Plagiarism, Cheating Cases Keep UNC Honor Court Busy

Student Attorney General Amanda Spillman said the number of cases that already have gone before the court are not out of the ordinary.

She added that her office's efforts to bring academic honesty to the forefront of students' minds this semester have had an impact on campus but said more work still can be done.

"Honor and Integrity Week was a success, but we are too small to reach everyone on the campus," Spillman said.

Seven of the academic cheating violations dealt with plagiarism, defined by the Code of Student Conduct as the intentional representation of another person's words, thoughts or ideas as one's own.

Out of the seven cases heard by the Honor Court, five pleaded not guilty. Five of the seven cases were found guilty of the violation.

Though the Code of Student Conduct states that suspension is the normal sanction for cases involving academic cheating, sanctions ranged from definite to indefinite probation.

The code states that probation permits continuation of a limited relationship between the student and the University. A student on probation cannot hold any position or participate in any activity where the student represents UNC or in a University-recognized student organization either within or outside the UNC community.

Spillman said an indefinite probation is a harsher sanction because the the person has to have the Honor Court hear his case again.

Two cases heard by the Honor Court this semester dealt with violations of academic cheating by use of an unauthorized aid.

Though both of the accused pleaded not guilty, one was found guilty of academic cheating. The punishment for this case was definite suspension through fall 2002 with the grade in the course left to the discretion of the professor.

Spillman said the amount of cases heard regarding academic cheating is fairly standard. "I'm not an alarmist," she said. "I don't see these statistics determining how many cases we will hear the rest of the year."

Academic cheating was not the only type of case keeping the Honor Court busy in the first part of the semester.

Four drug-related cases were heard by the Honor Court during the beginning of the year.

One person who pleaded guilty to the charge of cocaine possession was found guilty and suspended through summer 2003.

The other three cases dealt with the possession of marijuana, and all were found guilty. The punishments for these violations were all drug probation, and one included 60 hours of community service.

The Honor Court found all three students brought up on driving while intoxicated violations guilty. While all sanctions included community service, punishments ranged from censure to definite or indefinite probation.

Spillman said the number of drug violations resembles past years' numbers and is not alarming.

"It is more concerning trying to deal with the charge," she said.

The Honor Court has been productive this year, Spillman said.

In the past, she said, the period of time before a case was heard was three months -- now the waiting period lasts three weeks.

To reduce the waiting time, the Honor Court held double hearings for the first half of the semester, seeing up to three cases a day. Because this put the court ahead of schedule, Spillman said it can slow down a bit and hold single hearings, which means that four to six cases are heard per week.

She said, "Efficiency has been my big thing."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.