Wichita State may slap new F on cheaters
By: Katherine Leal Unmuth/Knight Ridder Newspapers
Issue date: 12/2/04 Section: News
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A sort of academic scarlet letter - the XF grade - may soon adorn the transcripts of Wichita State University students caught plagiarizing or cheating.
The WSU Student Government Association began pushing for the grade last year. The proposal has gained steam with additional support from the university's Faculty Senate.
It wasn't the sort of request that faculty expected to come from students.
"There was a sense of justice in the students," said theater professor Joyce Cavarozzi. "They really felt that an F that might come about because of lack of attention or not doing work was very different than an F for academic dishonesty."
Student senator Sarah McAndrew, 21, understands their surprise, but she points out that students who don't cheat are critical of those who do.
"It does sound a little bit odd from a faculty member's perspective that students would come forward and say, 'Hey, if I screw up, punish me even more,'" she said. "But it's something that if you don't cheat, you don't have to worry about. It brings more prestige to your degree and levels the playing field."
The XF grade has been used at Kansas State University since 2000, and first emerged in the early 1990s at the University of Maryland.
Most colleges that use it also allow students to reform and get the mark removed.
At Wichita State, faculty and students are finalizing the proposal, which must be approved by the president. They may offer an ethics seminar that students could attend to remove an X from their transcript - but not from their permanent file on campus.
For students to remove the X from their grade at Kansas State, they must take a semester-long academic integrity course. The F is permanent. Each academic dishonesty case is posted online at www.ksu.edu/honor.
Since the grade was created, 46 of the 168 students who received it have opted not to take the course, said Helene Marcoux, associate director of Kansas State's honor system.
The WSU Student Government Association began pushing for the grade last year. The proposal has gained steam with additional support from the university's Faculty Senate.
It wasn't the sort of request that faculty expected to come from students.
"There was a sense of justice in the students," said theater professor Joyce Cavarozzi. "They really felt that an F that might come about because of lack of attention or not doing work was very different than an F for academic dishonesty."
Student senator Sarah McAndrew, 21, understands their surprise, but she points out that students who don't cheat are critical of those who do.
"It does sound a little bit odd from a faculty member's perspective that students would come forward and say, 'Hey, if I screw up, punish me even more,'" she said. "But it's something that if you don't cheat, you don't have to worry about. It brings more prestige to your degree and levels the playing field."
The XF grade has been used at Kansas State University since 2000, and first emerged in the early 1990s at the University of Maryland.
Most colleges that use it also allow students to reform and get the mark removed.
At Wichita State, faculty and students are finalizing the proposal, which must be approved by the president. They may offer an ethics seminar that students could attend to remove an X from their transcript - but not from their permanent file on campus.
For students to remove the X from their grade at Kansas State, they must take a semester-long academic integrity course. The F is permanent. Each academic dishonesty case is posted online at www.ksu.edu/honor.
Since the grade was created, 46 of the 168 students who received it have opted not to take the course, said Helene Marcoux, associate director of Kansas State's honor system.
