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GROUP LEADERSHIP CASE ANALYSIS

Group Leadership Case Analysis

Whitney Ballard, Azucena Gutierrez, Juan Lopez, and Ernesto Verduzco

College of Education and Behavioral Sciences, California State University, Fresno

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GROUP LEADERSHIP CASE ANALYSIS

Group Leadership Case Analysis

When it came to figuring out a case for our group analysis project, we decided to focus

on the recent cheating accusations that happened at Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth

College. We felt this case was important because it focuses on the current remote learning

environment that students are in and the challenges with academic integrity within a university.

We found that institutions need to shift their assessment strategies based on the research. With

the online setting we are in, institutions' methods of monitoring cheating need to be updated.

Some background information about this institution is that it was founded in 1797, and it "

strives to improve the lives of the people it serves: students, patients, and local and global

communities" (Geisel School of Medicine - About the Geisel School of Medicine). On their

website, they have five guiding principles: "create leaders and leadership, students and faculty

first, revitalize education and research, reach out and connect diverse people & ideas and we win

together as a team" (Geisel School of Medicine - About the Geisel School of Medicine). This

institution is known as one of the top medical schools, and back in 2012 is when the medical

school was renamed in honor of Audrey and Theodor Geisel.

Leadership Challenge/Topic Case Presents

Institutions are dealing with academic integrity issues because of the lack of supervision

with online learning. They are having to "rely on software tracking and monitoring students

activity for signs of cheating" (Williams, 2021, p.1). Williams (2021) points out how roughly

54% of colleges and universities were using online proctoring and surveillance tools in order to

build back that trust with their students within a remote environment. Students have access to a

vast array of knowledge right at their fingertips in a world dominated by technology. Institutions

seem to be falling behind when it comes to their means of monitoring online activity of their
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students. Some of the leadership challenges would be how administrations dealt with this case

and how some told the students to admit they cheated to face lesser punishment. Students were

only given forty-eight hours to come up with evidence for their case, without them thinking

about the complete shock students were in. As previously stated, one of their guiding principles

is putting students and faculty first, but this is not the case when they did not take into account

how their actions would affect their students. Students had outside organizations fighting on their

behalf because the institution left the students to figure out the situation independently.

Case Context

To break down the case, the cheating issue first started when “a faculty member first

alerted administrators to student activity on Canvas at the same time as an online examination”

(Janowski, 2021, para. 12). This led the school to do an investigation back in January of this year

where they looked into first- and second-year students' Canvas log data for the entire 2020-2021

academic year (Janowski, 2021, para. 12 ). From this investigation, there were forty students

involved, which narrowed down to seventeen students. In March, those seventeen students were

notified via email about the cheating allegations brought forth by Dartmouth's leadership. The

email notified the students that they would have to "attend a hearing, and if found guilty, they

could be suspended or expelled" (Janowski, 2021, para 1). Some of the key stakeholders would

be the accused students, the administration, the dean, and the organizations that fought for the

students. These are students pursuing a career in medicine, and now because of the allegations,

their career end goal has shifted. One student mentioned 'I could not even wrap my mind around

it, it was just the most shocking, devastating thing to see" ( Janowski, 2021, para 3). This led to

a month-long appeal process between the accused students and the administration. In April, the

school notified the students about their case. Janowski (2021) states,
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“Geisel has expelled three and suspended at least three more. Seven had their cases

dismissed. The remaining students have faced course failures, marks of unprofessional

conduct on their transcripts, and the prospect of repeating a year of medical school. The

stains on their academic records threaten to permanently derail their careers in medicine"

(para. 6).

Dartmouth’s decision led to a big uproar from organizations and the community willing

to help the students. This led to protests where even some of the accused students contributed, as

they felt their voices were not being heard. There are reports that some of the administration

coerced the students into confessing, saying that they would get a lesser punishment. Two

nonprofit groups decided to step in where they reached out to Geisel's Dean on multiple

occasions demanding that they reinvestigate because the process was unjust towards the students.

The first is the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), a Philadelphia-

based nonprofit that focuses on free speech. The other is the Electronic Frontier Foundation

(EFF), based in San Francisco, which is a digital rights group. Both of these groups believed that

the Geisel School of Medicine and Dartmouth College moved too quickly within the case, which

lacked enough evidence, and they were also concerned about due process laws being violated.

Morey (2021) states,

Inherent in Canvas’ functionality is an automatic syncing process, known as

AJAX, in which a secondary device — like a cell phone or tablet previously

logged into Canvas for studying — can keep pinging the Canvas system by itself.

