The number of students charged with academic dishonesty is falling, mirroring a trend over the past four years.
There was a 9 percent fall in the number of students charged with breaking GW’s Code of Academic Integrity since the 2006-2007 academic year, according to data from the Office of Academic Integrity.
Twenty-five students have faced charges for plagiarism or cheating, with 19 found guilty this academic year, as of the end of the fall semester. Six cases are still pending hearings.
Timothy Terpstra, director of the Office of Academic Integrity, said the drop is likely due to the fact that during the 2006-2007 year, group cheating by multiple students caused a spike in cases.
“Faculty have become more aware of group cheating and now insert clauses in their syllabi warning about such cheating,” Terpstra said, adding that departments that have seen cheating patterns might have alerted faculty.
About 86 students were charged with violating the Code of Academic Integrity during the 2009-2010 academic year. The number represents an 8.5 percent drop from the 94 students charged in 2006-2007.
These figures will likely see a spike after the holidays because the end of the semester typically produces a high number of cases, Terpstra said.
But the number of students found to be guilty of academic dishonesty has remained between 83 and 89 students. Although nearly 100 students per year are charged with cheating or plagiarism, only two students found guilty have been expelled from the University since the 2006-2007 academic year.
Four students have faced suspensions and 51 have failed the course related to the charge.
Terpstra said the low number of students facing severe penalties due to academic dishonesty is due to the fact that many are mild scenarios, involving first semester freshmen getting caught for improperly paraphrasing in their papers.
Donald McCabe, a Rutgers University professor and the founder of the Center for Academic Integrity – an association of over 360 institutions – said the number of students who cheat appears to have remained stagnant.
McCabe said 20 to 22 percent of students cheat in some form during exams, and about 47 percent of students engage in “cut and paste” cheating, or plagiarism from online sources, according to self-reporting from student surveys he has conducted over the years.
McCabe added that he thinks GW’s numbers make sense.
“I would expect the number convicted to be lower than the number reported,” McCabe said. “To me that says the system is working.”
Terpstra said each case usually begins with an informal investigation, and professors often turn to him for advice on how to handle potential charges.
“If a professor feels there is evidence some type of academic dishonesty has taken place, then they formalize the charge,” Terpstra said.
Students then have the option of admitting they are guilty or contesting the charge and facing a hearing board.
“Intent is always part of plagiarism,” Terpstra said. “If it’s deemed to be there, if a student tried to cover up the plagiarism, that’s considered much worse than if a student missed a quotation or didn’t accurately paraphrase.”
Pressure to maintain a high grade point average or scholarship, procrastination, lack of confidence and laziness could all be factors that generate academic dishonesty, Terpstra said.
“It’s very rare that I see a student, in my opinion, that comes off as some terrible, incorrigible, dishonest person,” Terpstra said.
