By Ryan Hunten

Aggies with alibis

A&M aims to be consistent toward cheating with recent Task Force policies

By: Kirk Ehlig

Posted: 10/25/04

A student walks into her crammed classroom. She finds the perfect seat - one against a wall. The teacher has the seating arrangement so that tests given to the students differentiate from Form A to Form B, each form with different questions and answers. The student makes sure her seat sits at exactly an angle which allows her to see a test in front of her that is identical to hers. Every once in a while, she glances to her front neighbor's test to compare her answers, calculating her peeks to coincide with when the teacher looks away.

This student, who wished to remain anonymous, likes to think of herself as an "opportunity cheater." She said she cheats to check her answers.

"I don't rely on cheating to get me through school, but I will do it if the teacher makes it too easy or if the opportunity is there," she said.

After cheating through high school, this student continues to do so today. She said she was never pressured to cheat by anyone but herself.

"I knew that in high school, if I hadn't cheated, I wouldn't have done really well on my daily assignments," she said. "I didn't cheat on exams. Here, there aren't any daily grades, so it's more important to do well on exams."

A growing dilemma that this student and her fellow Aggie cheaters may face is the growing harshness of Texas A&M's punishments against cheating on assignments. The University has adopted stricter policies to discourage academic dishonesty, which includes cheating or plagiarism.

The Aggie Code of Honor states, "An Aggie does not lie, cheat or steal, or tolerate those who do." But last year, a survey tested the truth behind that claim and found that at least 80 percent of A&M students have admitted to some form of academic dishonesty.

In the spring of 2003, the Academic Integrity Task Force was implemented to review the previous system of punishment for academic dishonesty and tried to find ways to improve the system.

Dr. Marty Loudder, accounting professor and chair of the Academic Integrity Task Force, said that in the past specific consequences were decided individually by each teacher. This resulted in inconsistencies and some punishments seemingly amounted to nothing more than a slap on the wrist. For students who cheated, teachers were able to lower grades as deemed necessary. No records of the punishments were kept by the University, resulting in many incidents left unreported.

The Task Force compared A&M's punishment system to similar systems from other schools with the same amount of cheaters. It found that A&M was more lenient than other colleges, such as the University of Virginia, where students are kicked out of school with their school records deleted the first time they are caught and found guilty of academic dishonesty.

"Both faculty and students told us of wide inconsistencies between punishments across different departments and also in the 'tolerance level' among professors," Loudder said.

This and other complaints directed toward the old academic honor system led the Task Force to make a few changes.

One of the first changes led to the creation of the Honor Council, a collection of students and professors. The Council's creation has led to an increase in consistency when it comes to punishments. Instead of professors making the final decision on punishments, students who have cheated go before the council with a suggested punishment. The final decision is ultimately left up to the Council, which hears every case of academic dishonesty.

Instead of varied grade punishments, each convicted cheater will either receive a zero or an F* on his transcript. The asterisk stands for "Failure Due to Academic Misconduct."

"When (you) are assessed that F* on your transcript, you're also considered to be on Honor Violation Probation," said Dr. Nicole Bradford, director of the Aggie Honor System Office, which was created by Gates in 2004 after results of the Task Force were released. "(This) can have bearing on your financial aid, your ability to represent the university in any capacity and your ability to receive your Aggie Ring."

For details on the sanctions, students can visit the Aggie Honor System Office at www.tamu.edu/aggiehonor.

The only way to remove the asterisk is to take a five-week remediation course, where students learn about what constitutes cheating and the ethics and integrity involved in academic honesty. When finished with the course, students may have the asterisk removed, although the F will remain.

Another change made to the Honor Code system is that in the past, the names of cheating students were kept by the student and the professor alone. Now, the Honor Council keeps record of every case that is brought to them.

The final punishment for a student who is caught cheating for a second time is that he or she will be kicked out of school, no questions asked.

"Although we know it will be very difficult to change the culture at A&M, my view is that when one is faced with a choice between loyalty and honesty; honesty has to come out on top," Loudder said. "If you cheat and expect a fellow Aggie to ignore it, you are putting too high a price on their loyalty."

The Honor System Office is hoping that students will pay more attention to the final portion of the Aggie Code of Honor: "or tolerate those who do." Aggies are encouraged to turn in their fellow students if they cheat. The Council has had 18 busts courtesy of student tips.

Mary Stasny, a lecturer in accounting, hopes that the new system will make everyone at A&M - students, faculty and staff - more aware of the issue of academic integrity. Stasny said accounting is a department that is often known for its toughness on cheating.

"I want A&M to be known as a university that simply does not tolerate cheating," Stasny said. "A diploma from A&M is recognized as a symbol of accomplishment and excellence. But if our University develops a reputation of accepting academic dishonesty, the value of the diploma will diminish."