Academic Integrity Awareness Week highlights cheating

Associate Dean Danielle Morin interviews every student in the John Molson School of Business who may have committed an offense against the university’s academic code of conduct. It has given her a good sense not only of why students cheat, but of what professors need to do to reduce the temptation.

“A lot of plagiarism is due to ignorance on the part of students,” Morin said. However, cheating can be so pervasive in a class that “good students feel they have to cheat or they’ll be at a disadvantage.”

She was glad to see an initiative undertaken by several faculties this month called Academic Integrity Awareness. It included a fair on the mezzanine of the Hall Building, where students could pick up information and ask questions.

It also included a series of workshops for students on both campuses, and workshops especially for international students, some of whom are particularly in need of guidance.

Professor Morin held a workshop for faculty members on Jan. 30. Those who attended learned about the regulations surrounding this topic, and discussed tips on making them effective.

“We discussed the possibility of designing multiple versions of exams in crowded classrooms to minimize cheating,” Morin said. “We also discussed the weaknesses of online exams, where the integrity of one’s own responses cannot be verified, as well as the small number of invigilators during exams.”

She said that the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science has introduced a confirmation of originality form that each student must sign on submitting work, and she thinks that this is an excellent innovation.

“We all recognized that it is our responsibility to advise students what constitutes plagiarism and the sanctions imposed if a student is found guilty. It was recommended that at the beginning of every academic year a special presentation on cheating be given to students in one of their core courses in addition to a special paragraph on every course outline.”

Morin is convinced that student advocates do a good job of advising students about their responsibilities. “Sarah Baumier, an undergraduate student in Marketing, is a student advocate, and she was a valuable part in our faculty workshop on plagiarism.”

Morin added that surveys indicate a divergence of views on the current sanctions: Students think they’re too tough, and faculty members think they’re too mild. You can see them for yourself, at secretariat.concordia.ca/policies.

Arts and Science faculty members will be invited to a similar workshop on plagiarism on Feb. 18.

Rose Fedorak, Code Administrator, Arts and Science, chaired the Week’s organizing committee.

Fedorak said there will be a timely public lecture on the subject of integrity on Friday, Feb. 13, by Joanna Gualtieri.

Gaultieri has been described as a whistleblower, and has been featured on several investigative television programs.

In 1998, she founded FAIR (Federal Accountability Initiative for Reform) to promote free expression rights for employees, including the right to blow the whistle on misconduct, corruption and unethical behaviour.

Working in the Department of Foreign Affairs as a portfolio manager for Latin America, Gualtieri was stunned by the money spent to maintain lavish diplomatic lifestyles.

She alerted the department at the highest level what she perceived as violation of government rules, but she was dismayed when the bureaucrats sought to stonewall her complaints.

In fact, they started a campaign of retaliation against her for speaking up about what she had observed.

Her experience in government convinced her that reform was necessary to protect employees who bear witness and speak out in the public interest. She is responsible for drafting the Whistleblower's Human Rights Act, which was tabled in the House of Commons and debated in February 2003.

She will speak tomorrow from 1 to 2:30 p.m. in the DeSève Cinema, and the hall is likely to be full.