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NEWS
| OCTOBER 4, 2005
Administration
Academic Integrity Week kicks off
University leaders warn against
dishonesty just in time for midterms.
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| The Shorthorn: Dominic Bracco |
| Provost Dana Dunn gestures,
indicating how close she came to cheating in
the first grade while speaking about academic integrity
Monday afternoon on the Library Mall. The speech was part
of Academic Integrity Week. |
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By Megan
Magaña
The Shorthorn staff
Despite Monday afternoon’s humidity and 92-degree heat, students,
faculty and staff kicked off Academic Integrity Week on the Central
Library mall with speakers and food.
Provost Dana Dunn and Student Congress President Josh Sawyer spoke
as students enjoyed burgers, chips and drinks.
“Academic integrity is a core value in my profession,”
Dr. Dunn said.
She told two personal stories about her experiences with cheating,
one from first-grade and one from graduate school before encouraging
students not to delude themselves.
“If you succumb, you are stealing,” she said.
The week is sponsored by Student Judicial Affairs, the Leadership
Academy, UTA Libraries and the Office of the Dean Students.
Tami Watson, Student Judicial Affairs assistant director, said this
is the second year for the fall event.
“We picked the first week of October because it’s before
midterms but after the beginning of school and the rush of September,”
she said.
Watson said one duty of the Judicial Affairs Office is to educate
students about scholastic dishonesty, which includes cheating, plagiarism
and collusion. She said collusion is collaborating with someone
else without authorization. However, she said there’s a fine
line between that and collaboration in study groups.
“If it’s being turned in for credit, it should be done
on your own,” she said. “We’re trying to create
a culture of integrity.”
Last year, Watson said scholastic dishonesty accounted for 179 of
the 525 violations that her office handled.
Biology freshman Tamesia Keaton said dishonesty happens even though
it shouldn’t and said there’s no justice for the students
who are taken advantage of.
“We pay our tuition to get an education, and when you plagiarize
or copy, you’re stealing our education from us,” she
said.
Susan English, Student Activities associate director, said co-sponsorship
of the week was a good fit for the Leadership Academy.
“The whole concept of integrity is essential to the development
of campus leaders,” she said.
She said the academy wants to collaborate with other departments
on campus and that integrity is taking responsibility for decisions
and learning from them.
“I think integrity and ethics are important skills that students
really need to have to be good decision makers,” she said.
Accounting junior Krystle Cooper said she thought Academic Integrity
Week was a good idea.
“It truly defines the foundation of our university,”
she said.
CLARIFICATION
In this article, Provost Dana Dunn’s anecdote
should have stated she was a victim of cheating in graduate school.
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THIS WEEK'S ACTIVITES
Today:
Students are invited to take the plagiarism tutorial
at any time at library.uta.edu
tutorials/plagiarism.
Wednesday:
Author David Callahan will be here to give two sessions.
Noon–1 p.m.
“The Cheating
Culture”
7-8 p.m. “Leadership Ethics”
Both at the UC Rosebud Theatre
Open to faculty, staff and
students.
Thursday:
“Integrity in the Classroom”
12:30–1:30 p.m.
University Center Concho Room
Presentation by P.J. Miller for
faculty only.
Friday:
“Mavericks use their own Minds”
Noon. M&M’s on the Central Library mall
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