The plagiarism case was exceptional. He turned in work that wasn't his own. In fact, it was his professor's.
When the assignment had been given, the professor provided an example in a lab. The student managed to copy the example, using corrective fluid to remove the professor's name and turned the work in as his own.
"It was exactly the example word for word," said the professor, who wishes to remain anonymous.
The professor reported the blatant plagiarism to the chair. A year later, the student appeared on her roll list again, but quit the class. Another professor contacted her to tell her the same student was caught again. However, the student still graduated last semester.
Most plagiarism cases are not this obvious, and repercussions of plagiarizing can be much harsher.
Professors have two basic choices when they find students plagiarizing, according to Dwayne Scott, associate dean in the department of student affairs.
An instructor can report a case for an open hearing by an academic integrity committee. In this case, the committee reviews the case and decides on the appropriate response. This may result in an F for the class, academic suspension or even expulsion.
The second choice instructors have is summary discipline, where the instructor may give the student a zero for the assignment or an F for the class. Summary discipline should be reported to the chair. This decision may be appealed by a student, and a committee will decide whether the instructor's decision stands. When summary discipline is chosen, students may escape having academic misconduct attached to their record.
Graduate students caught plagiarizing are generally suspended from the institution.
"In most cases, it's the students' ignorance," said Scott. He gave an example of a student charged last summer who admitted to cutting and pasting from the Internet, but did not believe the act was plagiarism.The Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities for The U of M states plagiarism "includes, but is not limited to, the use, by paraphrase or direct quotation, of the published or unpublished work of another person without full or clear acknowledgment. It also includes the unacknowledged use of materials prepared by another person or agency engaged in the selling of term papers or other academic materials." This means changing the wording of someone's work and not identifying the author is still plagiarism, a concept professors said many students don't seem to understand.
"I encourage disciplinary action. It's a learning experience," said Scott. Students brought to his attention usually undergo a tutorial with testing to educate them on plagiarism.
"It doesn't seem to be a major problem here," Scott said. "You don't know if the faculty is reporting it."
There are differing faculty opinions on whether plagiarism is a major problem at The U of M.
"Even one case is a problem," said Coy Jones, professor of management. Jones believes most plagiarism is intentional and doesn't think it is taken as serious as it should be."
Some professors aren't as bothered by small inconsistencies.
"I haven't noticed it as a problem," said David Houston, associate professor of psychology. He said plagiarism isn't stressed enough, however. Most of the cases he's seen amount to error and ignorance.
"I'm here to educate you. If you're a damn fool about it then you'll probably get your C," Houston said.
He qualified that intentional ethical misconduct would be a different matter.
"I'd be furious if I found someone blatantly cheating," he said. "When people buy a paper, they know they're wrong." Some faculty's ethical expectations revolve around the student's academic performance.
"I think smart students do their own work and go out of their way not to plagiarize," said Cynthia Hopson, associate professor of journalism. She said the Internet's capabilities make plagiarism much more likely.
Hopson doesn't have many problems identifying plagiarism.
"I have a couple of web sites I check to see if my suspicions are grounded. The sites are pretty thorough," she said.There is disagreement over poor students plagiarizing more than students that excel.
"It's not just poor students," said Richard Bullington, a communications instructor. "It's good students, too." Though he explains plagiarism to his students and has a strict policy concerning the misconduct, "my policy doesn't stop them coming in," he said.
Many professors agree plagiarism can be avoided if they approach the subject and build the class work to require fresh research and ideas.
"I try to make it clear at the beginning of the course as to what constitutes plagiarism," said Satish Kedia, associate professor of anthropology. "I give writing assignments that require original research and creative thinking. I also monitor their progress on their term papers throughout the semester, which leaves very little room for them to magically produce a 20-page paper overnight."
Other faculty members agreed with taking a proactive stance.
"I don't want to catch them, I want to prevent them," said biology professor Charles Biggers. He uses unconventional assignments and testing to prevent students from plagiarism and cheating.
There is a consensus among faculty that when plagiarism is suspected it's not hard to confirm. Most faculty said a Google search revealed most plagiarists. Instructors can also use software services. The Plagiarism Resource Center has a collection of programs that can test students directly or check papers against a database.
Most professors have access to pay databases like Lexis-Nexis and Infotrac to find plagiarism from journals, magazines and newspapers. There are also sites for term-paper sales that can be used to hunt down a bought paper.
"I have taught for 43 years and have a pretty good idea for student work versus public works," said Mel Humphreys, professor of human movement sciences.
Humphreys thinks all courses in which students must write should "stress expectations" and address the issue. Students should study the rules and guidelines set up by The University and basic rules for avoiding plagiarism, he said.
"I think the University has a clearly-defined, religiously-enforced policy students would profit from reading," said Hopson.Expecting plagiarism not to arise during the semester is probably unrealistic - faculty must stay on their guard.
"If we forget we were there once, that's pretty naïve," said Richard Irwin, associate professor of human movement sciences. "It's a devil on your shoulder."
While professors agree it's usually easy to find proof of plagiarism, there are other materials the U of M could provide the faculty.
"The University could subscribe to the various services that check student papers for plagiarism," said David Arant, associate dean of the University College.
Whatever the case, students should make sure they understand the policy and how to avoid the repercussions that follow such misconduct.
"Pleading ignorance will not get you off the hook," Arant said. "I've heard a student plead ignorance to the Academic Discipline Committee, but the committee suspended the student for a semester for blatant plagiarism."
