Honor code must imply trust
Editorial
Plagiarism seriously inhibits the intellectual environment of a university, and dishonest academic behavior should be penalized. The new changes this fall in the University Academic Code of Honor Handbook, along with the school's contract with Turnitin.com, an online plagiarism detection company, tighten the reins on academic dishonesty.
While a service like Turnitin.com should be employed in cases where professors have a reasonable suspicion of academic dishonesty, it should not be used as a standard procedure in the grading process.
On the Turnitin.com Web site, a UC-Berkeley professor is quoted as saying that incidents of plagiarism in his classes have dropped nearly to zero percent and the trust level has risen to 100 percent. Reducing plagiarism should be a priority for the institutions currently dealing with this growing problem, which is related to increased student computer access.
However, Notre Dame's decision to contract with Turnitin.com indicates that an outsider must solve what is essentially an internal problem. While the service should be utilized by those professors who perceive a serious problem of academic dishonesty, it cannot be abused and applied without provocation or strong suspicion.
But the University's honor code is supposed to assume that Notre Dame students can be trusted. Inherent in the code is a mutual trust and respect between professors and students. Only in cases where that trust is broken are other measures needed.
The honor code revisions and the contract with Turnitin.com indicate that the trust has been broken. The University has made its decision, but that does not mean that student honor cannot be restored. Professors and students can both agree to uphold the values that the University has for its students.
The argument can be made that a professor would not need to use Turnitin.com if students were not cheating. Yet, there is a difference between some students and all students.
The question is: Will professors use Turnitin.com before there is a reason to do so? Technological advances in academia are beneficial to all, but professors and students can maintain the trust and honor that Notre Dame should symbolize if they choose not to abuse their use.
All Viewpoint Stories for Friday, September 27, 2002
