"I am not as optimistic as I would otherwise be. Although the number went down this year, there has been a considerable upward trend since the mid-1990s, when the average number of infractions ranged from three to five," said Dean of Students Ben Lieber. "Already in 2002 we have seen several instances of plagiarism and cheating."
Professor of English Andrew Parker, a member of the College Council, also commented on the decrease. "It's a good sign that the number of infractions is down from 19 to 10, though we can hardly be jubilant that there were as many as 10," he said.
The College Council has discussed the issue extensively in the past few years and has tried to find effective ways of dealing with the issue of cheating.
The Council plans to concentrate on enlisting faculty members who teach first-year seminars to discuss plagiarism and cheating. "We're hoping that first-year seminars can feature informational sessions on responsible research that would include, among other topics, the best ways of utilizing electronic sources," said Parker. "This was not fully implemented this past fall," he added.
According to Parker, Susan Snively, Associate Dean of Students and Writing Counselor and Margaret Groesbeck, head of library references and online services, would be responsible for running the informational sessions.
According to Lieber, very few of the infractions are planned in advance. "[Cheating and plagiarism] happen for a variety of reasons. It runs the gamut from naïveté to intentional acts," said Lieber.
A plagiarism tracking program which the College Council was considering was never implemented. According to Lieber, the College Council felt that the tracking was not always reliable. "It implied a level of distrust that the College Council felt uncomfortable with. It was not in keeping the ethos of the College," said Lieber.
According to College Council member Seth Birnbaum '02, there has not been much discussion of plagiarism and cheating on the College Council this year. "I think it is too early to tell if there is anything of statistical significance," said Birnbaum in regard to the recently released figures. Lieber believes the upward trend at the College reflects a national trend of increased academic infractions. "Any sense of why would be speculative of course," said Lieber. "People point to an increased amount of pressure on this generation and more grade consciousness."
The penalties for plagiarism ranged from probation and failure on the paper or in the course, to withholding the degree of a second-term senior. The penalties for cheating ranged from probation and failure on an exam to probation and failure in the course. According to the report, penalties depend of the nature and severity of the offense, as well as the student's previous disciplinary record. The report also stated that probation is a strong, formal warning that a second infraction by the same student will result in more severe penalties, such as suspension or dismissal.
The report also lists non-academic infractions, which showed a small but insignificant drop from 17 in the 2000 calendar year to 14 in the 2001 calendar year. There were six counts of vandalism, with penalties ranging from probation, community service, and mandatory alcohol education to placement at the bottom of room draw. There were three counts of stealing College furniture for personal use, which also resulted in probation and community service.
The report listed one count of breaking and entering and theft of property, which resulted in dismissal. One student stole a town ambulance and drove it on campus while under the influence of alcohol. The student was dismissed and was subject to mandatory alcohol counseling.
One student was suspended for theft of money from a College office.
The unauthorized use of a staff member's ID to borrow library books resulted in probation.
One student was banished from TAP, put on probation and given alcohol education for having a physical altercation with a party monitor.
Other charges included two counts of on-campus fraternity activity, which were punished with probation and community service.
One student who discharged a fire extinguisher was put on probation, subject to community service requirements and placed at the bottom of room draw.