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Interview with Dr. Craig Wheeland, Associate Vice
President for Academic Affairs and Chair of the Academic Integrity Board. Fresh@News: What does the phrase "academic integrity"
mean at Villanova? Villanova expects students to pursue knowledge in an
honest and trustworthy way. Upholding this tradition supports the
development of our student’s character and insures that grades earned
will reflect accurately the student’s performance. As we say in the
statement of purpose in our Academic Integrity Code: “When one comes to
Villanova, one joins an academic community founded on the search for knowledge
in an atmosphere of cooperation and trust. The intellectual health of the
community depends on this trust and draws nourishment from the integrity and
mutual respect of each of its members.” Fresh@News: Is cheating a problem at Villanova? I’m pleased to report Villanova students support
a culture of academic integrity. Although we do have a few cases of
cheating on exams and various kinds of plagiarism, these incidents are
rare. When a student violates our Code we use the incident as an
educational opportunity and develop an appropriate program to help the student
learn from his or her mistake. Fresh@News: Does Villanova have education efforts to help
students learn what is cheating and what is not? We use various practices to keep students informed,
including presentations, notices in course syllabi, classroom exercises and
websites. The Academic Integrity Code and Policy as well as other
information can be found at the Office of Academic Affairs web site:
www.villanova.edu/vpaa. In February 2008, Falvey Library in partnership
with the Office of Academic Affairs launched a new website called the Academic
Integrity Gateway. The Gateway not only has our Academic Integrity Code
and Policy but also numerous interactive quizzes for students to test their
knowledge, as well as numerous links to resources on writing research papers
and documenting references correctly. Instructors use this website to help
students learn correct practices. Finally, we always advise students to
ask their instructors when in doubt about the permissible practices in their
courses. Fresh@News: What happens to students who are caught
cheating on their work? The instructor completes a form explaining the
violation of the Code, attaching the evidence and assigning a grade
penalty. Normally the instructor discusses the violation with the student.
The form goes to the Dean’s office. The Dean’s office will
notify the student in writing that he or she can accept responsibility for the
violation or appeal the allegation. If the student accepts
responsibility, then the Dean will arrange an educational program appropriate
for the student. If the student earns his or her degree without any additional
violations, we expunge the record and we do not report the incident.
Although Villanova will not report a violation that has been expunged, a student
should always honestly explain the Code violation when asked about it. A single
integrity violation that we have expunged, but is reported by the student, does
not prevent students from attending graduate school or law school or obtaining
a job. I also will provide a letter of recommendation to a student whose
record we have expunged if the student asks me for one. Fresh@news: What happens if a student feels that he or she
is unjustly accused of violating the code of academic integrity? A student may appeal the allegation. The appeal
comes to me in my capacity as Chair of the Academic Integrity Board. I
arrange for a panel of three faculty and two students to hear the appeal.
Our goal is to make sure the student and instructor are able to present all the
information needed to have their views heard. The five-member panel
decides if the student is responsible or not responsible. If the panel
finds the student responsible, then the Dean’s office will arrange for
the appropriate educational program and the grade penalty is imposed. If
the panel finds the student not responsible, then the grade penalty is removed
and no record of the incident is retained. Fresh@News: Does Villanova have an Honor Code? We do not have an Honor Code like some institutions have
because the procedures we use to uphold academic integrity differ from the
procedures typically found in Honor Codes. An Honor Code usually requires
students to report violations committed by other students. We do not
require students to report. Our instructors also proctor exams, which is
a type of monitoring not permitted under some versions of an Honor Code.
Finally we sometimes use an on-line search service to see if a student has
plagiarized a paper. Again, some Honor Codes would not use such a
service. Aside from these procedural differences, the kinds of practices
defined as integrity violations are consistent with the content of an Honor
Code. For more information about Honor Codes and Academic Integrity Codes
visit the Center for Academic Integrity at: www.academicintegrity.org Fresh@News: What advice do you have for parents? We often find that students
who violated our Code did so while feeling the pressure of earning good grades
or the pressure to meet the deadlines for assignments. If you notice your
child is having trouble with assignments then encourage him/her to talk to the
instructor and perhaps visit the Writing Center, the Math Center, and/or the
Counseling Center (study skills and more), whichever is appropriate, to manage
the assignments better. Finally, encourage your child to visit our
Academic Integrity Gateway at: www.library.villanova.edu/academic_integrity in
order to read our Academic Integrity Code and complete the first interactive
quiz. ------------------------------------- Sue Ciccone Director of New
Student Orientation, Assistant for
Special Projects Villanova
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