The report cited an especially large increase in the number of students found guilty of academic infractions compared to last year. Non-academic infractions also increased in frequency.
Since the early '90s, with the exception of 2001 when there were nine fewer cases than the year before, there has been an annual rise in the number of incidents of plagiarism and cheating. The number of cases has increased tenfold since the early '90s, when there were only about three to five cases of plagiarism and cheating per year, and is more than three times as great as it was in 2001 when 10 students were found guilty of plagiarizing and cheating. This year, academic infractions at the College have hit an all-time high of 35 cases.
"It's incredible," said Dean of Students Ben Lieber. "For the first time ever, five students were suspended for cheating or plagiarizing a second time. Something is going on, clearly. It is really quite worrisome."
Suspension occurs only after a second instance of the same offense, according to Lieber. After a first offense, students are put on probation, which serves as a formal warning that suspension might occur after a second infraction. Sometimes, after a second academic offense, a student fails the course.
For the first time ever, the College found one student guilty of forging an advisor's signature.
Not all academic infringements are discovered by members of the faculty, and many students are only caught because their peers notice and alert their professors.
Javier Corrales, assistant professor of political science and member of the Committee on Discipline, commented that there is a "new breed" of cheaters because of students' self-doubt. "There are many reasons that people cheat, but a new reason, which does not replace the old reasons, has less to do with students in academic trouble who cheat out of desperation," he said. "Now, students who are doing very well cheat because they have a sense of being overly driven. They are overachievers and they are aware of the high stakes. They think that without the A-minus there will be no medical school," he added.
Lieber noted that Amherst is not the only place with a significant increase in academic infractions. "It is the same at other colleges. My counterparts elsewhere say it is happening there too, and no one seems to know why," he said. "The College as a whole needs to have a discussion about what is happening, why it is happening, and how we as a community can stop it."
Since last year, academic infractions rose more steeply than non-academic ones. While the number of academic infractions tripled this year, the number of non-academic infractions nearly doubled, increasing from 14 infractions in 2001 to 27 infractions this past year.
The frequency of non-academic infractions seems to be somewhat random. The report varies each year based upon "who gets caught doing what," said Lieber. He particularly noted that last year students were caught pulling fire alarms, while this year there were two instances of discharging fireworks which resulted in probation.
Between January and December of 2002 there were two cases of assault at the College. "Two physical assaults is a lot in a calendar year," said Lieber. Additionally, there were two cases of "falsely identifying oneself to Campus Police" and four instances of a "failure to disperse or running from Campus Police." Both infractions are becoming more common at the College.
This year there were also two instances of students shoplifting vibrators and fur-lined handcuffs. These offenses resulted in probation.
Eight instances of disruptive conduct in dormitories led to penalties ranging from probation to probation with community service and removal from the dorm.
Additionally, there was one instance of dorm vandalism resulting in probation, fine, community service and alcohol education.
There was also one case involving possession of stolen property that resulted in probation, one instance of a failure to fulfill the community service requirement of probation resulting in suspension, one instance of providing alcohol to a prospective student and two instances of vandalizing public art resulting in dismissal from the College.