Kress made changes to various student evaluation forms. While it is common knowledge that Kress suffers from bipolar disorder, the challenge in the case is deciding whether or not Kress' disorder is grounds for dismissing his actions. He and his lawyer would like everyone to think so, but the Grievance Commission of the Iowa Supreme Court isn't buying it. The commission suggested taking Kress' legal license away for a year as sufficient punishment. Kress is currently waiting to see what the Supreme Court of Iowa will decide. "I'm disappointed with the commission's finding but am optimistic that the Supreme Court will take a different view of Professor Kress' illness and the effect it had on him," Leon Spies, Kress' lawyer, said in an article on insidehighered.com. According to Linda McGuire, Associate Dean for Student Affairs at the school, Kress' students said that Kress told him the evaluations were very, very important because "his job was on the line and the faculty was trying to oust him from his position." "According to commission testimony, Kress told students that colleagues were intimidated by him because of his intellect. He told the law school dean that he had been 'ill treated' because he had not been awarded an academic chair, a position that often means increased pay. He also testified that students didn't appreciate his teaching," the article stated. When Kress was first told that he was suspected for tampering with the evaluations, he tried to blame his assistant. However, his tune changed after he got a lawyer. At that point, the pair began blaming the incident on his mental disorder. Kress came to the law school as a professor in 1989.

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On The Net nside Higher Ed www.insidehighered.com University of Iowa College of Law www.law.uiowa.edu Supreme Court of Iowa www.judicial.state.ia.us    Printable Version    PDF Version    Email to a Friend    Post A Comment    View Comment    Discuss

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Article ID: 2871     Article Title: Law Professor Changes Student Evaluations Comments: Kress was and I'm sure always will be a brilliant professor. The disease process can be harmful to such an extent that some of us will never understand it. I hope for his health and success in the future. Posted by: N m   |   Date: 06-30-2008 Ken Kress was my teacher in one class and three seminars while I was a student at the UI. Not only did he have bipolar disorder, he also had diabetes and epilepsy. He was rather strange, but I appreciated his intellect and his devotion to teaching students. I thought he was an effective, sincere teacher and I think my evaluations reflected that opinion. I am very sorry that this happened to him. Posted by: B. L.   |   Date: 10-11-2007 Comment

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