Deterrence of Academic Misconduct
October 1988
Updated August 2000
Instructors in the Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration have the responsibility of maintaining the academic integrity of assigned grades. This responsibility includes vigilance on the part of each instructor in detecting and deterring academic misconduct which has the potential for distorting the merit-based assignment of grades.
The responsibility of detecting and deterring academic misconduct exists separately from the University’s Academic Misconduct Disciplinary Policy that outlines the appropriate procedures for investigating and resolving academic misconduct charges which are brought against a student (UA Faculty Handbook, pp. 94-97).
An instructor should take reasonable steps to stop academic misconduct in the classes he or she is assigned to teach. Each instructor possesses a degree of latitude in his or her instructional style and may take reasonable steps to deter academic misconduct in the classroom which are consistent with that instructor’s style of classroom management. Such reasonable steps to prevent academic misconduct in the classroom could include the following:
An instructor can require that all books, notebooks, and written materials be placed on the floor so that they are inaccessible during the examination,
- At the beginning of or during an examination, an instructor may move students from one part of the examination room to another,
- An instructor may verbally warn a student suspected of possible academic misconduct, and
- An instructor may seize unauthorized materials, such as cheat sheets, being used by a student to facilitate academic misconduct.
In large sections, special precautions may be needed to deter academic misconduct. The instructor may take the following steps:
Make up two versions of the exam (A and B) with essentially the same questions but with different numbers or slightly altered wording. The question sequence can also be altered.
- Where the examination room is tiered, students can be assigned to every other seat and exams A and B can be altered by row. (Note: This procedure often requires extra classrooms and monitors.)
- Request students to bring their student identification to the exam and check the picture and match the signature on the identification to the one on the exam. Should the student fail to bring adequate identification, note this fact on the exam for reference and follow-up.
- Have sufficient number of monitors for the examination (one monitor for each of about 60 students is a reasonable guideline).
- Keep monitors moving from place to place in the auditorium and on their feet. Require that monitors refrain from "visiting" during the exam, stay disbursed throughout the classroom, and be alert for cheating of any kind.
When an instructor has reasonable cause to suspect that a student is engaging in academic misconduct, the instructor has the discretion to decide whether or not the student should be permitted to finish the examination. In making such a decision, the instructor should consider the type of suspected academic misconduct which may be occurring, whether or not the misconduct is flagrant or continuing, and whether some lesser action, such as moving the student who is suspected of cheating to another seat in the examination room, is sufficient to stop the suspected misconduct activity. For example, if an instructor suspects that a student is looking at another student’s examination paper, then because of the potential difficulty of proving the suspected act of misconduct, the instructor might move that student to another seat and permit the student to finish the examination. If charges are brought against the student and the student later is absolved of academic misconduct under the University’s Academic Misconduct Disciplinary Policy procedures, then that student can receive a grade based upon the results of the given examination rather than receiving a grade based upon a make-up test. However, the instructor bears the ultimate responsibility of determining the appropriate actions necessary to detect and deter academic misconduct in his or her classroom based on the circumstances of each suspected act of misconduct and whether to report that misconduct to the College’s Academic Misconduct Officer.
To deter cheating on homework, team projects and plagiarism on term papers, rules and guidelines for what is permissible and what is forbidden can be incorporated into the course syllabus. Systematic checks of term paper footnotes, citations, and literature references can be carried out on selected papers to monitor compliance. A statement in the course syllabus that such systematic checks will (or may) be carried out may be used to deter misconduct.
With respect to grade assignment, although each instructor has the discretion to determine the grade that is submitted on the official Final Grade Report for a student accused of academic misconduct, it is recommended that the instructor, assign a grade of "I." Following the outcome of the academic misconduct procedural review, the appropriate final grade for the student shall be assigned.
An instructor who has reasonable cause to suspect that a student has engaged in academic misconduct should report the misconduct to the Director of Undergraduate Programs or to the Academic Misconduct Officer for processing in accordance with the procedures outlined in the University’s Academic Misconduct Disciplinary Policy.