Educational Policies
Committee2006
- 2007
Greg Gilbert, Chair, Copper Mountain College
Bernie Day, Foothill College
Alice Murillo, Diablo Valley College
Jane Patton, Mission College
Andrea Sibley-Smith, North Orange County CCD/Noncredit
Beth Smith, Grossmont College
Table of Contents Abstract
Introduction
Institutional Commitment and Practices
Promoting Academic Integrity
Examples of Plagiarism, Technology, and Intentional
Deception
When Academic Dishonesty Occurs
Conclusion
Recommendations
References
Appendices
Appendix I
Appendix II
Appendix III
Appendix IV
Appendix V
Abstract
This Academic Senate paper is in response to
two resolutions from Fall 2005 concerning academic dishonesty.
One resolution, 14.02, Student
Cheating, sought clarification on a System
Office legal position
that limits the ability of local faculty to fail
a student for a single incident of academic dishonesty,
and pending the result of clarification, to seek
an appropriate Title 5 change. Resolution 14.01, Student
Academic Dishonesty and Grading, required the Academic
Senate to investigate faculty legal and professional
rights and obligations with regards to dealing with
academic dishonesty, including options for grading,
disciplinary action, definitions of academic dishonesty, a
statement of best practices, and an explanation
of student rights.
The paper discusses the need for a culture of
academic integrity that enriches the educational
experience
of students and faculty and, indeed, all individuals
associated with the college as employees or community members. The paper recommends that colleges involve
all constituent groups, particularly student
leaders, in developing and promoting polices and procedures
supportive of a climate of academic integrity.
Students have key responsibilities and protections provided
by Title 5 §51023.7 and have the potential
to raise awareness throughout an institution concerning
academic integrity. The paper includes examples
of policies and procedures that have been adopted at several
colleges. Central to all discussions of academic
integrity is the importance of due process and the protection
of student rights.
Suggestions for promoting a climate of academic
integrity are provided, along with examples of
policies applied to such issues as test taking, technology,
distance education, Internet use, group work,
and maintaining
the integrity of graded assignments. Emphasis
is placed on the roles of classroom faculty,
library services, counseling, and the need to institute mandates
for information competency as a means of creating
and sustaining a culture of academic integrity.
The paper goes on to discuss the System Office s
1995 legal interpretation of faculty rights with
regards to failing a student for an incident of academic
dishonesty. Included in this section is a brief
discussion of potential changes to Title 5 and a consideration
of student rights under the law. The paper also
provides examples from colleges of policies and procedures
that support academic integrity, recommendations
to local senates, faculty, and the State Academic
Senate, and concludes with references and appendices.
Introduction
Promoting and sustaining an institutional climate
of academic integrity requires active
participation by all members of a college community
and is largely dependent on ongoing system-wide communications that are wedded more to principles
of alliance than compliance. Such a climate is
an extension of
institutional integrity, an understanding that
honesty must be woven throughout the fabric
of a college. While the resolutions that resulted
in this paper are concerned with legal interpretations
of academic dishonesty,
due process, and faculty and student rights,
the authors believe that
academic integrity
is not merely a product of dogmatic adherence
to rigid rules but, rather, an expression of
values embraced
by the institution as a whole.
It is difficult to discuss academic integrity
without references to academic dishonesty or cheating and their
inferences of intentional and premeditated behaviors.
Recent reports indicate that a growing
number of students
cheat (Collison 1990a; McCabe and Trevino, 1996;
Nilson, 1998). Students, though
responsible for
their actions, often receive ambiguous examples
in today s world, examples that result
in their choosing behaviors
which are rarely chastised or punished in the
present social order. Dishonesty, regardless
of its point of
origin, has metastasized throughout our society.
While it may be argued that the
academic community
is at a disadvantage in setting standards that
rarely hold up in the real world, one should
not ignore the
potential for the academy to be part of the solution.
The academic community has an
opportunity to
influence the future of corporate and elected
officials, and all citizens, by promoting a culture
of academic honesty
and integrity throughout the entire structure.
