Tracking down plagiarism is one of a few improvements The University of Memphis faculty and staff is seeking to improve.
Improvements dealing with Academic Integrity, Tennessee Board of Regents affairs and strategic planning as well as a better understanding of Spectrum, The University's source for personalized online resources, were discussed Tuesday at the Faculty Senate's monthly meeting.
Pat Stevens, the chair for Academic Integrity, addressed developing a strategy that will encompass a campus-wide approach to stopping issues such as plagiarism. Academic Integrity's software, TurnItIn which can be found on The FedEx Institute of Technology Web site, has helped track down students who plagiarize, and Stevens said she wanted everyone to be on the same page about the matter.
"We want to better handle where the energy is going," she said. "It's an overseer on academic integrity."
However, Stevens said the program can also help students document sources accurately in addition to helping faculty detect plagiarism.
"We want to make sure you paraphrase correctly," she said. "It's having a tool and not just a 'gotcha.'"
Stevens said the main goal was to also help improve academic misconduct as well as identifying other campus issues.
"Plagiarism is something that can damage people," said Sheryl Maxwell, the Faculty Senate president. "In our department we give our students a lot of documentation on the topic of plagiarism."
Jeff Berman, a professor in psychology, also introduced a variety of issues discussed within the Tennessee Board of Regents, with some crucial to the campus learning environment.
Berman spoke of Banner, a financial package, which will help bring student financial packages next spring. However, Berman said the packages will not be out until at least next spring.
Banner would help save costs for students, Berman said.
"The next step is to get into student packages so they can get their books online," he said.
Berman also said the Ford Scholarship will be available. It will cover tuition, housing, books and additional stipend.
David Cox, the assistant to President Shirley Raines, spoke of strategic planning, which will include a re-enforcement of University mission and vision statement. He said some of the goals will be to increase student retention and improve and invest more into research.
However, Cox said current situations are already looking good.
"We have had a significant increase in the number of alumni who have contributed to The University," he said.
One of the last issues discussed was Spectrum.
For many, though, the topic seemed to be of little knowledge, according to John Wasileski, the associate vice president of the Information Technology division.
Wasileski attended the meeting to monitor the current understanding of Spectrum and introduce some of its future goals.
However, he said few knew of Spectrum's exact functions.
Wasileski said IT was looking to expand the record accessibility for students because the current system had limited hours of availability. Accessible records include assignments, class schedules and other important student documents. The expansion could help make Tigerweb available to students for a longer period of time.
Wasileski said he wanted Spectrum to be able process applications online and replace administrative systems.
"Students will like to get access to their records 24 hours a day," he said.
However, such a process could take three years, Wasileski said.
"There are hundreds of people trying to get this done, while trying to do their other jobs," he said.
