MnSCU college president cleared of plagiarism charge

The president of South Central College has been cleared of plagiarism allegations, Minnesota state university system officials said Wednesday.

Annette Parker was accused by a former adjunct instructor earlier this year of copying others' work while earning her doctorate at Western Kentucky University.

But in an April 1 letter, Western Kentucky University Provost A. Gordon Emslie wrote that a preliminary inquiry concluded Parker did not intentionally commit plagiarism. Emslie wrote that a full investigation is not warranted.

Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system Chancellor Steven Rosenstone said he won't take any further action.

"It's crystal clear that these are reckless charges," Rosenstone said, "and they're the tactics in a coordinated campaign of personal attacks — attacks intended to tarnish the reputation of MnSCU presidents."

Parker declined to comment, said a spokeswoman for South Central College, which has campuses in North Mankato and Faribault.

Nicole Helget, who taught English at South Central for eight years, made the allegations earlier this year. She described her plagiarism concerns in a blog called Save South Central College.

Helget has also led a campaign to compel MnSCU officials to release more information about what she fears is undue corporate influence in "Charting the Future," Rosenstone's plan to overhaul the system.

Helget called the results of Western Kentucky University's inquiry "unsurprising but profoundly disappointing."

She also has levied accusations of plagiarism of President Dorothy Duran of Minnesota State College-Southeast Technical. Helget said Duran also copied parts of her dissertation at the University of Texas at Austin.

A system spokesman said last month that MnSCU would ask the university to look into the second case.