SJSU professor guilty of sexual harassment will not teach in fall
Previously slated for two courses, he won’t be returning to the classroom
SAN JOSE » A San Jose State University professor found to have sexually harassed a student will not be teaching on campus this fall after all.
Lewis Aptekar — a professor in the counselor education department who was suspended for acting inappropriately toward a student in 2015 — was set to return to campus to teach two courses and handle other department tasks involving admissions and curriculum.
But late Wednesday, the department sent an email to students that Aptekar will not be teaching either of the courses, which were both set to begin next week. One of the classes will be canceled and the department has identified an instructor to pick up the other course, said university spokeswoman Pat Lopes Harris.
Students slated to graduate this fall who had signed up for the canceled class, Trauma and Crisis Intervention, will be allowed to take a psychology course with a comparable curriculum.
Harris said she could not provide more information about why the school made the switch. It is unclear whether Aptekar will still be involved with department tasks outside the classroom — such as group coun-
seling — but he is still employed by the university at this time. Aptekar did not respond to a request for comment through his lawyer
fter this newspaper reported Aptekar’s planned return to campus, students in the department organized a sit-in. It was scheduled to take place next Monday, the day Aptekar had been slated to return to teaching.
Valerie Lamb, one of the graduate students organizing the sit-in, is glad Aptekar will not be teaching but says the school’s decision to cancel one class and offer an alternative still leaves students scrambling at the last minute.
The original course was scheduled to begin in the late afternoon, while the alternate offering is a midday class.
“Students in our program work full- time or work part-time and have other internships that they are doing in order to complete the requirement for our department,” Lamb said, “and we have students commuting from everywhere.”
On Thursday, Paul Cascella, interim dean of the College of Education, sent a note to counselor education students, faculty and staff saying the depart- ment will undertake a review of its program offerings and structures this school year.
“Students (and faculty members) have expressed myriad concerns about, for example, the department’s admissions, advising, course offerings, communications, instructional quality, curriculum, program reputation, and student- faculty dynamics,” Cascella wrote. “More recently, other concerns have been raised which also deserve to be addressed. We have taken short- term steps to respond to the immediate concerns. Our long-term goal is to carefully examine and work toward repairing all concerns within this department.”
The department plans to invite students to give their opinions at two meetings in September.