The University of Southern Mindanao (USM) has distanced itself from a situation involving Dr. Riceli C. Mendoza, a former faculty regent at the university, who admitted to publishing her advisee’s paper under her own name “without the department’s knowledge.”  

In a Facebook post, the USM’s Department of English Language and Literature stressed the publication of the advisee’s paper was solely Dr. Mendoza’s decision, and that the university “was unaware until a complaint was filed.”  

To recall, as earlier reported, Mendoza issued a public apology statement as posted on the Facebook page of the department where Mendoza used to teach as Professor VI.

“I am very sorry to publish your thesis in my name. I am truly sorry that I failed to recognize you as the author and the owner of the published paper/article. Instead, I claimed it as my own,” Mendoza said in the post, which has garnered 15,000 shares and 24,000 reactions from netizens as of May 7, 2024.

The university said, “the posting of an apology letter on the department’s page was a condition for the complainant to stop pursuing the matter, which the respondent agreed to.”

USM asks the public to refrain from speculating and mentions that a settlement has been reached between the complainant and respondent. They also express a desire for the “healing for everyone involved.”

The university also did not mention any sanction against the erring former faculty regent. The department and both parties have yet to respond to The EdLines’ request for comment.