By Kristina Goetz
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Northern Kentucky University officials are expected to learn today whether three professors in the business college will file formal grievances with the Faculty Senate after an investigation into their research placed them on mandatory leave.

Details of misconduct allegations against the professors have not been made public, but university officials say Shailendra Verma, chairman of NKU's finance department, resigned after allegations surfaced that he and three other professors plagiarized and misrepresented research data.

The three on paid leave are Anju and Balasubramani Ramjee, a married couple who teach finance, and Richard Snyder, an assistant economics professor.

"If they do file (grievances), the Faculty Senate will hold an administrative hearing to hear what they have to say," said university spokesman Chris Cole. "If they don't, it stays on the desk of Provost (Rogers W.) Redding to make the final decision."

The complaint against the professors was filed about a year ago with Mike Carrell, dean of the business college. A committee of three full-time tenured professors then launched an investigation and filed a report with the dean. None of the report details have been made public.

E-mail kgoetz@enquirer.com