Denial Of Doctorate To UI Student Causes Stir Among Other Candidates

The denial of a doctoral degree to a University of Idaho fisheries student is stirring concern among graduate students about a snag in the process.

They have passed a resolution at odds with current degree guidelines, setting the stage for a procedural showdown.

Jack Van Deventer has been working on his doctoral degree in Idaho’s Department of Fisheries and Wildlife for 12 years.

Earlier this year, he passed the final defense of his research on a 3-2 vote by his doctoral committee.

The final defense is often considered the last major hurdle. But the two committee members who voted against Van Deventer’s final defense are refusing to sign his dissertation.

Dissertations must carry all the committee members’ signatures. He has hired an attorney for a possible suit against the school.

Graduate students are concerned one committee member could overrule the majority vote, said the university’s Graduate Student Association president, Hari Nair.

“They’re scared,” Nair said. “Nobody likes to know that after all that time, money and effort into a degree, you might not get it because of something like this. I didn’t know it could happen.”

Van Deventer thinks he is being penalized for mid-1980s whistleblowing about how long it was taking Fisheries and Wildlife grad students to complete degrees because of excessive research, publications and work hours.

His dissertation is over fluctuating fish populations related to livestock grazing.

Irate that Van Deventer had raised the exploitation issue, his major professor at that time expelled him, Van Deventer said.

School officials backed down from the expulsion only after he hired an attorney, Van Deventer said.

The two professors who did not sign maintain his dissertation does not meet the department’s standards. One is Mike Scott, Van Deventer’s major professor - who advises a doctoral student through the process.

Dissenting committee member Kirk Lohman maintains Van Deventer has not properly explained how his research came out the way it did.

Van Deventer said that if the dissenters can get by Dec. 20, a time deadline automatically disqualifies him.

Graduate student representatives voted 24-1 in November for a resolution requiring all major changes to be submitted before final defense, and requiring all committee members to sign the dissertation even if they voted in the minority against the final defense.

That conflicts with university policy. Nair said the grad association will take the issue before the faculty council soon.