That process can produce data showing a student’s account accessing relevant

course material, even if the process is happening without a student knowing about
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GROUP LEADERSHIP CASE ANALYSIS

it, on a device that was “asleep” or otherwise not in use during the time of the

exam” (para 6).

This led to a months-long process of students trying to appeal the decisions and others

rallying together because they believed in the students. When situations like this arise, this falls

into a debate on equity and students' access to specific resources. Some students were able to win

the appeal process because they had access to lawyers who provided them with the

misinformation data. While other students had to continue to fight against the decision with

limited or no resources at all.

After the back and forth battle, Geisel School of Medicine decided to drop the charges

against the students. Their Dean, Duane Compton, sent out an email to the school community

about the decision. He let the students know that their “academic transcripts will not include

“any reference” to the investigation proceedings (Hanrahan, 2021, para. 5). He apologized to the

students for what they have been through, and he believed that "the dismissal of their charges is

the best path forward" (Hanrahan, 2021, para. 6). To be one of the accused students reading that

email is truly an eye-opening experience after being wrongfully accused and fighting to have

your voice heard from an institution that is unwilling to take on the responsibility. So now, how

does an institution move on from dividing the school community because of this mistake? How

can they gain back that unity and trust that was once there before? This institution's current and

future students may fear that a mistake like this could potentially happen to them and jeopardize

their professional careers. Furthermore, what about the accused students; do they want to

continue to be enrolled at an institution that nearly cost them their career? Having to go through

a traumatic experience like that places a burden on those students. How can they rely on this
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GROUP LEADERSHIP CASE ANALYSIS

academic system again; how can they trust the Geisel School of Medicine and Dartmouth

College again?

Duane Compton also mentioned in his email that "the Geisel School of Medicine would

work to improve its honor code review process, especially in a remote learning environment"

(Burr, 2021, p. 3). They will begin to hold themselves accountable by "reviewing a proposal for

open-book exams in pre-clinical courses; review the policy on pre-clinical exam remediation for

reinstatement, hold in-person exams for all students during the next academic year and improve

communication between the administration and students" (Burr, 2021, p. 3). This is a lesson for

all institutions, especially in the online environment we are currently going through. The way

institutions access students' progress continues to follow traditional methods such as midterms or

exams. As educators, we are "capable of finding better ways for students to demonstrate mastery,

from authentic assessments focused on skills that can be applied outside of the classroom to

formative assessments that frequently measure learning throughout a course rather than at the

end" (Williams, 2021, p.2). We have to learn to meet students where they are in the current

spaces that they are in.

Review of Relevant Literature/Theories. Given the current state of the nation during

the pandemic, new uses for technology, and the continued need for accountability and

appropriate assessment efforts that validate the learning that is taking place at an institution of

higher education, the Dartmouth case serves as an example of the need for better assessment,

understanding of the student learning process, and leadership. In Dartmouth College and the

Geisel School of Medicine, there was also an added concern regarding the inability of the

university to follow due process regarding student recriminations in its honor code review

process that resulted from errors made by those in leadership (Doyle, 2011). In the following
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sections, we will review the need for appropriate assessment measures that extend beyond solely

relying on test-taking results, answering the call to become experts on students and their learning

process, and examining leadership theories that are applicable to this case.

Assessment in Higher Education. Bresciani (2011) characterizes assessment as the act of

taking a curiosity of how effective the work that is being done is and putting it into a systematic

framework and a continued cycle of questioning. In the case of Dartmouth College, the Geisel

School of Medicine, and its medical students, it can be assumed that the online closed book

exams were being used to assess the level of learning students had achieved using an online

course management system enabled to detect instances of cheating as the method of

measurement. Given the remote learning environment that had to be established at the rise of the

pandemic, assessment opportunities and possibilities were greatly limited, and the use of

technology to assess student learning grew exponentially. Even though a closed book exam

seemed like a viable option, it would not have been the only one available. Henning and Roberts

(2016) emphasize a variety of additional assessment methods to the traditionally utilized ones

that include rubrics, portfolios, observations, narratives, and document review, to name a few. In

looking at this specific scenario, it could be suggested that a possible alternative method that

could have been used to assess student learning would be the use of portfolios. Portfolios have

two main goals that include evaluating and promoting learning through a qualitative assessment

tool that collects and exhibits students' progress (Henning and Roberts, 2016). When utilizing

portfolios, the added benefit is that learning is not limited to a single snapshot, but it engages

both students and faculty in the learning process that documents student learning over time

(Henning and Roberts, 2016).

