Tennessee college becomes battleground of words and wits: nineteen Shelby State nursing students dropped from program stir controversy - Shelby State Community College

Black Issues in Higher Education, July 24, 1997 by Mickie Anderson

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Higher education officials are locked in an unusual battle of words and wills with several state legislators here - all over a dispute about failed nursing students.

The controversy at Shelby State Community College has become so pitched that the even the governor's staff has weighed in and normally reserved regents are calling the situation "absurd."

"I'm appalled," state Board of Regents Chancellor Charles Smith said last month. "I am disappointed. I've never seen anything like this since I've been in higher education."

The dispute first flared in December when Shelby State administrators dropped nineteen students from the college's nursing program because the students flunked two courses. The students, with at least one Memphis legislator firmly in their corner, contend they couldn't possibly have failed because they knew the material inside and out.

College officials say the students failed, plain and simple. But in an odd twist, they no longer have rock solid proof to back up that stance because the students' test booklets were shredded. The instructor says she destroyed the test booklets to thwart what nursing school instructors have characterized as a problem with rampant cheating.

Legislators Become Involved

Six area legislators have been involved in the dispute since March, in some cases advising the ousted students on strategies for dealing with Shelby State administrators. After a May meeting between the students, the legislators and members of Gov. Don Sundquist's staff, Shelby State President Dr. Floyd "Bud" Amann reluctantly agreed to let the students retake their tests.

The students almost immediately called a news conference to denounce the testing schedule - four weekly tests from July 8 through July 29, with a two-hour final set for Aug. 5 - saying it didn't give them enough time to study.

In late June, the Board of Regents met in Knoxville. Believing the dispute finally resolved, regents gave Amann a thumbs-up for his handling of the delicate situation. But on the second day of the board's two-day meeting, the situation boiled over again.

Smith, the regents chancellor, distributed copies of a letter from Rep. Joe Towns, D-Memphis, that had landed on Amann's desk the previous afternoon. In the letter, Towns insisted not only that the students be readmitted to the nursing program but that they be allowed to start with a "clean slate" - in essence, that the bad grades be erased altogether.

He suggested that another student who had barely missed graduation by a fraction of a point should be allowed to graduate and that any student who wanted to transfer out of the program should be allowed to do so without a hitch.

Towns's letter closed by saying that the legislators had advised the nursing students not to take the college up on its offer to retake their tests.

"Meddling" Angers Regents

Outraged, most of the sixteen regents present for the meeting weighed in, denouncing Towns's involvement in the matter. The word "absurd" frequently peppered their statements.

Smith, who said he had never before publicly chastised a legislator, did so. Other angry regents joined him, passing a unanimous resolution condemning Towns's letter and calling for an end to legislative "meddling" in academic affairs. The resolution was sponsored by Maxine Smith, a longtime regent and black activist from Memphis whose opinions carry considerable weight with her legislative colleagues.

Towns, however, was not swayed by the regents' criticism, saying, "They can feel like what they want to feel like."

He argued it's a legislator's prerogative to get involved when constituents ask for help. He said Shelby State officials simply haven't resolved the problem to his satisfaction, and until they do, he will remain involved.

In a climate where the state is trying to reform its welfare system, Towns said, he believes it is unfair for Shelby State to get rid of students who are trying to better themselves with an education.

The test booklet question has been the most problematic for him, Towns said. He argued that school officials need to delve further into why the instructor felt it necessary to shred the test booklets and why she wouldn't produce her test keys.

The students have claimed they have a copy of the test, which they contend the instructor shared with at least one favored student before the exam.

Amann said the students never have given him a copy of the test. And even if they did, he said, it wouldn't prove that the students had been failed improperly.

"I think this is one of those things we're never going to resolve to everyone's satisfaction," he said.

The other legislators who have joined Towns in trying to mediate the nursing dispute include state Reps. Larry Miller, Barbara Cooper, Lois DeBerry, Kathryn Bowers and Ulysses Jones. All are Democrats from Memphis.

Retaking the Test

Nine students have signed up to retake their tests. But college officials, bound by student confidentiality rules, haven't said if the group includes any of the nine complaining students. Several of the protesting students said before the sign-up deadline that they would not agree to retake the tests.