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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sandy, et al,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>My experiences have been like Kim's: I usually get
signatures, but when I'm unable to do so (and there will be a few this term I
won't be able to get), the Student Conduct office is supportive. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The Student Conduct office has had this form for
<EM>years, </EM>by the way, and I've been filling out 3-5 per section per
quarter for about 5 years now. I don't have any problems with the
form. And I don't have any complaints about the Student Conduct office, either.
It has been nothing but supportive since it was overhauled back in ... 2003-ish?
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I've had students put up hellish fights over their
cases, and the Student Conduct office deals with pretty much the whole thing
each time. I just get updates. I'm happy about that. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I've even sent Student Conduct cases for which all
I had was a faint suspicion, and they did all the detective work. </FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2>Last term, I had a student turn in papers that had another
person's name listed as author in the Properties of the electronic document. I
looked up the other name and discovered they were sorority sisters. I sent it to
Student Conduct with a question mark, unable to establish on my own whether
anything dishonest was happening. The Student Conduct office dug into it,
calling the students in for meetings, and didn't bother me at all about it. A
few weeks later the office sent me a report on the other student -- a
student who <EM>wasn't even in my class</EM> -- concluding that the sorority
sister had been editing her friend's papers for her, cleaning up the grammar.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>That office is pretty hard-core, and does tough,
unpleasant work. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Meanwhile, getting the signatures and trying to
meet with the students are <EM>good ideas</EM> for us</FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2>. </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>Those moves cover our backsides --
otherwise, the students can later claim we went around them, and that they've
since lost or misplaced evidence that would have exonerated them. By meeting
with them and getting them to sign the document (and thereby to make a defense
at that point), we limit how much time they have to cook up a cover story,
devise horror stories about us, and the like. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>This is an important consideration. Our students
are gradually becoming more aggressive, more litigious. This year
I've been emailed by a lawyer on behalf of a cheater and had a mom
threaten to go to the media. That form is my friend, as far as I can see. I'll
cheerfully fill out any paperwork that cuts down on the cheater's ability to
retaliate later.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Also, I'll stress what Kate pointed out: Giving the
student a chance to talk to you about the problem is
<EM>only</EM> <EM>fair</EM>. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>- Gray</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>A long P.S.: </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I do have a small problem with the effect that
reporting plagiarism has on evals. It's far more severe than the impact of
giving low grades: If you give a student a choice between an F on a paper
or a chance to revise the paper but a student conduct report, the student will
almost always take the F. Students hate being reported (because they
think it'll kill their chances at grad school or appear on transcripts, and
don't believe assurances to the contrary). Moreover, they get to evaluate
us after we've turned them in. </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>When they do, they
tend to lash out a bit, and the more one catches, the lower those evals go.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Worse, they lash out in ways that <EM>aren't
obvious to outsiders</EM>: If you're a tough grader or assign a lot of work,
students who lash out about those policies will say things like "Assines to much
work!!" or "Gradz to haard," but if you catch a quarter of your class
plagiarizing, none of those students will say that's why they're nuking you --
they'll find something else to complain about. (Usually, in a fit of
projection, they accuse you of being unfair or lazy, or that's the pattern I
usually see.) </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The situation is a deterrent to reporting
these cases, and an incentive to deal with students "in-house." I suspect that
many cases never get reported because of this. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>As I said, I would cheerfully fill out any
paperwork that would cut down on retaliation, and if there were forms I could
fill out to deal with this, I'd spend time on them, too. </FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=john.stamp@ucr.edu href="mailto:john.stamp@ucr.edu">John Stamp</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=englecturers@lists.ucr.edu
href="mailto:englecturers@lists.ucr.edu">englecturers@lists.ucr.edu</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, June 09, 2009 12:51
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> SPAM-LOW: Re: UWP Lecturers
plagiarism reports</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><BR></DIV>Where is the requirement for a
student signature? I don't see one on <BR>the form.<BR><BR>According to
the Student Conduct site, you just need to attempt to <BR>contact the
student:<BR><BR><A
href="http://conduct.ucr.edu/Faculty/Faculty+Reporting+of+Academic+Misconduct.htm">http://conduct.ucr.edu/Faculty/Faculty+Reporting+of+Academic+Misconduct.htm</A><BR><BR>>
Whenever possible, the communication should take place through an in-<BR>>
person consultation and should be conducted in a manner that respects <BR>>
each student's privacy and maintains an environment that supports <BR>>
teaching and learning. When a meeting is not possible or practical, an
<BR>> instructor may communicate with the student in writing. Written
<BR>> communication will be sent by U.S. mail to the address most recently
<BR>> filed with the Registrar's Office, or to the student’s University
e-<BR>> mail address.<BR><BR>...<BR><BR>> The student must be given the
opportunity to respond to the allegation <BR>> of misconduct. When
communication is made in writing, students will be <BR>> given 10 business
days to respond.<BR><BR><A
href="http://conduct.ucr.edu/Forms/Academic+Misconduct+Referral+Form.htm">http://conduct.ucr.edu/Forms/Academic+Misconduct+Referral+Form.htm</A><BR><BR>>
When a student has failed to respond to attempts to communicate them, <BR>>
where possible, please include documentation of the attempt(s) in the <BR>>
form of copies of the letters/emails, and/or a call log documenting <BR>>
dates/times of attempted telephone contact. Include the telephone
<BR>> number contacted. <BR><BR>That seems reasonable to me. Send an
email, wait 2 weeks, if no <BR>response, print it out and file with the
report.<BR><BR>John<BR><BR><BR>_______________________________________________<BR>Englecturers
mailing list<BR><A
href="mailto:Englecturers@lists.ucr.edu">Englecturers@lists.ucr.edu</A><BR><A
href="http://lists.ucr.edu/mailman/listinfo/englecturers">http://lists.ucr.edu/mailman/listinfo/englecturers</A><BR></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>