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Industry Group Complains About Professor’s Research
A professor at the University of Montana says that officials at that institution took away her administrative duties and prevented her from presenting her research at state seminars in response to pressure from Montana’s tourist industry. Norma Nickerson, an associate research professor in the forestry school, charges that the university’s actions amount to a violation of her academic freedom. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, the university’s attorneys concede that Nickerson’s administrative duties were removed because of industry complaints about her research. They deny, however, that the action constitutes a violation of academic freedom, because her ability to conduct research has not been impeded.
Both sides agree that the conflict stems from an unusual Montana law that gives the Tourism Advisory Council authority to approve research supported by state funds generated by a hotel tax. The university’s Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research, of which Nickerson is director, receives funding from the tax.
Nickerson says tourism officials especially disliked a 1999 survey she conducted that found that 48 percent of Montanans thought the hotel tax should be used to support environmental programs, while just 14 percent believed it should be used to promote tourism. Currently, 87 percent of the funds are used for tourism promotion, according to Nickerson.
After Nickerson made her complaints public, a bill was introduced into the Montana legislature that would have removed oversight of tourism research from the Tourism Advisory Council. But the bill did not succeed, and the legislative session ended with no changes to the law.
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