St. Clair College encourages academic honesty

Social disapproval for cheating among students and instructors is high at St. Clair College.

At the beginning of each semester professors at St. Clair College pass out the school’s policy on academic integrity.  The Code of Student Rights & Responsibilities is very clear on what constitutes as cheating and what the consequences are for the offence. Copying another student’s work, impersonating another student and unauthorized collaboration are some of the actions which are defined as cheating. The punishment for cheating can range from receiving a zero on the assignment, to suspension and dismissal from the school for repeat offences.

For the most part, students share similar ideas on what cheating entails and believe it is unfair. Dana Youngson, 24, is a student in St. Clair’s Medical Lab Sciences program and does not believe it is fair to other students when someone cheats.

“If you’re here in school you should want to be in here. So you should make the effort to do the work that you’re given for your program,” said Youngson.

While Youngson has never cheated before she knows people who have and ended up getting caught.

“They got a zero on the assignment and got a warning. I think the other person that they cheated from got a zero on the assignment too,” said Youngson. “They put the policy out there and every teacher talks about it in every class and reminds them. There’s not really much more you can do.”

One important thing the school can do is educate students on the penalties of cheating, and what it means to cheat on an assignment. The code of student Rights and Responsibilities is handed out at the start of each class, but can also be found online. As for whether it prevents cheating, it depends largely on the student.

While students tend to disagree with cheating, some of them have cheated before attending the college. Aya Zahoui, 23, a nursing student at St. Clair College admitted to cheating in high school.

“Some people sometimes feel the need to cheat. Maybe they just didn’t study well.  They probably didn’t mean to, but it just happens,” said Zahoui. “I’ve copied other people’s assignments in high school. I didn’t do it, asked a friend for it and just copied it down. I’ve copied a paragraph off the Internet before to put it in an essay, but never on a test.”

Teachers in colleges are used to dealing with students who try to get away with cheating. Pat Papadeas, a professor of legal studies at the St. Clair College School of Business teaches many students each semester in multiple courses.

“I do not recall a semester going by that I personally haven’t had an incident of academic misconduct,” said Papadeas. “We have these issues across all campuses in higher learning, so this is not unique to St. Clair College, this is something that is everywhere.”

The punishments students receive vary largely between instructors, but according to Papadeas the punishment should fit the offense. Generally students will receive a zero on the assignment, but depending on the severity it could be brought to the attention of the administration and the student may see further consequences. However, if students believe they have been unfairly punished, or the situation was misinterpreted there are options for them.

“Students need to know that there is an appeal process,” said Papadeas. “If there is a penalty that is imposed in breach of what we call the rules of academic misconduct, the student always has the right to appeal that decision and have that reviewed at another level.”