While many University officials are dealing with a decrease in funding, some officials are dealing with an increase in cheating.
Cheating rose to 360 cases in the 2009-2010 academic year, compared to 257 the previous year, according to Student Advocacy and Accountability.
Harley Anton, Office of Assessment and Evaluation assistant director, has seen increases in cheating because of the abundance and accessibility of technology. He said students have been caught trying to take pictures of the computer screens with their phone.
Other academic integrity cases involve cheat sheets, copying from another student’s test, collaborating on an individual project, using cell phones to attain information, fabricating excuses to postpone assignments, substituting people for exams or changing the answer to a graded test and re-submitting it to the professor.
Mass Communications Professor Sarah Bongiorni said the most prevalent problem she encounters is students fabricating assignments when first-hand observations and interviews are mandatory.
She said she has dealt with a student creating a story in which the details did not connect back to each other because of obvious falsity. Another student simply did not interview the person he was creating a profile story on.
Many students also cheat by way plagiarizing, something English Professor Robert Hamm said is easy to catch.
“A quick Google search of a sentence from a student’s paper that looks fishy, reveals that he or she has copy and pasted either sentences or whole paragraphs from the most obvious sources such as SparkNotes,” he said.
Professors who suspect an instance of cheating can turn the student or assignment in to Student Advocacy and Accounting. The office then sends a charge letter or email to the respective individual who is obliged to meet with a staff member to decide if conviction is necessary.
If proven guilty, the consequence for an undergraduate student is probation until graduation. A second violation results in suspension and the third ends with expulsion. For graduate students, the first offense results in suspension and the second leads to expulsion.
After students go through the Student Advocacy and Accountability process, they can accept or reject the verdict.
If rejected, the case goes to a hearing panel where another judgment is decided. The student can then appeal the decision.
Despite the consequences of cheating, some students still find it worth the effort.
“I doubt many students cheat because they want to or because they can,” said a University student who wants to remain anonymous. “In college, there are time constraints, parental expectations, uncertainty about the job market and pressure to have an impressive and competitive resume that at a certain point, time runs out and cheating is the easiest option to pass a test, assignment or paper.”
Helpful Links:
http://saa.lsu.edu/
http://saa.lsu.edu/code-student-conduct
http://cas.lsu.edu/