Did Dr. Jason Arday’s Supervising Professor Fail Him?

Ultimately Dr. Jason Arday is responsible for the work he produced. There were reportedly more than 100 sentences or passages in Arday’s dissertation that were lifted from other authors without attribution. No matter the dissertation’s page length, 100 or more instances of plagiarism is both egregious and inexplicable which raises the following question: what kind of guidance or mentorship was Arday receiving during the dissertation stage? Once a doctoral candidate reaches the dissertation stage that person and one’s supervising professor are working closely to ensure that the doctoral candidate is poised to produce an original work that advances readers understanding about a specific body of knowledge. 

Admittedly, not all dissertation advisors are hands-on when it comes to their doctoral students. However, candidates are advised to keep their supervising professor or in the case of the U.S., the dissertation chair abreast of the writing chapter by chapter to ensure that both the professor and the student are on the same page. Fortunately, for those pursuing a doctorate in the U.S. a dissertation chair is one of three or more members of a dissertation committee that oversees the student’s project. The thinking is that each committee member brings a different perspective, level of expertise and/or methodological approach from which the student will benefit greatly during both the research and writing phase of the dissertation.  Having multiple sets of eyes also serve as guardrails that keep the student from committing the kinds of faux pas to which Arday reportedly fell victim.

Since Arday’s tragic passing, reports of autism have surfaced, a diagnosis that was reportedly made during Arday’s youth. This is in no way an attempt to absolve Arday of responsibility, it does however raise serious questions about the level of mentorship Arday received. It is expected that faculty members who sign on as students’ supervising professors will not only have an interest in the subject being studied but a level of knowledge and/or expertise in the area which makes the supervising professor suitable to direct the project. Assuming Arday still experienced the challenges associated with autism it would seem he should have been closely monitored throughout his studies. If the extent of the plagiarism as reported in the media is even remotely accurate one can only surmise that hands-on is not an accurate characterization of the professor who supervised Arday’s dissertation.

The idea that a student could write a dissertation riddled with the kind of infractions as reported in the media one cannot help but wonder about the role that the supervising professor played (if any) during the writing process. Did the supervising professor take the time to periodically read Arday’s work and monitor his progress or did the supervising professor leave Arday to his own devices?  If the latter Arday’s supervising professor wouldn’t be the first to neglect a student to which he or she was ostensibly committed to shepherding through a doctoral program and won’t be the last. 

Decades ago, I had an appointment at one of America’s oldest and most prestigious ivy league institutions. While dining at one of the square’s several eateries on more than one occasion, fellow doctoral students shared stories with me of the difficulties they experienced scheduling appointments with their dissertation advisors. According to them, their advisors were always busy with their own research projects and couldn’t be bothered. Years later I learned that one of my extremely bright peers had become so fed up with her dissertation chair’s lack of responsiveness that she left the program without completing her doctorate. In the end, is Arday’s supervising professor the bad guy here? Absolutely not, but the evidence suggests he isn’t the good guy either. 

Judson L. Jeffries, PhD, MPH, is Professor of African American and African Studies at The Ohio State University.