BILLINGS — A Montana State University Billings professor facing possible termination is rejecting allegations of misconduct detailed in newly obtained university documents, while a former student who was cited in the complaint says the university is right to move toward firing him.
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Dr. Joshua Hill, an economics professor who has been with the university since 2013, and Dr. Jennifer Scroggins, a criminal justice professor and department chair, were suspended on Sept. 3, the first day of fall classes. Their sudden departure left dozens of students scrambling to replace courses needed for graduation. University officials have declined to comment, citing a "personnel matter."
Related: MSU Billings students raise concerns after faculty suspensions jeopardize future plans
A 13-page recommendation for Hill’s termination, written by MSU Billings Provost Lee Vartanian and obtained by MTN News on Monday, lists several findings, including "a failure to perform assigned duties and gross insubordination" in disregarding Montana Department of Corrections policies, failure to disclose an employee relationship, and dishonesty to human resources. The provost wrote that Hill had “not acknowledged any wrongdoing” and showed “a likelihood that the behavior would be repeated if lesser discipline were imposed.”
Hill disputes the allegations.
“They're basically saying because the DOC thinks that you were a threat, we have to fire you,” said Hill. “Had I never taught in the prison education program, none of this would be happening.”
Hill said he believes the disciplinary process began after he raised concerns about the quality and purpose of MSU Billings' bachelor-level program offered inside state prisons. He said he questioned whether the coursework meaningfully prepared incarcerated students for employment and alleged that administrators were motivated by enrollment numbers rather than educational outcomes.
"The associate's degree does seem to be well run. It seems to be providing skills and training for students that they actually get useful marketable things that they can use when they get out ... the bachelor's, on the other hand, I mean, it's clear that they're not going to get a degree," said Hill. "My understanding is a lot of the students actually requested to be removed from it and just get their associates, but were told that they couldn't because that would hurt the enrollment numbers at MSUB too much.”
According to documents, the Department of Corrections determined that Hill exchanged messages with several incarcerated students during the summer that went “beyond the scope of academic instruction.” MSU Billings cited policy violations involving personal communications, “unprofessional photos,” and discussions unrelated to coursework.
Examples listed in exhibits include sending a picture of himself lying in bed with his dog after a student inmate said they would vote for him for governor. Hill responded, "As long as that’s the governor of snuggles!” Other cases included chatting about movie and book recommendations, discussing a home renovation project, and donating $25 to an inmate's trust fund.
Related: From ‘governor of snuggles’ to fired? New documents detail MSUB’s case against 2 tenured professors
Hill acknowledged the communications but denied any misconduct. He said the inmates he communicated with were not his assigned students, but rather individuals he met while visiting his students in the program. He communicated with them in the summer, after the program affiliation had ended, and made the donation to assist with message costs.
"My students inside are making 30 cents an hour, and each text message within the app cost 25 cents, so I offered to make sure that they didn't have to bear the cost of the texts and pay roughly an hour's value of their labor," said Hill. "First of all, why would that necessarily be a problem as a private citizen giving money to somebody who's incarcerated. I'm not sure that it doesn't break any DOC policies, doesn't break any laws."
The DOC concluded otherwise, stating that Hill had violated the code of ethics and removed him from the approved list of faculty allowed to teach in facilities, recommending his removal from the prison program. According to documents, Hill responded defiantly, asserting he was not bound by DOC policies unless his collective bargaining agreement required it.
"That's their policy for their employees, but I'm not a DOC employee. I'm an MSUB employee," said Hill.
The university characterized that stance as insubordination. Hill called the DOC’s findings “libelous” and said the situation was designed to silence academic speech.
"They did this to try and make it seem like a really serious big deal and to quell speech," said Hill.
The documents also allege that Hill and Scroggins misled the university about a romantic relationship with each other that created a conflict of interest, as Scroggins oversaw aspects of Hill’s tenure review and handled student complaints, including a 2024 grade appeal.
Both denied having a relationship when first asked by human resources in 2024. In an interview with MTN, Hill acknowledged a relationship with Scroggins but declined to discuss it further.
