More students tried in dishonesty cases

A decade after the university adopted an honor pledge to help encourage a culture of academic integrity, cases of misconduct have piled up higher than ever, and some students said the system's design makes it difficult to prove their innocence.

About 70 percent of students accused of academic dishonesty either choose to informally resolve the case — generally by accepting an XF on their transcript, denoting "failure due to academic dishonesty," or convincing a professor to drop the charge — and the remainder choose to attend a hearing, where an honor council composed of faculty and student volunteers determines whether they are guilty or innocent. While Office of Student Conduct officials said the system is working fairly, some city and university attorneys and students said the process should operate more similarly to traditional courts.

They said a professor's word may be stronger than a student's; the jury consists of volunteers, rather than a randomly selected sample of the student population; and students who wish to have representation speak at their hearing must use student defenders.

"Generally, the defendants have a harder uphill fight, whether it's in Student Conduct or in [criminal] courts," Student Legal Aid Office Director Jim Jones said. "I don't have anything to prove that it's the case at the university, but it's not to say professors may not be given more deference than what a student has to say."

From 2002-03 to 2010-11, the Office of Student Conduct found between 75 and 89 percent of students accused of academic dishonesty guilty per academic year, according to Student Conduct annual reports.

"It seems high," said College Park attorney Steve Jacoby, who's often hired by students to prepare honor review defenses. "It could just be good screening by the Honor Council or they're predetermined to find people responsible once the charges are filed by the professor."

Professors and instructors referred 407 new cases of academic dishonesty to student conduct in 2010-11, up from 310 in 2002-03, the year the university adopted an honor pledge. Student Affairs Assistant Vice President John Zacker, who helped implement the pledge, said he's confident the university is still headed in a positive direction despite the climbing number of cases. Plagiarism and cheating account for about 80 percent of academic misconduct cases, according to the data.

"It reflects vigilance on behalf of our campus community, both the faculty and students, in reporting instances of academic dishonesty," Zacker said.

Student Conduct Director Andrea Goodwin said professors must provide evidence in all cases, and the department weeds out frivolous charges.

But some students said the increased awareness within the university community about academic integrity hasn't made the student body immune to false charges.

"I just think the school's out to get people," said Jaclyn, a biology major. Along with dozens of other students, she was charged with plagiarism by the same laboratory coordinator last spring and received an XF on her transcript. She asked to have her last name withheld because she is working to remove the XF from her transcript.

She was enrolled in BSCI 105: Principles of Biology I, in which dozens of students were charged with plagiarism because their lab reports were similar to material distributed only during previous years. Jaclyn said she found the same information through her own thorough research.

"To be accused of something you didn't do is wrong. When I found out, I was distraught, I was devastated," she said. Jaclyn said she would have had the highest grade in her class if she hadn't been sanctioned with an XF, despite presenting character references and marked-up printouts of research as proof at her hearing.

Still, some students, such as junior cell biology and genetics major Turna Mukherjee, are able to prove they haven't committed an offense. Two years ago, she was found not responsible for collaborating on a lab report.

"[The process] just seemed really unnecessary," she said. "I think some professors abuse it because there's certain professors who are notorious for sending their kids to the Honor Council."

William Salmond, an attorney who founded the university's Student Legal Aid Office in 1976, said the system has room for improvement. If the university arbitrarily pulled students for jury duty, the process would be more fair.

"There should be a pool of students randomly selected who also participate," he said. "I think you would get a much more balanced outcome."

Honor Council coordinator Lucy LePeau said Student Conduct staff and current Honor Council members select student volunteers with a range of backgrounds and majors and each five-person board should have new and veteran members to keep the process fair and consistent.

"I think that the boards know how important it is to be fair," she said. "They have to use clear and convincing evidence to decide if a student is found responsible or not, and that's what's really important to us."