On January 24, 2013 the Ashesi Judicial Committee (AJC) ruled in a case of alleged academic dishonesty involving 3 students in Leadership II (Fall 2012). 2 of the students were found guilty of plagiarism in their end of term paper but one was exonerated because the committee did not find substantial proof of plagiarism in his paper. During the hearing, the students admitted to poor referencing and improper citation in their papers.
As stated in Ashesi’s student handbook, “Academic dishonesty includes plagiarism, unauthorized exchange of information or use of material during an examination, unauthorized transfer of information or completed work among students, use of the same paper in more than one course, unauthorized collaboration on assignments, and other unethical behavior. Disciplinary action will be taken against perpetrators of academic dishonesty” – Section 7.4, page 32.
Sanctions:
The 2 guilty students received failing grades (E) in the course and the one who was not guilty would have his final paper graded by the faculty member per the grading rubric for the course. The students with the failure in the course need to retake the course before graduation.
The AJC would especially like to advise students of the following:
- Adhere to the rules on citation to avoid plagiarism.
- Communicate with lecturers about any difficulties with assignments.
- Use the writing lab and library for help with written assignments especially research papers.
- Start working on drafts of papers ahead of time to avoid rushing through the assignment when it’s almost due.
