September 20, 2001
University Park, Pa. — Academic integrity is at the heart of all of the University’s endeavors and over the past year, steps have been taken to establish a stronger climate of academic integrity at Penn State.

            “During the 2000-2001 academic year, the University launched a new approach to invigorate high expectations for personal and academic integrity,” John Cahir, vice provost and dean for undergraduate education, told the Board of Trustees today (Sept. 20).

Last year, a University Faculty Senate-Provost’s Commission on Academic Integrity was charged with improving the University’s academic integrity climate. According to Cahir, the group’s findings led to a new academic integrity policy, adopted by the Faculty Senate, that gives the faculty in each of the University’s academic colleges a major role in dealing with academic dishonesty.

            “Penn State has recognized that the primary responsibility for supporting and promoting academic integrity lies with the faculty,” Cahir told the Board. “Academic integrity is a teaching matter that can, and must, be learned.” He said the new policy ensures that faculty have in their hands the authority and tools to carry out that important function.

            The new policy also emphasizes confronting and correcting wrong behavior and developing good habits in students. “The students themselves are key players, and while we place high expectations on them, it is most important that they place high expectations on themselves,” he said, making reference to the newly adopted Penn State Principles, which highlight personal and academic integrity.

            Cahir said the new policy has safeguards for students, including a process for dealing with more serious cases and settling disputes in the form of college-based academic integrity committees in each college. All findings of breaches must be reported centrally, and there are severe sanctions for multiple offenders and for more serious cases. He said the chairs of the college committees continue to work together to ensure consistency across colleges.

            Cahir reported that a new sanction - a grade of XF on the transcript - is part of the new policy. “This grade is an explicit statement that a student failed a course for a serious breach, or breaches, of academic integrity,” he said. In the just-completed first year of the new policy, 48 cases were reported to the Office of Judicial Affairs and 3 XFs were assigned.

            John Harwood, senior director of the Center for Education Technology Services, said the dramatic, yet positive impact of the Internet has caused real concern with cyber-plagiarism, as students can obtain papers from the Internet or hack into test files. “Because of the potential of technology abuse, the Center for Education Technology Services has developed a Web site for Penn State faculty that has links to each college’s academic integrity policies, illustrations of what constitutes plagiarism, and information on how faculty can use technology to detect academic dishonesty,” he said. The Web site also offers advice to faculty about what can be done to discourage students’ dishonesty. Resources for students also are available at the site, including a hot link to a “cyber-ethics” quiz.

            Harwood told the Board that he did not think there would ever be a “technology” solution to academic dishonesty. “The best way to prevent academic dishonesty is to create a learning climate in which all faculty and all students are full participants,” he said. “The four Penn State principles stress personal responsibility and integrity.  Effective classroom practices, aided by technology, will help us create that climate.”

            Richard Cyr, assistant department head in biology said the new policy provides University faculty with guidelines on how to educate students about the importance of academic integrity. He said the presence of a uniform and clearly stated protocol across all colleges minimizes the loopholes that formerly could be exploited.  

“In the new system, each faculty member communicates their expectation of honesty on the first day of class,” Cyr said. “Guidelines for sanctioning have been adopted campus-wide to insure equitable treatment. It is my opinion that the current system is making a real difference.”

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Contact:  Amy Neil, Dept. of Public Information, 814-865-7517 or email at aen4@psu.edu