How to Confront

How to Confront

By Paul Cousins, Director of the Office of Student Conduct

INTRODUCTION

The most difficult part of maintaining academic integrity in the classroom is deciding what to do once you believe that academic misconduct has occurred. This typically involves having a conversation with the student(s) that you suspect engaged in this prohibited behavior, which usually produces anxiety on the part of both the student and the faculty member. Confrontation in this arena is a skill that can be developed or improved with practice and appropriate advice. The following information is intended to assist you in confronting a student that you believe may be involved in a case of academic misconduct. This approach is only a suggestion, and there is ample room in our system for different personal styles. Respect and civility, however, are elements that should be present no matter what the style or approach.

PREPARATION

You must have some degree of command over the materials available. It is important to be able to succinctly describe the factors that have led you to believe there is a problem. Good questions to ask yourself at this stage are: What do I believe happened here? What evidence do I have that supports that belief? Is there another plausible explanation? Is there anyone else who has information about this incident that would be helpful? Was this type of situation covered in my expectations as I articulated them during the opening class? Is it covered on the syllabus? Do I have copies of everything I need in order to explain this to the student? If this is a case of academic misconduct, how serious a violation do I believe it is?

THE PAPERWORK

The enclosed form is used to resolve issues of academic misconduct and should be in your departmental office. The form is used to address situations in which the student admits involvement as well as those situations where the student indicates that she/he did not engage in misconduct but you believe there is evidence sufficient to pursue the matter further. The same form is used for both types of cases by proceeding through the outlined steps only as far as is appropriate. Students who wish to accept responsibility may sign the form and accept the sanction you have imposed.

Cases in which the students contest their involvement do not require their signatures. In these cases the incidents are summarized by the faculty members and the forms sent to the Office of Student Conduct for review. In each case, if there is the appearance that academic misconduct occurred or was attempted, then a hearing before the Academic Integrity Review Board will be scheduled. Both the student and faculty member involved will be contacted by a Student Assistant in the Student Judicial Office in order to begin preparations for the hearing.

** It should be noted that the Code of Student Conduct calls for consideration of suspension in certain cases of academic misconduct. Therefore, even when students have signed the form, accepting the faculty sanction, it is still possible that a review by the Office of Student Conduct will result in a hearing.

SETTING UP THE MEETING

There are a number of ways to arrange to meet with students in these situations. Here are a few:

• return a copy of the exam in question to the student with no grade but with a note to set up a meeting to discuss the test
• approach the student(s) after class when they are not in the presence of their classmates and schedule a convenient time to meet
• call the student at his/her local phone and ask him/her to come in to talk with you
• send the student an e-mail message that you need to meet to discuss his/her test or paper

Any of these attempts should probably not include your suspicion that the student might have been engaged in academic misconduct. If pressed on this point by the student it would be appropriate to indicate that you have some questions about the test or paper that you need to discuss with the student in private. You are not obligated to outline your concerns or suspicions on the phone or in the hallway. It is also risky to put that information in an e-mail message. It is not a good idea to ask a friend of the student to contact the student and have them call you. If you believe that a student is avoiding you, you can call the Office of Student Conduct at 515-2963 for assistance in reaching the student.

QUESTIONING

There are a wide variety of questions that can and should be asked of students in these situations. The one element that all the questions have in common is that they focus on behaviors. Following are examples of three types of questions that may be effective:

• open-ended questions (those that can't be answered with a yes or no) are often good to begin with: How did you prepare for this exam? What did you do after receiving the exam? How do you explain the similarities on these two papers?
• closed-ended questions, specifically seeking a "yes" or "no", may be both necessary and important: Did you look at the other student's paper during the test? Did you receive a copy of this paper from someone else?
• directive statements are sometimes best used to get to the point: Please tell me where you found this source. Tell me how you solved this problem on the exam.