Student Learning Process

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When looking at the current higher education structure of students and their learning,

there has been a "call for student affairs educators to be experts on students, their environments,

and the teaching and learning process" (Magolda, 2011, as cited in Barr et al., 2014 p. 36) that

sees the learning process as a powerful partnership between students and faculty both of whom

are actively engaged. Faculty within the Geisel School of Medicine and Dartmouth College must

understand the complexities student learning comprises, as learning in a higher education

institution revolves around multiple influences the student encounters daily. Barr and Tagg’s

(1995) Learning Paradigm best compliment this needed change, as they argue, "...the Learning

Paradigm requires a constant search for new structures and methods that work better for student

learning and success, and expects even these to be redesigned continually and evolve over time"

(p. 20). As higher education shifts its paradigm on holistic student learning, institutions can

better assess students' learning and identify practices or curricula that may need modification to

better support the student in their academic journey.

Leadership

When looking at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College, there were various

instances before any charges of cheating were brought against the students where stronger

leadership could have prevented the misunderstanding. Leadership within the Geisel School of

Medicine must ensure that decisions are made through equitable lenses, as final decisions have

tremendous impact on the student. Literature regarding the matter provides us higher education

leaders with sound recommendations to implement in this case to critically analyze the issue.

The five practices and ten commitments established by Kouzes and Posner (2014) that

are exemplary to leadership serve as pillars of what effective leadership would look like in

higher education. For the specificity of this scenario, we will focus on two: 'Model the Way' and
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'Challenge the Process.' Modeling the way could be seen in leadership as the act of

demonstrating their deep commitment to the student honor code by identifying and affirming

them as shared values (Kouzes & Posner, 2014). Students within the Geisel School of Medicine

were pressured to admit to the accusations, as they were advised by the Office of Student Affairs

that 'students who do so receive less severe penalties' (Lungriello, 2021). Failure to properly

interpret the data and making prudent decisions wrongfully punished students and impeded

student learning, as they were forced to 'take the blame' and not be expelled. This is a violation

of proper leadership under the ten commitments and leadership that must not be perpetuated at a

higher education institution.

When challenging the process, leadership would take an opportunity to look outward for

initiatives and ways to improve current methods, such as closed book exams (Kouzes & Posner,

2014). Alongside the need to reevaluate course assessments within the Geisel School of

Medicine, staff and faculty within Dartmouth College must consider reevaluating its data

collecting protocols as the data used to make these accusations was not disaggregated.

Misleading data from the online course management system regarding students’ usage of Canvas

enlightened administrators to reverse their punishments towards students, as they identified their

assumption to be completely false (Doyle-Burr, 2021).

In observing Dartmouth College as a whole, it is essential to understand the institutional

context and culture of the higher education institution that caused Geisel administrators to

reportedly coerce students into confessing their wrongdoings (Doyle-Burr, 2021). Pope et al.

(2012) note how the institutional context of college or university influences and shapes the

institution itself. A disconnect between the values and behaviors that a college or university

encourages and the negative feelings that may arise from being unjustly charged and accused of
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cheating could have ramifications in the entire institution that include negative feelings,

perceptions, and disengagement from the campus community (Pope et al., 2021). Although

Dartmouth College falsely accused students of cheating, their acceptance of its wrongdoings

represents the accountability institutions must follow, as it represents the leadership. The

institution will face backlash from its actions towards students, yet it will serve as an example of

how institutions must act accordingly.

In analyzing this scenario, it is important to keep in mind the multi-frame view of

leadership that Bolman and Deal (1991) bring forth, which encompasses the structural, human

resources, political, and symbolic frames of leadership. Given that this situation had a multitude

of aspects to it from the technological, student, faculty, and honor code points of view, it would

be extremely important for those in leadership to have adopted more than a single leadership

frame when addressing this issue. Most likely, the structural frame was endorsed when the

decision to penalize the students accused of cheating as the information suggested by the data

collected was of utmost value while holding individuals accountable for their results (Bolman &

Deal, 1991). It would have been valuable for those in leadership positions to have also adopted

the human resources and symbolic frames, which would have allowed them to "look for ways to

adjust the organization to fit people" (Bolman & Deal, 1991, p. 511) and create a "shared sense

of mission and identity" (Bolman & Deal, 1991, p. 512) instead of alienated the accused

students.

Santamaria et al.'s (2015) Applied Critical Leadership (ACL) calls for culturally

responsive leadership to be built on social justice and equity-based perspectives. When looking

at the consequences students faced, from being charged with cheating which included

suspension, failing a class, having to repeat the year, and having the decision included in their
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residency applications, one can understand the long-lasting negative effects they would have on

students.

