What Ever Happened to Lana?

Once the rumor mill in the business department at Youngstown Community College got wind that the dean, Evan Comstock, wanted to move David into the faculty position vacated by Art\'s retirement, it was all anyone could talk about. No one was surprised at Evan\'s intention because he had taken David under his wing two years ago when David was hired as the tutor in the accounting lab. Evan and David had become good friends since, and there had been previous instances of favoritism that left everyone feeling uneasy, but this was really too much.

The problem was that Art\'s position required an MBA in accounting, and David had only a bachelor\'s degree. Although David was enrolled in an MBA program at State University, he would not be finished for at least another year. Until then, he would only be qualified to teach professional and technical accounting courses and none of the classes that transfer to State. The rest of the accounting faculty would have to pick up the slack until David finished his MBA. It would increase everyone\'s workload and create a scheduling nightmare. While everyone liked David and agreed he was a great tutor, there was a lot of grumbling.They did not have to grumble for long. Evan had rewritten Art\'s job description to ensure that David would qualify. When the new, watered-down job description landed on vice president Schilling\'s desk, he called Evan immediately. Schilling was never one to mince words. \"Evan, what are you thinking over there?\" he shouted, and that was the end of Evan\'s plan for David.

The position still had to be filled, so HR conducted the recruitment process, and a selection committee was formed consisting of Evan, the department chair, two additional faculty members and an administrator from another department. The recruitment process generated a number of good applicants, and the committee finally narrowed down the pool to five well-qualified candidates to interview. Everyone on the committee thought the interviews went well, but, of course, Evan did not like any of the candidates. There was much discussion and second interviews with two candidates until Evan reluctantly agreed to hire Lana.

Lana had several years of part-time teaching experience and had been a practicing CPA for a number of years. She had the required MBA and was eager to transition out of accounting and into full-time teaching. She was scheduled to start in the fall because she was currently living in a smalltown 200 miles south of Youngstown. She immediately started shopping for a house in the Youngstown community and planned to move her family during the summer break. Fall term enrollment was up in the accounting program and classes were full. It seemed Lana was off to a good start. She fit in well with faculty members and had positive student evaluations. Everyone seemed pleased, except Evan. He claimed Lana\'s high student appraisals were because students knew she was \"an easy A\" and not from good teaching. He changed her winter term class schedule, giving her night classes followed by early morning classes the next day. He seldom visited other instructors\' classes, but monitored Lana\'s lectures constantly. Lana told Mary, the department chair, that his frequent visits to her classes made her nervous and were disruptive. He would come into her class in the middle of a lecture, ask inappropriate questions and then walk out before class was over. It happened so often that even students were getting annoyed. After class, Evan would send Lana an e-mail criticizing her teaching, but when she asked to talk to him about it, he would never schedule an appointment. Some days he would stop by her office just to ask her what she was doing, or he would stop by when she was not scheduled to be there and the next day he would ask her where she had been.

During tax season, Lana worked part-time for a CPA firm, as did most of the other accounting instructors. This raised even more ire from Evan. He told her she was off campus too much and asked her to give him a weekly schedule every Monday morning so he would know where she was. No other faculty was required to turn in a schedule. At the end of winter term, Evan set up appointments to meet with students who had not done well in Lana\'s classes. He asked them to criticize her teaching.

\"Why doesn\'t he talk to my \'A\' students?\" Lana asked Mary. \"I think he\'s trying to drum me out of here,\" she said tearfully. \"I feel so guilty for my family. They changed their lives so we could move to Youngstown and I could have this career. Some days, he has me so on edge I just want to quit. You know I cannot win. Even if I tough it out, I am on trial service for two more years. He can decide to dump me at any time, and there is nothing I can do about it. Some faculty say he is just waiting for David to finish his MBA. I do not know what to do. If he lets me go, what do I say to my family?\"

Discussion Questions:

1. From an ethical standpoint, identify and explain the ethical issue(s) that can be detected in this context.

2. From your point of view, who are the stakeholders affected by these ethically questionable behaviors and who should be involved in the decision-making process of evaluating Lana\'s performance? Discuss

3. Suppose that you are the HR Manager of Youngstown Community College, what alternatives would you consider in this context?

4. Considering the welfare of all stakeholders, which alternative would you apply to avoid such an ethical dilemma? Justify your choice and decide on the precise actions to be taken.