On October 20th 2006, the Ashesi Judicial Committee (AJC) ruled against twelve (12) students for failing to present independent work on a Microeconomics assignment, in direct violation of their instructor’s directions. The AJC ruled that the students’ collaboration, whether intentional or otherwise, represented a violation of Ashesi’s code of academic conduct which states that “Academic misconduct is defined as a violation of the University’s standards of academic integrity whether these violations are intentional or unintentional” (Ashesi Student Handbook).
Sanctions:
- All students involved will be assigned a failing grade for Microeconomics and will be required to retake the course prior to graduating from Ashesi.
- All students involved are required to write a letter of apology to their lecturer.
- In order to compel the students involved to reflect on their behavior, the AJC also ruled that they must present an oral apology to their colleagues in the Class of 2009, and share lessons learned from this experience.
The AJC hopes that others learn from this case and avoid making the same mistakes. The AJC would especially like to advise students of the following:
- Refrain from lending pen drives to colleagues when one’s assignment is on the pen drive.
- Seek clarification on projects from course instructors and teaching assistants.
- Work independently on projects if specific instructions have been given to do so. “Teaching” or otherwise collaborating with colleagues on projects constitutes a violation of university rules when the instructor has asked for independent work.