While the promotion of academic integrity is
by one reckoning as simple as the adoption of
core principles about
honesty, the details of dealing with the proliferation
of electronic resources and the
varied preparation of
faculty to contend with infractions is also a
matter of concern. Faculty have indicated that
they feel uncertain about
their rights and responsibilities as well as
about those of their students. Therefore,
preparatory to a local
discussion on the matter, faculty and students
might appreciate reading background articles,
such as any of
the many pieces authored or co-authored by a
founder of The Center for Academic Integrity
(http://www.academicintegrity.org), Donald l.
McCabe. In Ten
Principles of Academic Integrity: How Faculty
Can Foster Student Honesty ,
McCabe summarizes how both students and faculty
need to be responsible and explains modified honor
codes which have been effective at
many colleges and universities. The author further
states, We believe
colleges and universities must use their academic-integrity
systems to foster those qualities
and to discourage
students from falling into the habit of cheating
and deception (2004).
Creating a culture of academic honesty requires
agreement that integrity and honesty are valued
qualities in all members
of the college family. Moreover, implicit to all
discussions of academic integrity
is the understanding
that people who value learning would never view
cheating as a viable choice. Strategies
for developing academic
integrity vary from college to college, but the
similarities fall into several
categories:
Educate and involve students in discussions
about promoting and sustaining an institutional climate
of academic integrity
Develop and publish
clear definitions and examples of academic
dishonesty
Formulate clear and consistent methods of
communication about unacceptable behaviors
and their consequences
Establish clear processes
for documenting infractions and providing due
processes and clearly defined
consequences for unacceptable behaviors
Classroom
teachers, staff members, counselors and librarians
all have regular access to students,
where the opportunities and teachable moments regarding
honesty and integrity are many. Local academic
senates should work with local student leadership to
facilitate institution-wide discussions and promote
the creation of practices that respect the learning environment
while encouraging academic integrity.
Resolutions in Fall 2005 directed the Academic
Senate to investigate a legal opinion from the
System Office regarding the consequences assigned to acts of
academic dishonesty and the assignment of grades.
The results of the investigation are included in this
paper along with effective practices for promoting
academic integrity and fulfilling legal obligations to establish
reasonable due process for students accused of
academic dishonesty. The resolutions are as follows:
Fall
2005, 14.02, Student Cheating
Whereas, When a student has engaged in any
form of academic dishonesty, the array of penalties that
the instructor may impose on a student has
been limited in some districts but not in others;
and
Whereas, A 1995 opinion by Ralph Black, then
legal counsel in the System Office, holds that an instructor may fail a student for the assignment
on which that student engaged in cheating or
plagiarism, but not award a failing grade for
the entire course for one incident of cheating
or plagiarism;
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California
Community Colleges investigate whether or not
the interpretation of Title 5 Regulations and Education
Code that does not allow an instructor to
fail a student for an entire course for one
incident of academic dishonesty, no matter
how egregious, is correct; and
Resolved, That if the Academic Senate for California
Community Colleges finds this interpretation to
be correct, then the Academic Senate pursue a change
in regulation or law that gives full discretion
to the instructor as to the penalty for a student
engaging in any form of academic dishonesty.
Fall 2005, 14.01 Student Academic Dishonesty
and Grading
Whereas, There is confusion across the state
about the options that faculty have for awarding grades
and/or disciplining students following incidents
of student academic dishonesty; and
Whereas, There is great variance in policies
in California community colleges regarding
grading and disciplining students for academic
dishonesty;
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California
Community Colleges investigate the legal and professional obligations and options for
faculty in grading policies and disciplinary
actions following student academic dishonesty;
and
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California
Community Colleges develop a statement of
best practices for defining academic dishonesty
and handling the grading of assignments, the awarding of course grades and the disciplining
of students in cases of academic dishonesty,
including an explanation of student rights.
The intent of
this paper is to offer guidance toward
creating and sustaining a climate of academic
integrity and to provide an update on the legal
opinion from
1995 regarding allowable consequences assigned
to students by teachers
when academic dishonesty is established.
