(ERIN KILLINGER | The Miami Student)
Cheating violations are on the rise at Miami University. Explanations for the increase vary but academic integrity is becoming a focus for academic departments.
Academic dishonesty, as defined by the university, is any activity that compromises the academic integrity of the institution or subverts the educational process.
Since the 2006-2007 school year, the number of violations has nearly doubled. Suspensions have jumped as well. In the 2006-2007 school year no student was suspended for cheating violations but since then suspensions have slowly started to climb, last school year seven students were suspended.
Some faculty members suggest the policy revisions bring a heightened awareness of academic integrity to Miami. Effective for the 2009-2010 school year, the University Senate approved changes to the school's academic integrity policy, developed by an academic integrity subcommittee. Previously, department chairs or a department designee handled cases of cheating.
With the changes made, professors still take cases directly to their department heads but departments have more saying in the penalty process for cheating violations.
Now department heads suggest a recommended sanction for the student in question and forward it to the dean, who makes the final decision. Additionally, students may face a suspension if they have had two code violations — no matter what category those prior code violations fall under.
Phyllis Callahan, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences suggested that while there are likely various reasons for the increase, academic integrity is heavily emphasized at Miami.
"I can speculate that (the increase) may, in part, be due to the increased awareness raised in our community by the open discussion of this issue as a result of the work of the Academic Integrity Subcommittee a few years ago," Callahan said.
But Miami's Student Body Vice President Matt Frazier, who sat on the University Appeals board last year, isn't sure the change has been effective in dealing with students who are at risk of being suspended or dismissed from Miami because of cheating.
"It seems as though different academic departments handle academic dishonesty in different ways," Frazier said.
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He noted that the current policy seems to give administrators a lot of leeway in how they handle these issues.
The policy has gotten the message across to academic departments that academic integrity is an important matter and professors are beginning to hone in on it, according to Kerry Powell, chair of the English Department.
"Faculty are getting better at detecting plagiarism in written work," Powell said, citing Google as a useful tool for professors to quickly check students' work. The English department continues to have a high number of violations each year, racking up 34 violations last year.
Other technology may be a player in the increase as well.
The use of Turnitin.com has been a tool for uncovering more cases of academic dishonesty, according to chemistry department chair Chris Makaroff. Students turn an assignment in through the website, which checks the assignment's authenticity against other students' work as well as various published resources.
Makaroff's department consistently posts high numbers for academic dishonesty. Over the last three years, they've busted an average of nine students per year.
The violations primarily occur in freshman lab classes, according to Makaroff.
"It's just being naïve," he said, unsure why students try to cheat when they know the Turnitin software could bust them.
Powell agreed that these violations are more of an issue with younger students.
"To some extent it's at all levels, but it probably is a preponderance at lower levels," Powell said.
As for students who commit acts of academic dishonesty, they are given resources to help learn from the experience, according to assistant provost Lucille Hautau.
"Miami's focus as always been on instilling values," Hautau said. "The goal is to provide the student the opportunity to cite research and resources correctly."
She added that students complete an online integrity seminar after their first offense.
For some students, academic integrity is a no-brainer.
Senior James Tafelski said that he hasn't noticed a change in the way academic integrity is stressed at Miami throughout his four years here.
"It's always been a high standard, which is appropriate for a college setting," Tafelski said.
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