ETHOS

Quote of the Month

Accuracy is the twin brother of honesty; inaccuracy, of dishonesty.

APRIL 2012

A Monthly Publication of the International Center for Academic Integrity Featuring Summaries of Integrity News + News from the Center

From the Director

Playing the game . . .
The frequency and range of recent integrity violation allegations in college sports is broad and dismaying. Rather than going over the specifics of them, however, it is time that we ask ourselves why these violations seem to be so common, especially with regard to our students. Certainly, students who break rules must take responsibility for their actions, but might it also be the case that the cultures and sub-cultures within (and perhaps also outside of) academic institutions are complicit in the misbehavior of athletes? Have we thought enough about the effects of bringing cadres of young people, some of whom see athlete as their primary identity and student as a mere modifier, into environments where we openly laud them as being quite exceptional in some ways (athletics) while implicitly assuming they know we expect them to adhere to the same (academic) rules as all other students? Do we invite them to test boundaries and break rules or set them up for failure by admitting them primarily on the basis of their physical abilities while imagining that they will also find ways to succeed scholastically? It is difficult to know how much the academic/athletic culture affects student athlete behavior, but when a problem is as widespread as this one seems to be, it is clear that we need to do what we can to look at both the players and the environment in which they play.

- Nathaniel Hawthorne

The New and Growing SoCal ICAI Regional Consortium

By: Carol Coman California Lutheran University 03/07/2012

During the 2011 ICAI conference in Toronto, Tricia Bertram Gallant and Carol
Coman decided to get together back home in Southern California to create a regional consortium of schools. The outreach included institutions from Santa Barbara to San Diego. Eager responses to an invitation to participate came immediately, with an offer to host the first organizational meeting from Peggy Procter and Daniel Gutierrez at Windward School, a private secondary institution in Los Angeles. At the first meeting in November, enthusiasm and commitment were palpable among participants, and a March 7th event date was set with Windward School hosting. During the event, 26 participants enjoyed presentations, discussions, activities, and a wonderful lunch hosted by Windward School. Of area colleges and universities, UC San Diego, Cal Lutheran University, Ventura College, CSU Pomona, UC Irvine, DeVry, CSU Dominguez Hills, USC, UC Riverside, and UCLA were represented. Secondary schools included Windward School, Marymount High School, Mayfield, Oakwood School, Marlborough School and Archer School for Girls. After opening remarks by Tom Gilder (Head of School at Windward) and Peggy Procter (Director of Upper School), the event began with a Gallery Walk to start the conversations. We identified 13 stakeholders in our educational institutions (from students to recruiters/employers), and in a walk around the meeting room, questions were posed to each stakeholder about process, attitudes, expectations, and frustrations regarding academic integrity and honesty. Those questions and themes became the basis for continued discussion. The focus was how to start the conversation on each of our campuses. The dialog was lively and informative. Dr. Tricia Bertram Gallant presented on the importance of public/campus reporting Putting a Spotlight on Academic Integrity. Tricias report on her work at UC San Diego was informative, enlightening and inspiring. She provided copies of reports as a sample of what can be done in the cause to create transparency and a system of reporting to face issues of academic dishonesty all with the focus of creating and fostering a culture of Academic Integrity. Over lunch, discussion groups were created based upon interest in predetermined, broad questions concerning approaches to: Group 1: How to get faculty buy-in (continuation of gallery walk discussion) Group 2: How to create reporting systems at your institution Group 3: How to change the conversation about AI from negative to positive Group 4: How to discuss AI as an educational/pedagogical issue

~Teddi Fishman

The discussions were energetic and reports were presented from each discussion group. Of course, this sparked more discussions! Role play provided entertainment and important insight into casting assignments to provide guidance and clarity to students. From this play acting, it became clear that how we approach syllabi, assignments and define ourselves as being interested in a culture of academic integrity has a lot to do with student responses. Finally, two Windward School students presented the student side of academic integrity on their campus. Both are involved in maintaining that culture. They are leaders at Windward School, having much to offer there, to us, and to whichever college or university they attend. They are examples of very bright lights to encourage everyone to do our parts. All participants were invited to join ICAI. Information about the next annual conference in Princeton was made available. A listserv has been created for the SoCal Consortium of the ICAI we are ready to grow! Our next meeting is being planned for mid-May, early June, with several schools offering to host!

