As teachers and scholars, we the Faculty hold the principles of academic honesty, openness, and responsibility in the exchange of ideas as central to the educational mission of Albright College. These values provide the conditions through which students learn and knowledge advances. They guide every aspect of our practice: in classrooms and laboratories, in our research and writing, and in all our engagements with students, with each other, and with colleagues in the broader scholarly world. The Faculty must therefore act as role models of academic integrity and of truthfulness to students and to the outside community. There must be no doubt that academic honesty and openness define and will continue to define our community.

Many faculty members think that the Joint Statement from the TEC and the FEC does not fully address all the issues and concerns raised in the article in The Chronicle of Higher Education. Unless responded to more fully, directly and openly, these concerns may keep the Albright community from reconciling and moving forward.

In an effort to bring a closure that can be embraced by the broad spectrum of the college community, we the faculty need to express our own understanding of what has occurred, and need to call for a commitment from all parties to renew our common purpose on the basis of a truly collegial and open community.

In the future we must have clear standards of communication based on openness, disclosure, trust, and accountability. We must reaffirm our commitment to free speech and free expression, and we must recommit to the highest standards of academic honesty. A clear commitment to these principles and practices is essential to creating an atmosphere of trust that will allow us to move forward with integrity in our academic mission.

The Faculty's understanding of this controversy is that it began with a resume that contained incomplete representations regarding Dr. Zimon's academic background. This was aggravated by a pattern of secrecy which has damaged the College's reputation in the external community and has created a climate of disappointment and distrust as Dr. Zimon begins his presidency. We see the following as the critical elements that led to the current crisis:

1. Dr. Zimon's resume as presented to the Faculty contained incomplete statements with respect to his academic background (certain of his publications and aspects of his teaching record).
2. While the search committee apparently became aware of at least some of these incomplete representations at some point in the search process, no addenda were subsequently made to the resume to create a fully complete statement.
3. When Dr. Zimon was presented to the Albright community in February, the information which we regard as incomplete was not clarified or corrected.
4. After his appointment in the spring 1999, a number of faculty members raised questions about parts of the resume. It became clear that certain publications were not in fact forthcoming in the near future, as listed on the resume.
5. In the ten-month period that has ensued, members of the Faculty have continued to raise questions about the apparent discrepancies in Dr. Zimon's resume. Neither the search committee, nor the Trustee leadership, or in fact Dr. Zimon have been able to offer satisfactory explanations or to admit that there was any incompleteness in the resume.

1. The reestablishment of a more open policy of information sharing at the college in which the necessary information is available to all of us in the faculty, as we all share in the governance process. Under such an open policy, confidentiality arrangements and secrecy would be held to a minimum, limited to well-defined exceptions that protect the personal privacy rights of individuals. There should not be any blanket right of confidentiality surrounding the search itself nor around the background or qualifications of any candidate for a position at Albright College. The Trustee-appointed bylaws call for Faculty to play a partnership role in a broad spectrum of academic and co-curricular areas of the college. In order to play this important role, the Faculty must have access to timely and accurate information. Under the unusual confidentiality arrangements of the most recent presidential search, the Faculty was not provided full and accurate information, and even our own elected representatives were not able to talk openly with their colleagues. An earlier and more satisfactory resolution of our current difficulties may have been possible, had it not been for the ongoing policy of confidentiality on all matters relating to the search.

2. The reaffirmation of our commitment to the freedom of speech and artistic expression that are essential to an academic community.

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