CSU official cleared of plagiarism appointed as provost, senior vice president

Chicago State University on Monday named its Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Angela Henderson to that position permanently, after she was cleared of plagiarism allegations.

Henderson, 48, joined the South Side college in 2011 as vice president of enrollment management and was appointed to the interim position in July 2013. She was selected to remain as provost and senior vice president after a search that considered several candidates, according to a CSU statement.

The Chicago Sun-Times recently exclusively reported that Henderson was cleared of the allegations by UIC in October after an independent hearing officer rejected UIC’s handling of the case.

Angela Henderson was named provost and senior vice president at Chicago State University on Monday. | Provided photo

Henderson has sued the University of Illinois at Chicago for publicly discussing her student work in relation to the plagiarism allegations made against her Ph.D. dissertation.

“In order for CSU to grow and strengthen for the future, we need a team of professionals who can lead with both their head and heart, and I’m proud to say we have the right person at the right time in our new provost, Dr. Angela Henderson,” CSU President Wayne Watson said in a statement.

Henderson, who earned a Ph.D. and master’s in nursing and an MBA at UIC, has over 25 years of higher education experience — including serving as dean, department chair and tenured professor, vice chancellor and vice president, according to her biography. She earned her bachelor’s in nursing at Loyola University.

UIC officials earlier this year confirmed in media reports that the school was reviewing Henderson’s dissertation after a CSU professor called UIC to alleged plagiarism in her dissertation. A month later, UIC ceased all discussion of the case, citing Henderson’s privacy.

The case triggered a lawsuit by Henderson, who accuses the school of violating the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act by publicly discussing her dissertation and the accusation made by an adversary, CSU History Professor Robert Bionaz. The act, known as FERPA, bars schools from releasing private information on student academics without permission.

After an investigation of the dissertation and a June 20 hearing at which UIC officials, faculty and Henderson testified, an independent hearing officer, retained by UIC, cleared her of plagiarism and strongly disagreed with UIC’s disposition of the case. UIC, which has declined to comment, then cleared Henderson of the allegations, and UIC Interim Provost Eric Gislason closed the case in October, although Henderson’s lawsuit continues in court.

The case led to a high-ranking UIC official leaving his administration position. Lon Kaufman, UIC’s former vice chancellor for academic affairs and provost, stepped down from his position within weeks of Henderson filing her lawsuit in July.

“I am excited about what we have achieved together and look forward to working with the entire university community to address the challenges that lie before us,” Henderson said in a statement.