On 11 June 2015 the Ashesi Judicial Committee (AJC) ruled on a case of academic misconduct, which occurred in the Leadership 1 final paper submitted in May 2015. The AJC concluded that the student, a member of the Class of 2018, is guilty of plagiarism.
The Committee noted significant evidence of the student having copied from a Leadership 1 paper submitted by a student from another year group, in 2014.
As stated in Ashesi’s student handbook, Section 7.4,
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.
Sanctions
After deliberating, the AJC decided that the student will fail the course, and will be expelled from Ashesi.
The fact that the student had already committed two academic offences, which were adjudicated at the Informal Resolution level and at the AJC level, increased the severity of the punishment.
The AJC would especially like to advise students of the following:
1. Cease copying, borrowing from or relying on other students’ written work, even for inspiration, unless given explicit instruction to do so.
2. Be careful about how you share your work, as you can be held equally responsible for plagiarized material.
3. Communicate with lecturers about any difficulties with assignments, immediately after receiving the assignment.
4. Start working on papers well in advance, and use the writing lab and library for help, especially with research papers.
5. Learn from past infractions regarding academic integrity, to understand the seriousness with which cases are treated. In addition to publishing AJC cases, we will start publishing informal resolution cases to increase community awareness around infractions
