When in doubt … cite!
A professor reported a senior for plagiarism in an upper-division political science course. The professor stated that the student had placed phrases and sentences in quotation marks, but had failed to cite the quotations. When meeting with a judicial officer, the student admitted to the plagiarism and agreed to the sanctions of deferred separation, 10 hours of community service and tutoring from the Student Academic Success Center.
Cover your work
This junior was reported to Student Judicial Affairs (SJA) for copying or collaborating during an exam. The teacher’s aide stated that the student and his friend had several identical multiple-choice answers even though they had different versions of the exam. When meeting with a judicial officer, the student said that he hadn’t cheated, but he did notice his friend looking at his test. He also admitted that he hadn’t covered his exam after he noticed his friend copying from him because he didn’t want to hurt his friend’s feelings. In addition, he stated that he knew he and his friend had different versions of the exam so he thought that his friend would get the answers wrong anyway. The student was given a non-disciplinary administrative notice, which means that he was not held responsible for violating the Code of Academic Conduct on this occasion. If referred to SJA again for copying or collaborating during an exam, he will likely receive disciplinary actions next time.
Sometimes students never learn
This graduate student was referred to SJA for plagiarism on a paper. The professor reported that numerous sentences were copied directly from Internet sources without using citations. When meeting with a judicial officer, the student stated that the lack of citations was not intentional and that this was his first time back in school after many years. Although this was his first referral to SJA, he agreed to the sanction of deferred separation until he receives his degree. He also agreed to complete an online plagiarism exercise, and to get tutoring from the Student Academic Success Center.
Campus Judicial Reports are compiled by members of CAMPUS JUDICIAL AFFAIRS.
