Fifteen pages of plagiarism
A first-year international student from Korea was referred to Student Judicial Affairs (SJA) for obvious plagiarism on a major paper. The student admitted to plagiarizing every word, sentence and idea in the 15-page political science paper. She stated that because this was her first quarter at UC Davis, she wasn’t ready to write such a lengthy paper because English isn’t her primary language. The student accepted the sanctions of Disciplinary Probation for one year, 15 hours of community service, and completion of an online plagiarism exercise.
A change in quality
A professor reported a junior to SJA for suspected plagiarism on a paper. Though there was no evidence that this student actually plagiarized, the professor stated that the paper was of much higher quality than the student’s journal entries and his work on a project. The professor was also bothered by the lack of proper citations in the paper. When she met with a Judicial Officer, the student stated that the difference in quality was due to her hard work on the final paper, and the fact that she had spent much time working on it.
She also claimed that she had put citations within the paper, but had failed to use footnotes, which is what the professor had told them to use. The professor confirmed that when he requested footnotes from the student after submission of her paper, the student had produced them the following day. This student was given an Administrative Notice, which means that she was not found in violation of the Code of Academic Conduct; however, if referred to SJA for plagiarism again, more serious disciplinary actions will follow if she is found in violation.
Cheating on an exam
This freshman was put on Disciplinary Probation for one year and required to complete 10 hours of community service in response to his admitted misconduct in collaborating/copying during an exam. The TA noticed him glancing at the exam of the student sitting next to him several times during the span of the exam. There were two versions of the test, differentiated by colors, and he and the student he was allegedly copying from somehow had the same version, even though they were sitting next to each other and therefore should have had different colors. The student received a zero on the exam.
Members of the office of Student Judicial Affairs compile the CAMPUS JUDICIAL REPORTS. Additional information about SJA and the Campus Judicial Board may be found at sja.ucdavis.edu.