“What I will say is I answered their questions in good faith and with full honesty with the information I had at the time," said Hill.
However, DOC communications included in the document exhibits show Scroggins describing the couple in messages to a student inmate as having dated for “3.5 or 4 years,” attended couples counseling, but did say they "temporarily broke up."
"We do have a weird situation with my being his friend before anything else, being colleagues (so we vote on one another’s review decisions), then my being his department chair (which is why I get his student complaints)," the message in the document states.
Hill maintains the university is using the relationship to distract from what he describes as retaliation.
Beyond the DOC findings, the university also cited concerns raised by a student whose grade appeal was cited as part of the investigation.
That student, Grace Frazier, believes the university is justified in moving to fire Hill. Frazier, who graduated in spring 2025 and won an award for outstanding senior in her program, filed the 2024 grade appeal.
Frazier took Hill’s online Principles of Microeconomics course and said the lectures frequently included sexual or inappropriate examples that she believed were irrelevant to the material.
"I started hearing additional references to sexual matters being presented. That was the most significant driver for my concern in grievance," said Frazier.
In one cited clip, Hill discussed sex, consent and control as hypothetical examples of economic spillover effects. In another, he used a scenario where students took exams in the nude and were cavity-searched as an illustration of control measures.
"I felt like that was inappropriate," said Frazier.
Frazier also criticized what she called an “enigmatic” grading rubric and said she received assignments marked only with check marks and no feedback.
The breaking point, she said, was Hill requiring students to write a grievance to the administration defending summer course offerings, which was a request she argued was not academically legitimate. After she refused and wrote a response stating the request was inappropriate, she said her final grade dropped to failing despite her using math in her appeal to show that the outcome was impossible.
"I essentially stated that it was inappropriate for him to be requesting students to write grievances on their behalf on his behalf and that I had no qualms with the administration," said Frazier. “Somebody's feelings and their personal thoughts and their personal beliefs being applied in this objective manner in your course should not have an impact on your objective outcome.”
Her appeal was initially reviewed by Scroggins, who upheld Hill’s grade. Frazier now says that the outcome makes sense given the couple’s undisclosed relationship.
"Now, understanding that they had a romantic relationship does not surprise me as I do believe that there's some significant bias that was included," said Frazier.
After she escalated it to a third-level appeal, the provost overturned her grade to passing in October 2024. Frazier said the university did everything right and protected her as a student.
“I think placing them on suspension and having them fired, I think that they're stepping into the right process," said Frazier. "I think it's protecting students from other risks.”
Hill disputed Frazier’s claims. He said the “grievance assignment” may have been a misunderstood exam question designed to teach students to argue multiple sides of a policy issue.
He also said his lecture examples were intended to ground economic theory in real-world situations.
“Maybe it's tasteless, but it's not inappropriate,” said Hill. "Particularly when it comes to issues of sexual identity or sexual behavior, those are legitimate topics for discussion within the analysis of societal well-functioning."
While Hill said he was uncertain of the details surrounding Frazier's appeal, he additionally argued that MSU Billings violated its own timeline rules for grade appeals, saying administrators continued the process past required deadlines.
A faculty committee is scheduled to make a recommendation to the chancellor in December.
"Even if the accusations were substantiated in it, it has never risen to that level. It shouldn't rise to that level of termination,” said Hill.
Despite the outcome, he argues that the heart of the dispute is his criticism of the prison education program.
"The real reason why I am, was, banned from campus and was told I need to be terminated was because I said I will make sure that all of my colleagues know that this is your policy, and they said that's a threat to the program," said Hill. "If letting my colleagues know the rules that you expect them to follow is a threat to the program, that program's a problem."
Still, Frazier said she has communicated with other former students about their discomfort with Hill, and hopes that the university will uphold their decision.
“I have an immense amount of respect for the university," said Frazier. "I do believe that out of every adverse experience someone has, I believe that it's a really good opportunity for them to maybe take some time to reflect and grow from, and not create any more inflammation to the situation, but looking at, 'Oh, how did this actually adversely impact students?'"