Announcements
REMINDER: WE ARE NOW TAKING PROPOSAL SUBMISSIONS FOR THE 2012 CONFERENCE! VISIT THE CONFERENCE SITE FOR DETAILS! www.AcademicIntegrity.org ___________________________________ ICAIs 20th Anniversary Conference: Influencing Culture, Advancing Integrity November 2-4, 2012 Princeton, New Jersey Early Bird Registration Coming Soon!

Rutland Institute Celebrates 10th Anniversary Leaders By: Josh Fischman 04/04/2012 Imagine Leaner, Meaner The Chronicle of Higher Education NCAA Rule Book

Is Student Cheating Driven by Big Income Gaps?

Theres a whole lot of cheating going on.

More than 60 percent of college undergraduates, and more than 40 percent of graduate students, admit to cheating in some way on their written work, according to a national survey by Clemson Universitys International Center for Academic Integrity. Now one graduate student has come up with a reason for all of this: income inequality. Lukas Nelville, a doctoral student at Queens University in Ontario, reports in the latest issue of Psychological Science that theres more evidence of academic dishonesty in U.S. states with bigger gaps between the rich and the poor. Those gaps, he speculates, erode trust among people something thats been found by other researchers and less trust means more cheating. The evidence in the paper has limits. For starters, its circumstantial, based on the frequency of Google searches for things that seem linked to cheating on papers. Neville looked at Google searches for phrases like free term paper and the names of Web sites like Essaytown that offer paper-writing services or pre-written papers. Google breaks statistics on these searches out by state, which is a big help. It means that Neville was able to compare the number of searches in each state to measures of income inequality from the U.S. Census Bureau (He did balance things out, statistically, to account for different numbers of college students in each state, how large the colleges are, and other factors that could affect the frequency of searches).
http://chronicle.com/blogs/percolator/isstudent-cheating-driven-by-big-incomegaps/28998

By: Brad Wolverton 04/10/2012 The Chronicle for Higher Education

Clemson, S.C. When James F.

Barker called his first meeting as head of an NCAA committee charged with revamping the associations vast rule book, he asked the groups members to list their core ideas on a single page. After eight months of trying to whittle down the rules, he has come to several realizations: You cant take a 500page book down to one sheet. But he believes his group can realistically cut the rule book by half, if not more, he said here Tuesday night during a panel discussion with two other campus leaders. Speaking at an event commemorating the 10th anniversary of Clemson Universitys Rutland Institute for Ethics, the Clemson president made it clear that the scandals tarnishing the reputation of college sports call for tougher standards. We need to regulate less and punish more, Barker said. And whatever size the rule book eventually becomes, the burden of enforcing appropriate behavior in college sports will fall on institutions like never before, he said. Clearly the responsibility is shifting to campuses, and thats a major cultural change, he said.
For a full recap of the 10th Anniversary Gala and the accompanying article, please visit:

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The International Center for Academic Integrity grants permission to duplicate and distribute this newsletter physically or electronically, so long as it is duplicated and/or distributed in its entirety and without alteration. Please note that this publication features summaries of and links to original works that are subject to copyright protection. This publication is sponsored by:

http://chronicle.com/blogs/players/president s-imagine-leaner-meaner-ncaa-rulebook/29979

Ethos Staff:
Aaron Monson: Carol Coman: Teddi Fishman: Writer Managing Editor Guest Writer
Carol.Coman@yahoo.com

Executive Editor

CAI-L@clemson.edu