Back to the November Issue
On Your Honor
How to Achieve Academic Integrity
By Katie Kretschmer
In the spring of 2011, Alyse C., now a student at University of Mount Union in Alliance, Ohio, was struggling in one of her marketing classes. “I just wanted to do well enough on the exam that I could pull my grade up to a C or something,” she says. She found some tips online about how to hide her notes and see them during the test. “Of course, my teacher caught me. He didn’t embarrass me in front of the class, but he took my exam away.”
After the exam, Alyse’s professor spoke to her, and they went to the dean. Alyse says she feels very lucky to have gotten just a warning and an F, and she says she will never do it again. “It wouldn’t have been worth getting kicked out of school,” she says.
Pam Frederick, dean of student services at Germanna Community College in Fredericksburg, Virginia, warns that cheating can affect more than your academic career.
“Government employers do background checks and the first thing they do is come to my office to see if there’s a disciplinary file,” she says. “So if students have been reported for academic dishonesty there is a file. Cheating could cost them their job.”
Frederick adds that any record like this could also prevent a student from transferring from a two-year community college to a four-year school.
James Black, director of the Center for Academic Achievement at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, says, “I believe for the most part, students don’t intend to cheat. More often than not, they get overwhelmed and panic.”
Here’s how you can avoid the situations that lead to cheating and other violations of academic integrity.
Know the Rules
To start, be sure you know what exactly is considered cheating.Most students understand that they shouldn’t copy or obtain the answers to an exam in advance. But some are a little fuzzy on the finer points of what is considered cheating. “But not knowing the rules is not an excuse,” says Brandon K., a student at Oklahoma City University.
In a recent Student Health 101 survey of about 2,000 students, 22 percent believed that posting or using test information on a Web site or Facebook was not a form of cheating, and 44 percent thought collaborating on a take-home quiz or exam was okay.
Yet, both of these are breaches of academic integrity that could get you a zero for the work, an F for the class, or even suspended from school.
Your school and professors probably made a point of explaining academic integrity policies from the moment you registered for classes. “Unfortunately, most students don’t see it as important unless it’s tied to a grade,” says Teddi Fishman, director of the International Center for Academic Integrity.
But ultimately, it’s up to students to understand, and abide by, the rules. If you are unsure of your school’s policy, your student handbook is a good place to look.
Do You Copy?
Academic integrity isn’t just about cheating. It’s also about respect for other people’s work and ideas, be it your fellow students’ or the words and ideas expressed in research material. Reusing even your own work from a different class, without your professor’s explicit permission, is considered plagiarism.“Plagiarism is epidemic,” says Karen McRobie, director for academic integrity at Golden Gate University in San Francisco. She suggests that for many students, it’s super easy to copy. “Information is everywhere and people feel they have ownership of it. The attitude is: ‘If it’s out there, it must be available to whomever wants it.’”
Steven Salter, Student Access and Wellness Manager at Ashford University online, warns that professors have tools that can help them detect plagiarism.
“[These allow] an instructor or student to see how closely a paper resembles source material,” he says.
If you are unclear on proper citation conventions—how to document sources and ideas in your work—visit your school’s writing lab, speak with a peer tutor, or consult your instructors.
Plan Ahead
Time management skills can help ensure that you stay on top of your assignments and class work, reducing the pressure that sometimes leads students to cheat.“Going to work full-time and taking classes can be very difficult if you have your own family as well,” says Frederick. “We’d rather students don’t take on an overwhelming academic workload than feel such pressure that they start cheating.”
She recommends that students carefully chart out their schedule so they can allow time to finish all the academic work they need to get done.
S.O.S.
If you do find yourself in trouble, whether it’s a time crunch or you are struggling with the material, ask for help. If you are utterly overwhelmed, let your professors know as soon as possible. They may be more sympathetic earlier in the process, rather than to an eleventh-hour plea for extra time.
Protect Yourself
Finally, avoid temptation. “Cheating on exams is rarely premeditated,” says David Rettinger, executive director of The Center For Honor, Leadership, and Service at the University of Mary Washington in Fredricksburg, Virginia. “It is much more commonly a crime of opportunity.” That is, a student finds him or herself in a situation where the answers are available.In reality, cheating harms everyone. It can skew curved grading, make professors and other students distrustful, and wear down the culture of integrity on campus. Frederick says that, one way or another, cheating will catch up with you. “You need to learn the material because you can’t fake it if you’re trying to perform your job.”
See Something, Say Something
If you become aware of another student cheating in some way, don’t ignore it. Find a way to alert your instructor or a dean. You don’t have to identify the other student by name, and you often can be anonymous, too.Many schools have a mechanism for submitting concerns to an honor board or ombudsperson.
Although it might be tempting to confront the person, there’s no need to speak to your classmate directly. In fact, it may not be the best option. If you do, Fishman advises, “Approach from a standpoint of helpfulness. Ask [and suggest] what other choices are available.”
Take Action!
- You might be surprised what constitutes cheating. Learn about its many forms.
- Review your school’s honor code or academic integrity guidelines.
- Learn how to document properly. Visit your school’s writing lab, a peer tutor, or consult your instructors or an online resource.
- Plan ahead and speak with professors if you’re having trouble with material.
- Notify a professor, advisor, ombudsperson, or other trusted resource if you see or hear about a classmate cheating or plagiarizing.
KATIE KRETSCHMER is a freelance writer and graduate of Columbia University.
Think you know the rules?
Take one of these quizzes to test your academic integrity smarts:University of Southern California, “Don’t Do This!” Quiz
Cornell University, Recognizing and Avoiding Plagiarism Quiz
Montgomery College Libraries, Academic Integrity: Avoiding Plagiarism Quiz
Villanova University, Academic Integrity Quiz
There are many Web sites that provide information about how to properly cite sources, and academic integrity in general. Here are some to check out:
Pueblo Community College, Learn About Plagiarism.
Roosevelt University, Academic Integrity: A Guide for Students.
Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab (OWL)
Pam Frederick, dean of student services at Germanna Community College in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and Karen McRobie, director for academic integrity at Golden Gate University in San Francisco, California, offer these tips to students that may be tempted to cheat during a test:
- Turn your cell phone off during an exam so you’re not tempted to look up information.
- Avoid sitting near a friend, as you might be tempted to look at his or her paper.
- Wear a watch if you need to keep track of the time and can’t see a clock.