Analyzing leadership under the ACL frame calls for leaders in education to morph,

adjust, and shift with the change inherent to the complexities present in dynamic and ever-

changing contexts (Santamaria et al., 2015). Leadership under the Geisel School of Medicine

must apply a critical lens to consider the positive attributes of identities related to the student's

race, gender, and culture, as multiple facets of identity are prone to unintentionally

institutionalized discrimination (Santamaria et al., 2015). Leadership within the Geisel School of

Medicine and Dartmouth College lack of understanding of how misinformed decisions can

impede the historically underrepresented students' academic success is a clear indicator of the

significance a holistic view in decision making is much needed in higher education. Many falsely

accused students were put in a vulnerable position in their professional careers and had to make

unjust decisions without proper due process.

McNair et al. (2016) discuss a new direction for leadership in which they encourage

taking a holistic approach to the campus as an ecosystem that sees leaders in balance rather than

them being in control. McNair et al. (2016) state, "If we think of postsecondary institutions as an

ecosystem, then we are envisioning an entity that can excel through individual action and shared

responsibility in supporting student success" (p. 76). When looking at the leaders in power at

Dartmouth College, it is saddening to see that abuse imparted to students was not merited. Those

in leadership were quick to come to a conclusion without regard to all items that could have

influenced the outcome of the open book exam, one of which was due to the limitations of the

technology being used.

Recommendations
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Assessment can sometimes be challenging when it comes to deciding what the best

method to use is. A takeaway from this case is that not using the myriad of assessment methods

to obtain evidence will allow higher education professionals to improve. Implementing direct

and indirect measures will allow for a more in-depth understanding of the students' learning.

Many students learn and process information differently and should have more outlets to show

their growth. One example that can be considered is that of a portfolio. Incorporating this

assessment method would better understand how and what they learned and did not learn

(Henning and Roberts, 2016). They will also need to make sure that they use the results

responsibly, ethically, and fairly when assessing.

Another recommendation we encourage for Dartmouth College is the incorporation of

multi-frames in leadership and knowing how to put them into practice. As a leader, one must

apply different frames in approaching different situations and people because sticking to one way

will not always work. It is essential to understand that given the situation that arises, one must

analyze the information prior to making decisions and then consider any of the multi-frames to

resolve it. This institution needs to realize that "There is not a cookie-cutter style that will work

for all" (Elrod et al., 2018). There is no one way to do things in life, so the same should apply in

practicing leadership frameworks.

It is important to assess the campus climate after going through such a situation as the

one at Dartmouth Colleges' Geisel School of Medicine. With that, the institution would be able

to see and listen to how the students feel, from those accused of cheating to the rest of the student

body. With the data received, the institution will review the data and know the areas where

specific methods are working, crucial results, and any recommendations (Henning and Roberts,

2016). One area they will want to improve is creating a climate of trust. There is no denying that

trust is a central issue in any human relationship because there is no way to lead without it
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(Henning and Roberts, 2016). Students are a vital part of any institution. If they do not trust

higher education professionals making unfair decisions, how can they continue their academic

journey here, or would they want to consider coming here.

As future high educational professional leaders, it is also essential to acknowledge the

power we will hold and how we use it. Ensuring that there is no exploitation of one's power and

using it for good purpose is very important in ensuring that one will still maintain respect from

other staff members. How the students were expelled without a proper investigation is unethical.

They jumped to a conclusion and took immediate action after reviewing the assessment results of

seeing the number of students who cheated. Acknowledging how power is used in leadership is

also crucial for comprehending the dark side of leadership, in which leaders use their positions of

power to further their personal goals and lead in toxic and destructive ways (Northouse, 2019).

Conclusion

Taking this case into account, we ask, what can we learn as higher education

professionals? One thing worth learning is how one will have to make more data-informed

decisions than those that are data-driven. It is not enough to have the data to make decisions; one

also needs to understand how evidence is used in decision-making (Henning and Roberts, 2016).

We viewed this where the institution received the data of those who apparently cheated and

decided to penalize them without genuinely taking the time to review it. This then shifts and ties

to applying Kouzes and Posner's Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership by 'Modeling the Way'

and 'Challenging the Process.' By putting it into practice, one will set an example and develop

and sustain a culture where students should not be penalized without a fair and proper

investigation and analyze assessment results to make an informed decision and decide the best

choice of action (Kouzes & Posner, 2018).

