Finals week is still months away, but Iowa State’s All-University Judiciary committee may see several cases of academic dishonesty this semester.

“Most students admit that they are guilty,” said Grace Weigel, director of Judicial Affairs and head of the AUJ.

“It is usually a case that they ran out of time to do an assignment and borrowed someone else’s work,” Weigel said.

The AUJ is part of the Dean of Students Office, which deals with about 60 cases of academic dishonesty every year, she said.

“We see most cases toward the end of the semester because that is when the most papers are due. Students feel they don’t have time to do the work themselves,” Weigel said.

According to the Student Information Handbook, “academic dishonesty occurs when a student uses or attempts to use unauthorized information in the taking of an exam; submits it as his or her own work themes, reports, drawings, laboratory notes or knowingly assists another student in such acts.”

The Student Information Handbook also offers specific examples of academic dishonesty, including bribery of a faculty member, plagiarism and the purchasing of a paper from a term paper service or another student.

Weigel said these acts reflect negatively on the university.

“Academic dishonesty infringes on the quality of the degrees we give at Iowa State University,” she said.

Barbara Mack, associate professor of journalism and mass communication, said she has seen fewer than 20 cases of academic dishonesty in her 10 years at ISU.

“This is the worst thing to see as a teacher,” Mack said.

She said the university sufficiently defines academic dishonesty, and that most instructors include similar material in their course outlines.

Mack said a failing grade is an appropriate sanction for some levels of academic dishonesty, but she stressed that discipline should depend on the level of dishonesty.

Sometimes a case of alleged academic dishonesty can turn into a misunderstanding, Mack said. She recalled one instance concerning her communication law class, in which a term paper appeared to be the work of a lawyer instead of a student.

However, Mack discovered the student had worked in a law office for 10 years, which explained the outstanding paper.

The procedure for cases of alleged academic dishonesty involves three stages — inquiry, investigation and hearing — that are outlined in a pamphlet available from the Dean of Students Office.

According to the pamphlet, “the inquiry stage involves checking the facts to determine if an investigation is necessary. The investigation procedure determines if charges against the student are warranted. And, the hearing guarantees the student’s due process rights are not violated.”

When students are alleged to have committed academic dishonesty, they may appear before the AUJ, the pamphlet states.

The AUJ is made up of five members — two students, two members of the faculty and one chairperson. It handles cases of academic dishonesty which cannot be resolved administratively.

Sanctions for academic dishonesty range from a disciplinary reprimand, which is an official written notice to the student, to indefinite suspension, in which the student is dropped from the university indefinitely.

“A student accused of cheating has the option to stay in the class or to drop the class if the drop is made within the approved time periods,” according to the Student Information Handbook.

“The AUJ’s primary focus is that we are not a duplication of the criminal court. We want students to succeed,” Weigel said.

The Family Education Right to Privacy Law keeps all cases of academic dishonesty confidential.

If the university did not keep such cases confidential, it would be at risk of having federal funding withdrawn, Weigel said.