Five years into the use of the university’s honor pledge on exams and assignments, officials are expressing satisfaction with campus academic dishonesty policies as the number of referrals to the Student Honor Council may be starting to plateau.

Student conduct officials said they believe the plateau indicates the culture of cheating on campus is changing and predict that the number of dishonesty cases will soon drop. Director of the Office of Student Conduct John Zacker said he expects the plateau to occur around 300 cases, which the university is on pace to hit this academic year.

But officials in the Office of Student Conduct say the increases leading up to the expected plateau aren’t due to more cheating – just more awareness of cheating.

“We have had an increase in the number of referrals since I’ve been in my position, which is five years,” said Associate Director of Student Conduct Andrea Goodwin. “[But] I don’t really think more students are cheating. I’m not willing to make that leap.”

Plagiarism continues to be the most common infraction, accounting for slightly more than half of charges last semester and about 60 percent last school year.

Goodwin said the numbers may not be a result of more students committing plagiarism.

“We have a high number of plagiarism cases because plagiarism is very easy to detect,” Goodwin said. “Any instructor can go to Google and search for a string of text.”

Of all the cases referred last year, none resulted in expulsion.

In the last school year, 291 cases were referred to the council, while last semester there were 149. Numbers have risen steadily since the 1999 school year; from 155 in 1999 to 165 in 2000 and then to 243 in the 2001-2002 academic year and to 310 in 2002-2003.

Many statistics from this academic year are consistent with last year’s. Seventy-eight percent of cases referred resulted in students being found responsible for some form of cheating last semester, compared to 76.4 percent in 2004-2005.

And of those found responsible, nearly three-fourths were given an “XF” consistently during last semester and the last academic year. An “XF” indicates a failing grade for academic dishonesty. Students with an “XF” can take an academic integrity seminar to get the grade removed.

The Arts and Humanities, Computer, Mathematical and Physical Sciences and Life Sciences colleges combined reported three-fourths of cases last semester, while Arts and Humanities accounted for about 40 percent last school year.

While zero referrals resulted in expulsion last year, three students were expelled for academic dishonesty last semester. Goodwin attributed the change to a new standard for graduate students.

In spring 2005, the University Senate passed a policy holding graduate students to a higher standard – encouraging suspension or expulsion even on a first offense. After four or more years of higher education, Zacker said, graduate students are expected to know basic standards of academic conduct.

Another option that was considered but did not take off was formation of program-specific policies, said Nan Ratner, a hearing and speech sciences professor and chairwoman of the University Senate’s student conduct committee.

Ratner left open the possibility for the future. Professional schools, such as journalism and education, may someday justify stricter punishments.

DISHONESTY CASES

Number of new cases of academic dishonesty during the 2004-2005 school year: 291

Top Referring Colleges

ARHU 105

CMPS 44

LFSC 33

BSOS 25

BMGT 19

ENGR 19

HHLP 10

EDUC 6

TOP MAJORS OF CHEATERS

UNDECIDED 28

COMP. SCI. 25

UNDECIDED 22

ENGINEERING 20

BIO RES. ENGR. 19

CRIMINOLOGY 17

SOURCE: OFFICE OF STUDENT CONDUCT

Kaitlyn Seith contributed to this report. Contact reporter Scott Dance at dancedbk@gmail.com.