Honor Council | 3.27.15

• After using plagiarism detection software while grading a freshman’s paper, a lower level science course professor found that the student had copied the entire paper from online sources without referencing them. The student admitted that, because he was behind on his work, he asked a friend to write the paper for him. He said that he was unaware that his friend had plagiarized the internet sources. The student received a four-year mark on his record and a failing grade in the class.

• When her professor found that much of her paper closely resembled unreferenced online sources, a senior in an upper level humanities course claimed that the plagiarism was accidental and that she was not aware of the proper source acknowledgement guidelines. As she had a prior violation, the student received a one-semester suspension, a failing grade in the course and a permanent mark on her record.

• During an upper level science course exam, the class professor and teaching assistant noticed a senior glance at another student’s paper. The senior then made eye contact with the professor and appeared anxious for the remainder of the exam period. The student claimed he had been distracted, looked away from his test for a moment, noticed the professor watching him and consequently grew nervous. Because this appeared to be the only occasion on which the student apparently glanced at another student’s test and the professor and teaching assistant could not present any other evidence, the Honor Council found the student not guilty of seeking unauthorized assistance.

• An upper level science course professor noticed, while grading homework assignments, that two students had submitted the same answers for the assignment. One of the students, a junior, admitted that he had copied his friend’s homework responses, as he did not fully understand the requirements for the assignment. The student received a zero for his entire homework section of the course grade, along with a two-year mark on his record.