2008 Woodie Awards
Students for integrity
"Redbook" seeks to clarify cheating with student-written step-by-step guide to staying honest
By: Jordan Schwartz
Issue date: 11/5/07 Section: Voices
- Page 1 of 1
By Jordan Schwartz
Commerce Township senior
Center for Personal and Professional Ethics
We agree with Central Michigan Life and its call for a change in its academic integrity policy. However, the current policy is of no benefit if students are not aware of what it says.
Often, students do not cheat intentionally.
Rather, they are unaware of what, exactly, constitutes cheating. We believe that many instances of academic dishonesty occur because students do not know the rules.
For instance, did you know that submitting the same paper in two classes, without the consent of both instructors, is a violation of the university's policy? And did you know that giving another student substantive information about an exam is also a violation?
These are just some of the features of CMU's official policy. But honestly, who reads that thing?
As part of the student-centered initiative to promote a culture of academic integrity on campus, the "CMU Redbook" has just been released.
What is the "CMU Redbook?" It was written by students for students and provides a simple step-by-step guide so that students both understand CMU's official "Policy on Academic Integrity," and have specific tips to help students do work that is in tune with the policy.
Do yourself a favor - pick up a copy next time you are on campus, it's red … and sweet. It'll make you laugh, it may make you cry, but in the end, you'll know your work was done honestly.
Right now copies can be found outside the Ethics Center and at the Writing Center (both in the basement of Anspach).
Have no fear though; the "Redbook" will be making its way to more convenient locations throughout campus in the near future.
This and other projects have been made possible by Vision 2010 funding and the support of the Center for Professional and Personal Ethics.
Another part of our project involved a university wide survey, administered by the foremost expert on academic integrity, Don McCabe. The survey results show that CMU is on par with the national averages for cases of academic dishonesty.
Unfortunately, that average is alarming. We believe that a university wide conversation about the current culture of integrity at both the university and national levels is necessary to deal with the issues that we face here at CMU.
The Ethics Center will have a student led forum about important issues regarding this topic on Dec. 4. See ethics.cmich.edu for more information. You can find our blog, discussing all things integrity, at studentsforintegrity.wordpress.com.
Commerce Township senior
Center for Personal and Professional Ethics
We agree with Central Michigan Life and its call for a change in its academic integrity policy. However, the current policy is of no benefit if students are not aware of what it says.
Often, students do not cheat intentionally.
Rather, they are unaware of what, exactly, constitutes cheating. We believe that many instances of academic dishonesty occur because students do not know the rules.
For instance, did you know that submitting the same paper in two classes, without the consent of both instructors, is a violation of the university's policy? And did you know that giving another student substantive information about an exam is also a violation?
These are just some of the features of CMU's official policy. But honestly, who reads that thing?
As part of the student-centered initiative to promote a culture of academic integrity on campus, the "CMU Redbook" has just been released.
What is the "CMU Redbook?" It was written by students for students and provides a simple step-by-step guide so that students both understand CMU's official "Policy on Academic Integrity," and have specific tips to help students do work that is in tune with the policy.
Do yourself a favor - pick up a copy next time you are on campus, it's red … and sweet. It'll make you laugh, it may make you cry, but in the end, you'll know your work was done honestly.
Right now copies can be found outside the Ethics Center and at the Writing Center (both in the basement of Anspach).
Have no fear though; the "Redbook" will be making its way to more convenient locations throughout campus in the near future.
This and other projects have been made possible by Vision 2010 funding and the support of the Center for Professional and Personal Ethics.
Another part of our project involved a university wide survey, administered by the foremost expert on academic integrity, Don McCabe. The survey results show that CMU is on par with the national averages for cases of academic dishonesty.
Unfortunately, that average is alarming. We believe that a university wide conversation about the current culture of integrity at both the university and national levels is necessary to deal with the issues that we face here at CMU.
The Ethics Center will have a student led forum about important issues regarding this topic on Dec. 4. See ethics.cmich.edu for more information. You can find our blog, discussing all things integrity, at studentsforintegrity.wordpress.com.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 2
paul
posted 11/05/07 @ 3:40 PM EST
Why go through all the trouble of the CMU "Redbook?" Why not just hand out copies of the CMU Policy on Academic Integrity? The article states that students do not bother to read the policy- so why are students going to bother reading this?
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