Serious sanctions for serious issues
A junior was referred to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs (SJA) for plagiarizing a paper in his upper division writing class. The student lifted several large sections of the paper directly from the website of the organization he was writing about. When referred, the student admitted to a judicial officer that he was undergoing serious personal issues, which led to his decision to plagiarize. The student was given the sanction of deferred separation until graduation, was referred to Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) and was given a writing assignment about plagiarism. The student was alerted that the deferred separation means that, should he be again found in violation of the Code of Academic Conduct, he would be suspended for at least a year and possibly dismissed from the university.
A poor academic “philosophy”
A junior student was referred to SJA for unauthorized collaboration on an assignment for his lower division philosophy class. The student claimed that he had worked alone initially, but had met with another student in the class to double-check some answers. The other student subsequently met with others students in the class and created a typed list of answers for the homework assignment. The referred student was then forwarded this list, which he used to again double-check his answers. The student was placed on disciplinary probation until graduation and was given a writing assignment on unauthorized collaboration. Disciplinary probation means that, should the student be found in violation again, it would likely result in his suspension or dismissal from the university.
Digging up fossilized papers
A sophomore student was referred to SJA for submitting another’s work as her own in her lower division anthropology class. The paper that the students were required to write had them compare and contrast two fictional fossil types. The student submitted a paper that discussed two fossil types, but with the names given to the fictional fossils in the previous quarter. The student also cited an older version of the textbook that was no longer being used in the class. The student admitted to using her friend’s old assignment page and book because she had been unable to buy the book and was having trouble with internet access. The student agreed to a sanction of deferred separation, was given a writing assignment about plagiarism and was referred to CAPS and Student Academic Success Center (SASC) tutoring.
CAMPUS JUDICIAL REPORTS are compiled by student members of Student Judicial Affairs.
