Talking about honor here, there, everywhere-even in Texas

Talking about honor here, there, everywhere-even in Texas
Illegal collaboration on assignments on the rise at U. Texas-Austin

By Danielle Cooper
Daily Texan
ATLANTA
November 6, 1998

(U-WIRE) AUSTIN, Texas- Unauthorized collaboration-preparing an assignment with another person's help and without an instructor's permission-has risen over the last 10 years at the University, UT officials said Monday.

Unauthorized collaboration, considered a type of cheating, was a factor in 25.5 percent of cases of academic dishonesty on campus last year and was involved in 32.3 percent of cases two years ago, said Kevin Price, assistant dean of Student Judicial Services.

Even with this year's drop, recent figures show an increase from five years ago, when unauthorized collaboration was involved in 16 percent of cases. Ten years ago, unauthorized collaboration was only a factor in 10 percent of cases of academic dishonesty.

"There has been an upward trend in unauthorized collaboration nationwide," Price said.

Because students have the opportunity to work together on assignments-such as homework or lab reports, which constitute a small percentage of their overall grade in a course-students justify getting help from others even when not allowed, Price said.

"Students often try to rationalize working with someone else," Price said.

Nang Ngo, co-chair of Students For Academic Integrity, said he has observed students collaborating on assignments without permission from instructors.

"One of the rationales people come up with, especially for homework, is that this doesn't really matter anyway," Ngo said.

But when students get through school without doing their own work, they do not represent the University well in the job market, he said.

Jessica Marshall, another co-chair of SFAI, said students often aren't clear about the University's cheating policy after orientation because it gets lost in the stacks of information they receive. She urged students to talk to individual professors to find out to what extent they permit group work on assignments.

"We encourage students to talk to their professors to find out what they expect," Marshall said.

If students are caught engaging in collaboration or any other form of academic dishonesty, such as plagiarism or cheating, they are subject to disciplinary measures from the Office of the Dean of Students.

"The University has a set of rules about how to handle these cases," said Sharon Daniel, an instructor in the Division of Rhetoric and Composition who sponsored a forum last week on cheating at the University.

In accordance with UT rules, the instructor must first confront the student about the infraction. The instructor then must meet with student and other faculty members to discuss the incident.

If a student pleads guilty to the charge, the instructor can impose a penalty on that student-usually either a failing grade on the assignment or in the class-and reports the charge to the Office of the Dean of Students.

The Office of Student Judicial Services, which is within the Dean of Students office, decides whether or not to take further disciplinary action.

Cases of extreme academic dishonesty can result in either suspension or expulsion, but those penalties are generally reserved for second-time offenses, having another person substitute in an exam, stealing a test or falsifying an academic record.

When students do not accept the charges against them, they can request a hearing from the Office of Student Judicial Services.

The accusations against some students are dropped at this level, but the intensity of the penalties against those who are found guilty coincide with the degree to which they cooperate with UT officials, Price said.

"I often tell students it's not the mistake that defines them, it's the response to that mistake," Price said.

When students admit to dishonesty without a lengthy investigation, it shows the University that it will more likely be able to trust those students in the future, Price said.

Students seeking advice about their legal rights concerning charges of academic dishonesty can visit the UT Office of the Ombudsman.

While Brooke Grona, UT Ombudsman, said she can't act as an advocate for students in these cases, she can explain to them how to handle themselves in a hearing.

The Technique wraps up a three-part series on honor at Tech today. To find out about the honor situation here, turn to the story on the front page, the Letters to the Editor on page 8, or check the Technique archives online at cyberbuzz.gatech.edu/technique.

Copyright © 1998 by Gregory S. Scherrer, Editor and by the Student Publications Board

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