THE MEETING

The meeting should occur in a private and confidential place such as your office. It may be appropriate to meet at a time that is not a regularly scheduled office hour so other students don't drop by expecting you to help them. It is not necessary to have another faculty member with you as a witness. If you have any questions about your preparation prior to the meeting, call the staff in the Office of Student Conduct for assistance.

The most important element to keep in mind is that it is a behavior that is at issue, not whether or not the student is a good or bad person. Questions that focus on behaviors are less likely to make people defensive. This will increase the chances of a successful resolution at the conclusion of this meeting. Often the first few sentences set the tone for the remainder of the meeting. Examples of successful opening lines are given below. If nothing seems to fit your circumstances, or if you might benefit from some specific feedback, feel free to call the Office of Student Conduct.

Suggested Openings:

• I have asked you to meet with me to talk about your last test. It was reported to me by the proctor that he/she witnessed what might have been inappropriate behavior on your part during the test. The proctor indicates he/she saw the following... can you tell me anything about this? Can you show me how you solved this problem on the exam?
• During the grading process I noticed striking similarities between your paper (or test) and that of another student. Can you offer any explanation for these similarities?
• I have reviewed your paper and I was struck by the differences between this and your previous work. Can you tell me about your preparations and production of this particular paper? How did you locate the sources listed here? Did you use any other sources or discuss your topic with others that might have given you ideas on how to proceed?

Sometimes the honest and direct approach is most effective:

• I am at a loss as to how to explain the identical answers on these two papers, and the possibility of academic misconduct has occurred to me. Is this work your own?
• As a part of grading your paper I checked the sources you cited, as well as some that I am aware of, and I was disturbed to find whole sections of another author's work, reprinted in your paper, without proper citation. Did you use this source? Do you understand my expectations for citation of others' work?
• I have taught this class for a number of semesters and I recognized this topic as one turned in to me last year/semester. Your paper does not appear to be your original work. Can you explain this to me?

Once confronted with the specific concern students will either admit their involvement or provide some explanation of the events. Some explanations will immediately resolve the problem and also suggest a way to avoid the suspicion in the future. Other explanations will appear to be fabrications. It is a good idea to probe further in the case of the latter by asking for more detail. In the case of a concern about a test question it might be a good idea to ask the student to solve a similar problem or answer that particular question, without benefit of looking at the old test. It is important to ask for explanations or detail without giving the student the answer you are seeking. Students who are reluctant to give you much information should be pressed with open-ended questions.

At some point in the conversation it will be clear to you that the student is willing to admit his or her involvement in academic misconduct, or you will still believe it has occurred despite the student's denial. Some students will admit to you that they have engaged in academic misconduct but ask your understanding because of their extraordinary circumstances. It is a good idea to talk about the specific misbehaviors in some detail anyway, because some students will be all too happy to tell you about their personal troubles, and avoid taking responsibility for their actions except at the most minimal levels. Once you have a complete understanding of what did happen, it is then important to understand the aggravating and mitigating factors. An understanding of the context in which the violation occurred will help to give you a sense of what type of sanction is appropriate.

SANCTIONING

This is a highly individualized issue and may vary from department to department. Sanctions will differ depending on how serious the misconduct was, how the class was informed of expectations regarding academic integrity, and the specific circumstances surrounding the incident. The other element that should be considered in sanctioning is the educational one. What needs to occur so that this student learns from this experience and does not engage in academic misconduct in the future? This, too, differs from one situation to the next. Most of the instances of academic misconduct reported to the Office of Student Conduct do not arise as the result of lack understanding about the expectations. More often the students who admit their involvement indicate that they made poor choices when faced with pressures that they believed that they could not adequately balance.

Faculty members may impose sanctions up to and including no credit for the class. Cases that should be considered for more serious sanctions would require review by the Academic Integrity Review Board, which has the authority to both suspend or expel, should the situation call for such sanctions.

The Office of Student Conduct staff are always available to consult with faculty on academic integrity. Call 515-2963 or come by our offices in 1115 Pullen Hall.