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EAST LANSING, Mich. — A Michigan State University professor has been dismissed for plagiarizing in a 2010 report on K-12 school consolidation in Michigan, according to media reports.
Sharif Shakrani, a faculty member in MSU’s Education Policy Center, used unattributed material in a study that concluded Michigan could save as much as $612 million through consolidations, the reports said. His study was commissioned by Booth Michigan Newspapers and The Grand Rapids Press, and was widely reported in Michigan media, according to a report at Mlive.com, the chain’s website.
The plagiarism was first noted by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, which also said Shakrani’s methodology was “seriously flawed.” (The Mackinac Center publishes Michigan Education Digest.)
The State News, the university’s campus newspaper, said Shakrani could not be reached for comment Wednesday evening.
A university spokesman told the News that the findings validate the university’s system for dealing with accusations of plagiarism.
SOURCES:
Mlive.com, “Michigan
State University dismisses professor who plagiarized school consolidation study
for Booth papers,” May 26, 2011
State News, “Professor dismissed after plagiarizing,” May 26, 2011
FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, “MSU Consolidation Study Seriously Flawed,”
Aug. 19, 2010
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