Ward Churchill may be fired:

Termination, suspension possible for ChurchillGovernor calls for controversial professor to resignBy Jennifer Brown Denver Post Staff Writer DenverPost.com University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill plagiarized, fabricated and falsified material and was disrespectful of American Indian traditions in his writings, a report released today said. Three of the five scholars who examined the ethnic studies professor’s work for four months believe Churchill’s academic misconduct is serious enough that CU could fire him from his tenured job, the report said. But two of those three said the most appropriate sanction would be to suspend him without pay for five years. The other two committee members did not believe Churchill’s research misconduct was serious enough to warrant termination. They suggested the university suspend him without pay for two years. “Churchill has tarnished the title of professor and his future at C.U. is appropriately in question,” said Gov. Bill Owens in a statement, after the panel’s findings were announced. “Unfortunately, as the lengthy process continues, the prolonged presence of Ward Churchill at C.U. besmirches the reputation of a fine university and its many outstanding teachers. Confronted with the committee’s findings of falsification, fabrication and plagiarism, Churchill should resign,” Owens said. Boulder interim chancellor Phil DiStefano plans to announce a decision on Churchill’s fate next month. The committee investigated seven allegations against Churchill, including concerns about his writings about Indian law and a smallpox epidemic at Fort Clark. The committee found that Churchill’s “misconduct was deliberate and not a matter of an occasional careless error.” It found “serious deviation from accepted practices” in university research and that Churchill did not comply with established standards regarding author credit on publications.