EDMONTON – The University of Alberta is urging students not to let a controversy over a cribbed convocation speech by the dean of medicine overshadow their own academic achievements.
"Obviously this is a concern and disappointing for the students," said university spokeswoman Deb Hammacher.
"We understand their disappointment and really encourage them to focus on their achievements and their success and to focus on their future, and not let this overshadow what they have done and what they will be achieving."
Hammacher said university president Indira Samarasekera, who was to attend other convocation ceremonies, would not be commenting Monday.
Dr. Philip Baker wrote a letter on Sunday to the graduating class of 2011 in which he apologized for his banquet speech Friday night. He said he deeply regretted what he did and added there was no excuse for his "lapse in judgment."
Baker wrote that when he was researching his own speech, he was inspired by the text of a convocation address that was given last year by Dr. Atul Gawande to graduates at Stanford University in California. It touched on personal family stories about overcoming adversity.
Baker said the stories mirrored some of his own experiences so he used a medical case of Gawande’s to further make his point to students in Edmonton.
Gawande is a surgeon and an associate professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School. He is also a writer who has been published in the New Yorker magazine. His Stanford speech was published on the magazine’s website.
"I offered a sincere written apology to Dr. Gawande and subsequently spoke with him. He was flattered by my use of his text, took no offence and readily accepted my apology," Baker wrote.
"My failure to attribute the source of my inspiration is a matter of the utmost regret. And while there is no excuse for the lapse in judgment which occurred on Friday evening, I can only offer my sincere and heartfelt apology."
Baker could not be reached for comment.
A spokesperson for Gawande said the matter is between Baker and the University of Alberta.
Hammacher said the university takes academic integrity very seriously and has clear policies against plagiarism that apply to all students and staff.
The university will investigate Baker’s speech if there is a formal complaint, she said. Such a review would be conducted by the university’s chief academic officer under either its research and scholarship integrity or its ethical conduct policies.
Hammacher said the university became aware of the issue over the weekend when the dean brought it up.
"We take this very seriously but there is due process. It is somebody’s reputation at stake so we will not be rushed into anything here."
The university’s students’ union is not weighing in. Emerson Csorba, student vice-president academic, said he’s not sure if Baker should be fired and trusts the school’s administration will properly handle the matter.
But he believes professors and staff should be treated no differently than students in the same situation.
"I think that all members of the university should be held to the same standards of academic honesty and integrity, said Csorba.
He also hopes the controversy doesn’t detract from graduation celebrations.
"Even though this is a big event, it’s important to recognize the work done by the graduating class of 2011."
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