"R" for academic dishonesty
FSEC reviews proposal to eliminate resignation as option

By DONNA LONGENCKER
Reporter Assistant Editor

A proposal to eliminate mandatory resignation from a course—taking an "R"—as an option available to faculty members resolving instances of student academic dishonesty was discussed by the Faculty Senate at its Feb. 13 meeting.

The proposal, drafted by the senate's Grading Committee, is designed as an amendment to UB's rules and procedures governing informal proceedings for resolution of cases of academic dishonesty, which are outlined in the undergraduate catalog.

Committee members noted that some students accused of academic dishonesty, who also are permitted to use the "R", do so as an evasive tactic to avoid other possible sanctions, namely receiving an "F" or "F with cause" on their transcript. When these students resign from a course before the drop date—in effect, delaying any effort by the faculty member to pursue further action against the student—the only recourse left to the professor is to file formal charges of academic dishonesty against the student, the committee says. These charges may result in the more serious penalty of "F for cause," a permanent mark on the student's record, and is an action that some faculty members may be unwilling to take. Committee members said they would like to replace the resignation option with an "F" on the transcript—even if the student already has resigned from the course—to ensure that students who engage in unethical academic behavior are penalized for their actions.

"If there was some deterrent for cheating on the transcript, it might be taken more seriously," said William Baumer, professor of philosophy and chair of the Grading Committee.

Bruce Miller, associate professor of psychiatry and pediatrics, and adjunct associate professor of psychology, voiced concern that the action "seems highly punitive" and that professors need to help students "grow beyond their transgressions."

"In other words," he said, "that this is not all in the name of punishment and just calling attention to wrong-doing; that we have an opportunity to help the students and work with them."

Baumer noted that the informal proceedings allow ample opportunity through their various options for a professor to require the student to redress the misconduct through such alternatives as admonition, warning and/or revision of work.

"UB's informal proceedings permit an instructor, after consultation with the student, to impose sanctions less than "F for cause" in cases of academic dishonesty. To mandate course resignation as a sanction, however, is to misuse the resignation option; to permit a student to resign a course as a means of escaping the sanction of course failure permits abuse of that option," the grading committee said.

Furthermore, "To license instructors, as university rules and procedures now do, to mandate an 'R' as a sanction for academic dishonesty is to seek to convert the 'R' to an assessment of performance, one supposedly having negative consequences. That use of the 'R' is not merely inappropriate given the 'R's intended function, it is misleading and thus, an abuse."

The grading committee said resignation from a course "is an option for students to use when a course is beyond the student's ability to complete it successfully, but that is not recognized until the academic session is well under way." Currently, it is an option the course instructor does not control.

Notably, the committee's proposal would not, as an option, "permit replacement of an 'R' with a reduced but passing grade; that would signify the student completed the course satisfactorily, if not well."

Subsequently, the revised provisions continue to permit a student assigned a lesser informal sanction for academic dishonesty early in the academic session to resign the course, "however unwise that may be," the grading committee said.

The proposed amendment will be brought back to the Senate for a vote at its March 12 meeting.

In other business, the senate appointed William Hepfer, associate librarian, as its new secretary. Hepfer, who will replace Marilyn Kramer when her term ends June 30, was the only candidate for the position. Kramer has served two consecutive two-year terms as secretary and was prohibited from seeking a third term.