong conviction of his innocence, the stress put on his family from the investigation was the main factor in his resignation.

Thies said Petry’s resignation was part of a binding agreement with the University in exchange for the investigation formally ending.

“Professor Petry feels strongly that, should the investigation have continued, the University would have concluded that he did not violate the policies in question,” Thies said. “Nonetheless, defending against the claims brought against him would have required that he subject himself to a protracted information-gathering process intrusive to his private life.”

However, the University said the investigation was ongoing in the statement they issued on Friday night.

In a statement to The Daily Illini, University spokeswoman Robin Kaler did not give further details on the allegations against Petry but cited the safety of students and faculty as an important concern.

“Mr. Petry is on administrative leave while we investigate accusations regarding his conduct. It is our practice to not comment specifically on personnel matters,” Kaler said. “However, the safety and security of students and employees is our top priority, and we work hard to ensure that. When we receive accusations involving an employee, we investigate and act to prevent future behavior of any type that could harm our students.”

The full Daily Illini article with more is available here. If the mysteries are solved, I'll try to add updates here.