In a stubborn state

The Illinois Executive Inspector General's Office recently informed 65 professors and 190 other employees at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale that they might be reprimanded for violating the state ethics policy. Disciplinary action could include termination. What error in ethical judgment have the employees of SIUC committed that has left them filthy with academic dishonesty in the eyes of the state? \nThey completed a 10-question, state-administered online quiz, following a lengthy reading about ethics in the work place, in under 10 minutes. The state holds that employees could not have followed the instructions to carefully and read the document if they finished so quickly. The deputy inspector general for the state, Gilbert R. Jimenez said that a "cheat sheet" may have been involved in an interview with the SIU Daily Egyptian, an accusation that is so far unsubstantiated. The employees will have until Jan. 19 to sign the Ethics Orientation for Noncompliant Employees or risk losing their jobs.\nThe discipline outlined is pure, bureaucratic drivel. Punishing SIUC employees, especially professors, for doing too well on a test is not only an insult to the professors but a misplacement of fault. If the state is so concerned about holding its employees accountable for reading the ethical practice material, then perhaps it should consider putting a little more effort into the education process. \nAn exam is meant to be a measure of knowledge held by the student studying the material. If these employees were able to pass the quiz required, then they most certainly have complied with the state's standard of knowledge desired. The amount of time spent on the exam is simple irrelevant, be it five minutes or 32 minutes (the average amount of time employees spent on the exam). \nIllinois, if so concerned with its employees reading and retaining every word of the material, should consider revising its administration. For starters, write a test longer than 10 questions. Or perhaps consider that, with no way to monitor conversations among employees, the test had been discussed before it was taken. If this is a problem, then an online accessible exam may not be sufficient to obtain the state's goals.\nMany professors at the university feel insulted by the insinuation that they cheated. Marvin Zeman, president of the university's faculty association, is correctly advising employees not to sign the admission of non-compliance. \nForcing the faculty members to admit fault would violate the employees' integrity. The blame (if there is any to be placed) should be thrust on the state for writing an exam that tested below its expectation level. \nThe state of Illinois is being unreasonable and very obtuse in regard to this situation. Rather than analyzing why some employees finished the exam in a short amount of time, the blame has been dumped on these people that pillar their institutions. This decision reveals the state's unfounded stubbornness, which serves only to anger its employees by its inability to reform itself as a means of improvement.