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Friday, September 21, 2001

Faculty Senate considering new disciplines for cheating
By Piper Huddleston
Staff Reporter

The TCU Faculty Senate is researching new disciplinary procedures for academic misconduct because of an increase in suspected cases of cheating and plagiarism, said Melissa Young, Academic Excellence Committee chairwoman for the Faculty Senate.

Associate Dean of Campus Life Mike Russel said that last semester he received a large number of phone calls from faculty and department chairs concerned about academic misconduct.

According to the TCU Student Handbook, plagiarism is defined as the appropriation, theft, purchase or obtaining by any means another’s work and the unacknowledged submission or incorporation of that work as one’s own offered for credit.

Cheating, according to the handbook, is copying another student’s work, using any materials during an academic exercise not authorized by the person in charge of the test, seeking aid from another student during a test or substituting for another student to take an exam. Cheating is also using, selling, buying or soliciting the entire or partial contents of a test.

Young said the Academic Excellence Committee is responsible for looking at issues of academic integrity and are considering the possibility of establishing an Honor Code for TCU students.

The University of Virginia’s Honor Code requires a student to agree to abide by the code upon entering the university. If a student fails to obey the code, there are set student sanctions and the possibility of expulsion, she said. The Honor Code at Texas A&M is one that is also being looked to as an example, Young said. The code says, “Aggies do not lie, cheat or steal, nor do they tolerate those who do.”

If TCU were to establish an honor code, Young said student support would be imperative.

Adam Gwin, a senior finance and entrepreneurial management major, said that if TCU were to implement an honor code, he would support it if benefited all students.

“I think an honor code would be beneficial to TCU because all students would be held accountable for their actions and would be treated equally if they did not abide by the code,” he said.

Nowell Donovan, Senate Executive Committee member, said TCU should apply a consistent standard so the entire university is aware of the penalties for academic misconduct.

“Opportunities for students to cheat are increasing with computers and Internet access,” Donovan said. “If there is a consistent standard that everyone is aware of, a student can’t claim they didn’t know the consequences for cheating.”

Cheating and plagiarism contradicts TCU’s mission statement, Donovan said. TCU is trying to develop responsible students and cheating reflects a lack of responsibility, he said.

Young said another possibility is to establish a hearing procedure that moves the responsibility of punishment from an individual faculty member to a trained hearing panel that would include faculty, staff and students.

Under current policy, faculty members who catch a student cheating or plagiarizing may give that student an automatic failing grade on the assignment or exam, Young said.

According to TCU Disciplinary Procedures for Students, if a staff member decides there is sufficient reason for a disciplinary hearing, the student can either submit to a formal administrative hearing or waive the right to a formal hearing and discuss the problem informally with the staff member and accept their decision.

Young said the Academic Excellence Committee is still researching different methods to handle academic dishonesty. She said before making any decisions, she wants to research methods of other universities and discuss options with various TCU faculty and students.

The Faculty Senate will vote on any recommendations made by the Academic Excellence Committee at their next meeting Thursday, Oct. 4.

Piper Huddleston
k.p.huddleston@student.tcu.edu

   

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