Former Katy ISD superintendent thesis removed from UH online archives

A former Katy ISD superintendent doctoral thesis has been removed from UH’s online archives due to alleged plagiarism, the Houston Chronicle reported Wednesday.

Lance Hindt resigned from his position as the Katy ISD superintendent amid bullying allegations in 2018. The Houston Chronicle reported that UH launched a review of questions into Hindt’s dissertation in October 2018.

The UH Publications website states that a thesis or dissertation “will only be removed under special circumstances, including copyright violations, plagiarism or falsification of data.”

The complaint was brought to UH by Sean Dolan, a Katy ISD parent. The Chronicle reported that the University told Dolan that his allegations of Hindt’s research misconduct had concluded.

A URL that used to link to Hindt’s dissertation now leads to a “Resource Not Found” page instead.

Dolan told the Chronicle he began looking into Hindt’s academic record in April 2018, after the March allegations of Hindt’s bullying days.

Dolan’s website lists Hindt’s thesis, “The Effects of Principal Leadership on Teacher Morale and Student Achievement” alongside Georgia educator Keith Rowland’s dissertation “The Relationship of Principal Leadership and Teacher Morale” and provides examples of the two texts’ similarities.

Rowland’s dissertation was published four years prior to Hindt’s.

The University could not comment on the removal as “federal and University policy prohibits sharing information of students and former students with third parties,” UH spokesperson Chris Stipes said in an email.

The Chronicle also reported Katy ISD would not comment on the matter. Katy ISD considered bankrolling a defamation suit on behalf of Hindt in 2018 in the wake of the allegations.

[email protected]