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With the institution 'Challenging the Process,' they are challenging how they handle

future incidents like this. As higher education leaders, it is vital to issue challenges to address

and improve any situation, and not just to challenge for no reason (Kouzes & Posner, 2018). It is

important to challenge any process when an issue arises and is not handled with the best practice.

As well as to learn is that of learning from one's mistakes. Dartmouth College ensured to issue an

apology to the students because they knew that was the right thing to do since they were the ones

who caused this mishap. One must make mistakes and take them as learning opportunities since

they are crucial to personal and professional success (Kouzes & Posner, 2018).

As higher education professionals, we have to acknowledge that there are always ways to

improve the institution, the students, and ourselves. Reflecting on this case, one thing that needs

to be understood is that Dartmouth Colleges’ Geisel School of Medicine was not a student-ready

campus because it did not genuinely believe in its students. It is crucial to be committed to

student success because, as future leaders in the field, we want to ensure that everything is

considered for the sake of the students. Assessment allows for there to be multiple sides to a

story. As higher education leaders, we need to ensure that we take every bit of result and

information into consideration before making some decisions, which for others, could be life-

changing.
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References

Barr, M. J., McClellan, G. S., & Sandeen, A. (2014). Making change happen in student affairs:

Challenges and strategies for professionals. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Barr, & Tagg, J. (1995). From teaching to learning: A new paradigm for undergraduate

education. Change; New Rochelle, N.Y., 27(6), 12–26.

https://doi.org/10.1080/00091383.1995.10544672

Bolman, L. G. & Deal, T. E. (1991). Leadership and management effectiveness: A multi-frame,

multi-sector analysis. Human Resource Management, 30(4), 509–534.

https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.3930300406

Bresciani, M. (2011). Making assessment meaningful: What new student affairs professionals

and those new to assessment need to know. National Institute for Learning Outcomes

Assessment.

Burr, N. (2021). Students at Dartmouth’s medical school protest cheating allegations, expulsions.

https://www.vnews.com/Geisel-students-protest-process-for-evaluating-academic-

dishonesty-40095304.

Doyle-Burr, N. (2021). Dartmouth apologizes, drops cheating charges against medical students.

https://vnews.com

Elrod, R., Haynes, C., Cade, S., Forrest, A., Loch, T., & Schuckman, G. (2019). No cookie-cutter

approach: Supervision in community college student affairs. Community College Journal

of Research and Practice, 43(2), 149–152.

https://doi.org/10.1080/10668926.2018.1424664

Geisel School of Medicine (2021). About the Geisel School of Medicine.

https://geiselmed.dartmouth.edu/about/.
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Hanrahan, M. (2021). Geisel dismisses academic honor code charges against 17 students accused

of cheating. https://www.thedartmouth.com/article/2021/06/geisel-dismisses-academic-

honor-code-charges-against-17-students-accused-of-cheating.

Henning, G. W., & Roberts, D. (2016). Student affairs assessment: Theory to practice. ProQuest

Ebook Central https://ebookcentral.proquest.com

Janowski, E. (2021). Cheating investigation embroils Geisel in controversy.

https://www.thedartmouth.com/article/2021/05/cheating-investigation-embroils-geisel-in-

controversy.

Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2014). The student leadership challenge: Five practices for

becoming an exemplary leader. ProQuest Ebook Central

Lungariello, M. (2021). Dartmouth cheating scandal came after students were tracked online.

https://nypost.com/2021/05/10/dartmouth-cheating-scandal-came-after-students-tracked-

online/

McNair, T. B., Albertine, S., Cooper, M. A., McDonald, N., & J. T. (2016). Becoming a student-

ready college: A new culture of leadership for student success. ProQuest Ebook Central

https://ebookcentral.proquest.com

Morey, A. (2021). Dartmouth drops cheating charges against med students, apologizes for

flawed investigation. https://www.thefire.org/dartmouth-drops-cheating-charges-against-

med-students-apologizes-for-flawed-investigation/.

Northouse. (2019). Leadership : theory and practice (8th ed.). SAGE Publications, Inc.

Pope, R. L., Torres, V., & Arminio, J. (Eds.). (2012). Why aren't we there yet?: Taking personal

responsibility for creating an inclusive campus. ProQuest Ebook Central

http://ebookcentral.proquest.com
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Santamaría, L., & Jeffries, J., & Santamaría, A. (2015). Unpacking institutional culture to

diversify the leadership pipeline. 10.4324/9781315720777-2. 

Williams, J. (2021). Rethinking assessment, equity and academic integrity.

https://www.diverseeducation.com/opinion/article/15280803/rethinking-assessment-

equity-and-academic-integrity