Apr. 3, 2005 12:00 AM
Two years ago, ASU Professor Marianne Jennings and I penned an article for the student newspaper State Press and this section in which we demanded that cheaters be dismissed from the university at first offense and that their names be published in the student newspaper. The goal was to stir debate and influence change.
We were reacting to more than simply a few incidents at Arizona State University. Cheating was becoming a national epidemic. Statistics from the Duke University Center for Academic Integrity indicate that 70 percent of college students across the country have cheated at least once on an exam, and 87 percent have cheated on written work. Responses to the article were immediate. No one denied the problem, and no one advocated ignoring it.
All university presidents and provosts have readily condemned cheating. Yet they've also recognized if too much public attention is drawn to it, it appears to be peculiar to their institution and not a national problem. advertisement
Similarly, some students in Professor Jennings' and my classes felt they were painted with a broad brush of dishonesty when there were really only a few incidents.
At the same time, letters and e-mails poured in from former students and colleagues expressing gratitude for bringing the problem into the open. Numerous articles were sent that confirmed the growing plague.
Once the issue was de-personalized - cheating is not just an ASU problem - the university, in its many facets, set out to provide solutions. Most remarkably, the ASU student senate passed a resolution condemning cheating, calling for 50 hours of community service when a student is caught the first time and dismissal on the second offense.
In fall 2004, I was appointed to the Student-Faculty Policy Committee of the faculty senate to explore the issue in greater detail. Meetings were held with university legal counsel, members of the Office of Student Life, representatives from the Provost's Office, faculty across campus, and the presidents of the undergraduate and graduate student associations. In addition, a thousand students submitted papers describing their knowledge of cheating and what could be done about it.
With full support of central administration, I was asked to develop resolutions for vote by the faculty senate. The student papers made the following points and shaped the proposals:
• Academic dishonesty can never be eliminated entirely because some students will always cheat, either to get the degree or simply for the sheer thrill.
• Students will almost never report cheating by other students. ("Being a snitch is worse than being a cheat.")
• If the policy committee proposes draconian solutions and then does not follow through, students will look upon us as fools.
• Students cheat because they get away with it.
• Cheating is extensive on campus at all levels by all kinds of students.
• Cheating is rampant in high schools.
The policy committee knew that a cultural change was necessary and that it was going to take time. Although ASU has rules, codes of conduct and appropriate penalties in place, more enforcement and open discussion were needed.
The following proposals were made by the policy committee and passed by the faculty senate on March 21:
• A brochure on academic integrity would be widely distributed and discussed with all incoming freshmen and transfer students.
• A statement of ASU beliefs on academic honesty would appear on an official Web site signed by the presidents of the university, the faculty senate, and the undergraduate and graduate student associations.
• Faculty would discuss cheating at the start of the semester, and a faculty handbook would be developed that summarized university rules on cheating and support for the faculty in cheating cases.
• Anti-plagiarism software and other such technologies would be made readily available to all faculty.
• A pool of proctors would be established in each college to monitor large classes on exam days.
• Each college would designate an individual who kept records of all reported instances of cheating, and the designates would meet twice a year to uncover repeat offenders.
Our plan is like Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's in New York City: Go hard after the visible street crime, the cheating on multiple-choice exams in the large lecture sections using professionally trained proctors. This would show we are serious about all violations.
With faculty taking a more active role in stressing academic honesty, we firmly believe these steps will help us change the culture on campus in a beneficial way over time.
We are not so naive as to believe that cheating will ever be eliminated entirely or that students will readily turn in others. In fact, we do not want a police-state mentality. However, our changes may empower non-cheaters, when seeing others cheat, to talk to them directly about the ASU culture. Small changes such as these can add up significantly.
We at ASU are stepping to the plate and are willing to take the lead on a national problem. We want to tell anyone interested that ASU seeks high ethical standards.
President Michael Crow defines ASU as the "New American University."
This means great teaching and great research, but much more importantly, it means a culture of academic honesty that all graduates and the community at large can admire and respect.
Stephen Happel is an ASU professor of economics and was founding director of the W.P. Carey School of Business Honors Program. He was associate dean of undergraduate programs, 1992-99.
