Two University of Texas at Dallas professors will not be punished by the school president for directing a credit transfer arrangement that school leaders determined was inappropriate.

School President Richard Benson said the deal damaged the university and led to irreversible consequences. But in letters dated July 16, Benson said he is dismissing the cases against professors Robert Taylor and John Worrall.

Benson's decision follows the recommendation of a faculty tribunal, which determined in July that the credit transfer practice was "improper from an academic integrity standpoint" but the professors did not act with "malicious intent."

Benson lamented the impact of the scandal but did not admonish the professors who orchestrated it.

“The practice undermined public confidence in the legitimacy of the degrees and accuracy of the transcripts rightfully earned by our students, caused delay in the awarding of degrees for some ... students, and put at risk the university’s standing with its accrediting body,” Benson wrote in the letters.

Richard Benson, president of the University of Texas at Dallas, chose not to punish any instructor involved in a practice that resulted in the university suspending a program, returning thousands of tuition dollars to students and passing new policies to assuage its accrediting body. (Vernon Bryant / Staff Photographer)

In a statement, university spokesman John Walls said it was inaccurate to say Benson did not punish the professors. In response to a records request for all reprimands against Taylor and Worrall, the university only provided copies of Benson’s letters.

This likely concludes university proceedings that began last year against the instructors. The program's future remains undetermined and a federal lawsuit filed by the instructors against the school is ongoing.

"I've found that college students are quick to identify hypocrisy. They learn more by example, not precept," said Gary Pavela, a lawyer and past president of the International Association of Academic Integrity.

“If we set high academic integrity standards for them and low academic integrity standards for teachers and administrators, the lowest common denominator will ultimately prevail."

The president did not recommend to the University of Texas System Board of Regents that the instructors be fired. Although he could have imposed a lesser punishment, he did not.

Worrall, Taylor and Galia Cohen, a third instructor who also ran the program, denied wrongdoing. Benson declined to pursue firing Cohen earlier this year, determining that she followed the direction of her superiors.

“They’ve been totally vindicated,” said Frank Hill, an attorney representing the instructors.

The Dallas Morning News published an investigation about the credit transfer arrangement earlier this year. Worrall and Taylor carried out a deal that allowed students — mostly law enforcement officers — to receive UTD credit for master's level courses if they participated in nonaccredited professional development outside of the university. Some of those students received A grades in UTD courses they did not take, according to an investigation by the UT System.

Based on the UT System investigative report and other records, The News detailed how instructors allegedly told law enforcement officers in the program that they could skip classes; later, those students received course credit and at times top grades. The story also exposed the failure of university leaders in recent years to heed signs of improper practices.

UTD stopped accepting applications for the program and it has returned thousands of dollars in tuition to students. The university has yet to decide whether to restart the program.

In May 2018, the school removed Worrall and Cohen from their administrative roles within the program. Walls said those positions were eliminated.

The school learned of the issue in late 2017. After investigations by UTD and the UT System, school Provost Inga Musselman told Worrall, Taylor and Cohen their actions may constitute academic fraud and the school needed to consider firing them.

Benson decided not to fire Cohen in April, but pursued firing the other two professors, prompting a hearing before a faculty tribunal. During the hearing, Worrall and Taylor argued that they thought the transfer credit deal had proper approval from James Marquart, a department dean at the time.

The arrangement, which began in 2012, was not legitimately approved, according to the UT System investigation. Marquart, now the provost and vice president at Lamar University, told The News in a statement earlier this month the program did receive appropriate internal approval.

“I am proud to have been involved in the early development of this distinguished executive program,” Marquart said in a statement emailed by a Lamar spokeswoman.

In February, Taylor, Worrall and Cohen filed a federal lawsuit against UTD, arguing the school violated their due process and continued to pursue firings only in response to The News' investigation. Hill said the lawsuit remains active.