An associate professor in the School of Art might face de-tenuring after the Office of Institutional Equity found him in violation of Ohio University's Harassment Policy in mid-September.
Yoshitomo Saito, who has been employed at OU since 2001, had a complaint filed against him in June by a graduate student who alleges that he made unwanted advances to her from Spring Quarter 2003 until this past Spring Quarter, according to a report by the Office of Institutional Equity dated Sept. 17.
A College of Fine Arts Professional Ethics Committee convened by Charles McWeeny, interim dean of the College of Fine Arts, reviewed the report on Sept. 23 and unanimously decided that the procedures for Loss of Tenure be pursued and that he be suspended from classroom teaching until this matter is concluded was the most appropriate recommendation of the five options provided by the Institutional Equity report, according to letters from McWeeny to Robert Lazuka, director of the School of Art.
In the report, the complainant alleged that Saito commented on her physical appearance, invited her to his home for dinner, stopped by her residence unannounced, gave her gifts, called her and e-mailed, among other complaints.
The complainant also alleged in the report that she went to the acting director of the School of Art Joseph Lamb to report the problem but that she wanted to keep the matter confidential at the time.
After again going to faculty in the School of Art and despite being told to stop contacting her, personally or professionally, Saito allegedly kept attempting to contact her. The complainant filed a report to William Y. Smith, executive assistant to the president for Institutional Equity, and to Yegan Pillay, Institutional Equity's assistant director, on June 28. Lazuka and Saito were informed of the complaint.
Saito submitted a response to the allegations in July, but it was not made public because his response would have compromised the identity of the complainant, said Nicolette Dioguardi, associate director of legal affairs. After his response was submitted and discrepancies were found between his response and the graduate student's complaints, the investigation by the Office of Institutional Equity began. Nine witnesses were interviewed about the allegations.
Saito and his legal council, Jonathan Sowash, could not be reached at the time of publication.
Some of the complaints by the graduate student were supported by evidence, such as e-mails, but others could not be corroborated because there were no witnesses.
The School of Art's Promotion and Tenure Committee is reviewing the report, said Director Lazuka, and will give its recommendation as to whether Saito should be de-tenured to Lazuka once the committee is finished. During this time, Lazuka said he is consulting with faculty from the School of Art to see if anyone has any information to share. After he has finished talking with faculty and the committee is finished, he will review the report, write a response based on all of the information and send it to McWeeny. After McWeeny reviews the report and consults with Saito and Lazuka he will decide whether to agree with the de-tenure decision. If McWeeny decides to continue the de-tenure process, all of the information then will be sent to Provost Kathy Krendl and then to President Roderick McDavis, who will make the final decision on whether to de-tenure Saito.
If the decision is to continue the Loss of Tenure process, Saito and his legal council, Sowash, have the opportunity to submit an appeal, said Dioguardi.
The process could take anywhere from six months to a year, she said.
My primary concern is that this issue can't be resolved fairly for all parties concerned
and in order for that to take place we all need to be patient and look at the information openly without preconceptions and not contribute to rumors that can be detrimental to the fair process Lazuka said. I'm just asking people to be considerate of the student that made the complaint and Associate Professor Saito and let this process run its course so we can come to a fair determination.
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Michelle Simakis
