An Ohio University engineering professor away on medical leave was arrested earlier this month in West Virginia and faces a felony charge of intending to distribute cocaine.
Charles Parks, a tenured professor in industrial and manufacturing systems engineering since 1992, is free from prison on a $10,000 bond. He has not been formally suspended from his teaching and advising positions at OU, but he will not be allowed back in the classroom until his legal matter is resolved, said Dennis Irwin, dean of the Russ College of Engineering and Technology.
Parks, who earned an annual salary of $110,442, had been on medical leave from his teaching position since April and was expected to return in January. He was arrested in West Virginia on Oct. 16 after being caught with cocaine, police said.
The university is evaluating the charges against Parks, OU spokesman Jack Jeffery said. Irwin said a suspension was possible, but it would likely occur after any court proceedings.
Parks is scheduled to appear before a West Virginia grand jury in January, according to the Wood County Circuit Court.
Irwin declined to comment on past disciplinary problems he had with Parks, saying it might force him to discuss the professor's medical leave. But he said he was surprised and shocked by the drug charge, which came totally out of the blue.
I'm sad for Dr. Parks and his family
Irwin said.
Parks' arrest comes just as OU faces two lawsuits from engineering college faculty members who claim the university maligned their characters. Additionally, the OU Board of Trustees recently gave President Roderick McDavis the power to potentially revoke degrees from 34 graduate engineering students who were identified as possibly having plagiarized theses.
Irwin said despite the college's troubles, he thinks the public will recognize Parks' arrest was not university-related.
If this turned out to be true you know it was a situation where someone's personal behavior was involved when someone was on leave
Irwin said. It didn't have any connection to the university at all.
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Matt Zapotosky
