When a professor at OU assigned groups of students in one of his classes to interview someone prominent a few years ago, he hardly expected any of the groups to contact the leader of the free world, Assistant Provost Greg Heiser said.

The professor, whom Heiser did not identify, became skeptical when one group of students claimed to have interviewed President George W. Bush for their project.

A student in the group found an interview with Bush on the Internet and turned it in as the groups' work, Heiser said.

Instant access to free information on the Internet has made academic dishonesty more prevalent on campus in recent years, Heiser said.

The good news is the number of academic dishonesty cases at OU declined last year after an annual increase over the past five years, he said.

Some decline in academic dishonesty cases may be attributed to the UOSA Honor Council, which was created in 2003. But students and faculty remained divided on the effectiveness of OU's efforts to curb cheating.

"We're not doing that poorly, but we're not doing that great, either," Hakeem Shakir said, UOSA Honor Council vice-chairman and Spanish sophomore.

Academic dishonesty cases at OU drop

Reports of academic dishonesty at OU dropped from 291 cases during the 2003-2004 academic year to 205 cases during the 2004-2005 school year, Heiser said.

"Beginning in 2000, we saw a dramatic increase in plagiarism cases," Heiser said. "Internet plagiarism was a significant factor in that. We had the first generation of students coming in who had grown up with the Internet."

During the 1997-1998 academic year, 77 cases of academic dishonesty were reported at OU, Heiser said. The number of cases hovered around 70 or 80 throughout the late '90s, Heiser said. In the 2000-2001 academic year, the number of academic dishonesty cases rocketed to 152, and increased each subsequent year, he said.

"Many students were simply not aware of what constituted dishonesty," Heiser said. "I've seen cases where students have plagiarized from the assigned reading or the professor's own Web site."

Integrity pledge not widely used despite decrease in cheating

The UOSA Honor Council began in 2003 to combat rising numbers of academic dishonesty cases.

A nation-wide survey of almost 50,000 undergraduates conducted by The Center for Academic Integrity found that student involvement in academic dishonesty policy and the use of honor codes reduced instances of cheating on many campuses. The results of the study, published in June 2005, found schools that instituted honor codes or pledges had one-third to one-half fewer cases of academic dishonesty than other schools.

The UOSA Honor Council authored a pledge of academic integrity for students to sign in 2003 and asked professors to place the pledge on all of their exams, but many professors choose not to use the pledge.

"The pledge is one of many tools in the toolbox," Heiser said. "I have talked to many professors who were enthusiastic about it, and many who were skeptical."

Paul Goode, assistant visiting professor of political science, said he has decided not to include the integrity pledge on his exams.

"I figure that being a student at OU means that students have some idea of academic integrity already," Goode said.

Goode said he includes a separate statement on academic honesty on his syllabi in place of the Honor Council's integrity pledge.

"To repeat the statement too often would cheapen its meaning," Goode said.

Ricker Deeg, chemical engineering senior and chairman of the UOSA Honor Council, said the group is trying to encourage more professors to adopt their integrity pledge, but many OU instructors remain reluctant.

"Some professors are set in their ways, I guess," Deeg said.

Students say cheating still common

Many students say the majority of their instructors do not use the integrity pledge, and cheating is still common at OU despite a drop in the number of reported cases.

Gage Jeter, University College freshman, said only one of his professors uses the integrity pledge.

"When I first saw it, I kind of laughed, but I think it would be good if more instructors used it," Jeter said.

Ebony Butler, physics junior, said none of her instructors use the pledge.

"I don't think it would make a difference, people are going to do what they are going to do," Butler said.

She said she saw someone cheating in her class, but chose not to report it.

Academic Misconduct



o 70 percent of students reported they had cheated in the past 18 months.



o About 20 percent of surveyed students admitted to cheating on a test in the past year, and about 50 percent admitted to cheating on a written assignment.

Source: The Center for Academic Integrity Assessment Project, June 2005

"I don't want to make any enemies," she said.

Butler said she also knows people who have plagiarized material from the Internet.

"I don't think it's that they don't know it's wrong, they just procrastinate, or do it because its easier," Butler said.

David Reinke, University College freshman, said he thinks plagiarism is prevalent at OU, despite the recent decline in the number of reported cases.

"It's easy, all you have to do is cut and paste, and then change a few of the words," Reinke said

Jeter said he has overheard students talking about plagiarism in class.

"I've heard people say, 'Oh yeah, I just copied and pasted it,'" Jeter said.

Efforts to curb cheating continue

The UOSA Honor Council is continuing to look for new ways to stop academic dishonesty on campus, Heiser said. The group is looking into having the integrity pledge printed on blue books for essay exams, he said. OU has also entered into a pilot partnership with Turnitin.com, an Internet-based company which lets professors scan papers for evidence of plagiarism. If the partnership proves successful, OU may expand the service to all professors at OU, Heiser said.

"We are still trying to find out how to approach many of the problems at OU with academic integrity," Shakir said.
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