 "Photo: Emre Kelly")
The number of academic misconduct violations at UCF rose 14 percent this year, according to the Office of Student Conduct.
Reports from 136 students revealed the statistical data from the 2007-2008 to the 2008-2009 academic year.
As defined by the Golden Rule, “Academic misconduct includes but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, assisting another in cheating or plagiarism, and commercial use of academic materials.”
Nationally between 70 to 85 percent of students admit to cheating at one point in their academic career, said Dr. Nancy Stanlick, associate professor and assistant chair of the department of philosophy at UCF.
Stanlick and others represented UCF at the Center for Academic Integrity International Conference last year. UCF is a member of the CAI along with many other schools, such as Kansas State University, where students are required to write the school’s Honor Pledge on every exam and assignment, according to the CAI’s Web site.
Stanlick doesn’t think this type of rule is necessary at UCF, but she said she would like to see more awareness of the Golden Rule.
“[Students] are aware that it exists, but they don’t know what’s in it,” she said.
Jessica Osbey, a freshman pre-clinical allied health major, said freshman orientation made her aware of the Golden Rule and what it meant. The O-Teamers she was assigned stressed UCF’s Creed and the Zero Tolerance policy, she said.
Other schools are doing even more to inform first-year students. Wake Forest University supplies a CD-ROM to all first-year students to inform them about their plagiarism policy.
The University of Denver requires all freshmen to sign the same large copy of the school’s honor code, according to the CAI’s Web site.
A type of academic misconduct students may not be aware of is self-plagiarism. If a student uses one version of a paper in two different classes, that would be self-plagiarism.
This is “highly illegitimate” and “common,” Stanlick said.
“I’m sure there are more people [plagiarizing] that haven’t been caught,” Osbey said.
The “X” grading policy states that any grade earned with the use of any type of academic misconduct will be accompanied with an “X” on the student’s transcript. This policy is currently in legislation at UCF, Stanlick said. It may be a year before a decision is made on the policy, she said.
The University of South Carolina enforces this policy. According to the school’s Web site, the “X” can be removed one year after the offense at the discretion of the College Committee only if the student is a one-time offender.
According to the Golden Rule, when a professor reports a student for cheating, there are three options on the incident report form: information only, information purposes plus one seminar, or a hearing with the student conduct board.
Disciplinary action for a student referred to the board can result in anything from failing the class to being expelled from UCF. The student’s intent in the situation is a large factor in the board’s decision-making, Stanlick said.
“It is not a one-size-fits-all kind of thing,” she said. “That would be unfair.”
Zach Frimmel, a senior English literature major, found a legal comparison. “There are levels of plagiarism, like levels of murder,” he said.
Jessica Harned, senior and interdisciplinary studies major, has never been instructed to use Turnitin.com, a Web site that flags any duplicated phrase that can be found on the Internet, in her four years at UCF.
Frimmel said he has used the plagiarism-checking Web site “two or three times” in his college career at UCF.
The lack of use of the Web site in their classes has led both Frimmel and Harned to believe they could be capable of cheating without consequences.
“I wouldn’t, though,” Harned said. “I spend so much money here. I want to come away with something.”
Students may not be aware that teachers themselves use Turnitin.com. Stanlick said that if ever she reads anything questionable, she checks the work with Turnitin.com just to be sure.
The quality of work being plagiarized is falling due to blogs, Stanlick said. Some students plagiarize from blogs, which are not always edited or factual.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s good, bad or indifferent,” she said. “If it’s not yours, it’s plagiarism.”
A lack of academic integrity affects a person’s character and trustworthiness in the different communities they are a part of, Stanlick said.
Students like Frimmel recognize this.
“[The Golden Rule] is about keeping the character of the university,” he said.
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