Academic dishonesty is inherently a touchy subject.
When egregious, discipline must be harsh. Students caught for copying, plagiarism or any other form of cheating face not only a failing grade, but possible expulsion and a lifelong black mark on their academic record.
However, cases of academic dishonesty are not always easily distinguishable as black or white. Students who are accused of cheating might not even be aware of the fact they had done anything wrong.
Which is why the Faculty Senate endorsed a proposed policy last week to allow the possibility of removing a citation for academic dishonesty upon an undergraduate’s graduation. The policy was proposed because a single case of academic dishonesty can forever taint a student’s academic record, even if he or she did not know what they had done was considered an offense.
The State News editorial board comprises of four individuals, and was split evenly on whether or not the Faculty Senate’s endorsement was a wise decision. One side argued that second chances should be granted under certain situations, while the other called the endorsement as a type of get-out-of-jail-free card for a first offense of cheating.
Students who are caught cheating might claim they didn’t know or understand that what they did was wrong.
But an 18-year-old student who went through over a decade of previous schooling and got into this school should know the difference between citing sources and stealing information from someone else and representing it as their own work.
There’s no doubt about that. But with that said, mistakes do happen, and a case of academic dishonesty may truly be an innocent misstep rather than a blatant violation.
Which is why there are two very valid sides to this argument. What was agreed upon was if such a policy were to be implemented, each instance of academic dishonesty must, obviously, be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
Cheating under any circumstances is reprehensible whether or not it was intentional. However, in the case of an honest mistake, forever tarnishing a student’s academic record and all but ending their chances at graduate school is a harsh punishment. Nobody benefits from that.
The Faculty Senate’s endorsement will potentially soften up the university’s current policy that an instance of cheating will forever stay on a student’s academic record.
Whether or not that will rightfully help — or unrightfully empower — undergraduate students is yet to be seen.
