Marc,
I can empathize with you. There was a time when I might have said, "heck,
he's going to fail anyway, why go through the hassle." But over the years I
have changed my mind about that. I now firmly believe that teachers have the
responsibility to follow-up on and _report_ all instances of academic
dishonesty (and I've seen honor codes that explicitly state that). My main
reasons: (1) cheating is worse than failing a course; (2) if he ever does
this again (or something similar) in another class, the penalty should
increase--but that won't happen unless you report it; and (3) it really
ticks me off when things like this happen. That last may sound emotional,
and there is that component, but I believe we should feel indignation when
students violate what I consider very basic principles of education.
However, having said all of that, I'm not sure what is the best way to
approach this. If you go to your colleague and say "so-and-so turned in a
paper to me that I think he may also have turned in to you," you may
technically be violating the student's rights to confidentiality. If there
is someone at the school who is charged with investigating alleged
violations of academic honesty policies, that would be my preferred route.
Otherwise, I would just try to be as discreet as possible. Start by just
asking whether a paper on this particular topic would be appropriate in his
course. If so, did he actually receive one this term? And so on. You do want
to be sensitive to the student's rights, and don't want to do anything to
damage his reputation should your suspicions prove to be incorrect. (I know,
that last is not very helpful. Sorry. These situations are _never_ easy.)
Good luck,
John
P.S. I'm assuming that you can make the case that double-dipping is
verboten. Does your school have a stated policy? If not, this might be a
good time to raise the issue. (Well, maybe not right now--but maybe after
finals are over.)
----------
John Serafin
Professor of Psychology
Saint Vincent College
300 Fraser Purchase Rd.
Latrobe, PA 15650
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
on 12/8/99 1:16 AM, G. Marc Turner at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> Okay, it's that time of year again...
>
> I have a paper sitting in front of me from a student that looks like it
> might have been written for another course the student is currently taken.
> This student also "changed" their topic for their final project at the last
> minute, which is a bit strange given the requirements...most of which
> weren't met, but that's another story. I know we have had discussions in
> the past about the issue of "double-dipping" by students, and I think I
> have a case of it in front of me now.
>
> On the one hand, I feel like the poor grade is punishment enough for this.
> (There is a strong chance that the student won't be passing my class
> anyway.) But on the other hand, I don't approve of the practice and feel
> that the other professor has a "right" to know if one of his students is
> engaging in this practice. And there, my friends, is the dilemna...
>
> Given my suspicion, should I approach the professor of the other course
> (whose office is almost directly across the hall from mine) to pursue this
> matter?
>
> Comments? Advice?
>
> Still trying to get use to this side of the desk...
> - Marc
