On 19th May 2017, the Ashesi Judicial Committee (AJC) ruled on a case of alleged plagiarism on a capstone submission-Thesis 2.
The AJC concluded that the student, a member of the Class of 2017, was guilty of plagiarism due to improper citation of the student's Thesis 2 submission. Plagiarism is considered a form of academic misconduct, and is a violation of Ashesi University's standards of academic integrity, regardless of whether the plagiarism is intentional or not.
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. Students receive extensive training at orientation and through courses on how to avoid plagiarism. Disciplinary action will be taken against perpetrators of academic dishonesty. – Section 7.4.
After deliberating, the AJC arrived at the following sanctions:
The student will receive a failing grade for Thesis 2 submission; rework and submit next semester.
Advice to the Ashesi Community
The AJC would like to encourage students to consider how plagiarism affects them. When you plagiarize you are likely to stifle your academic potential and growth as it weakens your ability to develop opinions and thoughts. The AJC would like to further remind the Ashesi community of the following:
- Students must ensure that sources are properly cited when significant amount of work is taken from others' work.
- When word for word text is included in a paper, quotes and proper citations, including source and page numbers, are necessary.
- Students should understand that Turnitin percentages provide a flag which prompts an in-depth look of a student's work.
- Students are responsible for the originality of their work and cannot blame supervisors/faculty for unfavorable outcomes.
- Students must familiarize themselves with Ashesi's plagiarism and associated polices.
- Students should review their work for proper citation before submitting.
- Students should use the writing center and library for help with written assignments especially research papers.
Academic honesty is very important at Ashesi and is central to our mission. We trust that the Ashesi Community will learn and grow through these experiences.
