The Integrity Council asked faculty representatives on Monday to support revisions to OU’s Academic Misconduct Code that would help students and faculty work together in academic-misconduct cases.
The changes include switching to a more student-run system, simplifying the code, making the document more accessible to students and adding provisions regarding the Internet and other technologies.
OU’s prestige is linked to the integrity of its academics, Integrity Council Chairwoman Elizabeth Miracle said.
Academic misconduct, which includes fraud, plagiarism, cheating and other forms of using someone else’s work, diminishes original thought and thus degrades the university, said Miracle, political science and international security studies senior.
She said updating the code will help focus it and make it easier for students to understand. The last revisions to the code were made in 2004.
“The theory behind this is that students have a better perspective on what it’s like to be a student, as opposed to administrators,” Miracle said.
Miracle said the revised code will resemble a constitution, laying out basic principles that both students and faculty agree with. This revision aims to help students and faculty work together to find the truth in cases of academic misconduct.
The Academic Misconduct Code defines and outlines punishment for academic cheating.
If OU is known for its academic integrity, other institutions will recognize this fact and place more value on the work and students who represent the university, Vice Chairman of Integrity Council Zekiel Johnson said.
Miracle said the council hopes to model the code’s punishment as a rehabilitative system, rather than a punitive system.
Students who violate the code can attend an integrity course, which would focus on the importance of academic honesty and how to avoid misconduct.
Teaching students about academic misconduct is the first step, said Johnson, psychology and international studies senior.
“Many of the cases we see are simply from ignorance,” Johnson said.
The Integrity Council is a student-run organization that encourages integrity on campus and advises the provost on misconduct cases, said Greg Heiser, associate provost and director of Academic Integrity Systems.
Of the 218 cases of academic misconduct in the 2009-2010 school year, 50 cases dealt with freshmen, 36 with sophomores, 28 with juniors, 74 with seniors and 28 with graduate students, Miracle said.
The largest number of cases came from students in the College of Arts and Sciences, followed by students in University College.
“About half of these cases are plagiarism, the others were everything else from improper collaboration to good old-fashioned cheating,” Heiser said.
The Faculty Senate will vote on the Integrity Council’s proposed edits at a meeting later in the semester.
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glazedwithrainwater 1 year, 8 months ago
I'm not sure how students defining the code makes sense. There are standards established within academia and in our professional fields... there are some standards that students must abide by without negotiation. In everyday life, the standards of our laws are not determined by those breaking them, whether intentionally or unintentionally. Why should students be the ones making the rules here? Not all aspects of university life are democratic!