The KPU bookstore suspended three sociology textbooks and is issuing full refunds to students who purchased them after allegations that the author of the books, a KPU faculty member, used plagiarized content.
The Kwantlen Student Association (KSA) explained that the textbooks, From the Local to the Global, The Local-Global Nexus of Social Justice and Race, Racism and Anti-Racism: A Critical constructivist Perspective, are listed as required books for two sociology classes in the upcoming January semester.
The textbook author, Dr. Charles Quist-Adade, is a KPU sociology instructor and according to KPU’s website, he is listed as the “past immediate chair and former co-chair of the sociology department.”
According to a release, the three books were published this year and contain “large passages taken near-verbatim and without appropriate citation from other texts, lectures and websites.”
Sarah Strachan, KSA’s vice-president of university affairs, said “Students at KPU, and wherever else these books are found, should take great care in citing from them in case they be made accessories to academic dishonesty.”
A KPU spokesperson told the Richmond News in an email “an allegation of plagiarism is serious,” and the university will go through an “immediate investigation of the claims put forward by the Kwantlen Student Association.”
“KPU is committed to academic integrity, expectations of which are outlined in the university policy.”
The investigation will continue until the first day of classes in January.
The News has reached out to Quist-Adade for comment but has not received a reply.
