SUU to Talk Cheating in Tuesday Convocation

Published: September 26, 2008 | Read Time: 2 minutes

After nearly two decades of research and a nationwide study on academic dishonesty - including a recent survey of SUU students and faculty, Dr. Donald L. McCabe will discuss the social constructs behind a rising trend in student cheating - from high school through graduate students - over the past 30 years on Tuesday, September 30, at 11:30 a.m. in the Centrum Arena.

All students, educators and parents from across the community are welcome to attend.

McCabe, a professor of management and global business at Rutgers University, has surveyed over 175,000 students at more than 170 colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada concerning academic cheating. He has also surveyed over 25,000 high school students in the United States during the past seven years.

In a summary of his research, McCabe writes, “With increasing competition for the most desired positions in the job market…today’s undergraduates experience considerable pressure to do well…Students who might otherwise complete their work honestly…convince themselves they cannot afford to be disadvantaged by students who cheat…Although many find it distasteful, they too begin cheating to ‘level the playing field’.”

McCabe continues, “Fortunately, the picture may not be as bleak as this brief summary suggests. One of the most encouraging aspects of [McCabe’s research] is the many students and faculty who are genuinely concerned about the issue and who are willing to devote time and effort to addressing it on their campuses.”

In his presentation on Tuesday, issues of plagiarism, from written and Internet sources, and some thoughts about effective strategies to reduce student cheating will be discussed.

Dr. McCabe will also provide an overview of the results of his recent survey of SUU students and faculty.

McCabe’s work has been published widely in business, education, sociology and ethics journals, and he is the founding president of the Center for Academic Integrity, a consortium of over 350 colleges and universities based at Clemson University who are joined in a united effort to promote academic integrity among college and university students.

McCabe will present his lecture, entitled “Promoting Academic Integrity,” as part of SUU’s Fall 2008 Convocation Lecture Series. This Convocation is presented in cooperation with the Eccles Visiting Scholar Series.

Dr. McCabe has a B.A. in Chemistry from Princeton University, an M.B.A. in Marketing from Seton Hall University and a Ph.D. in Management from New York University. He worked for over 20 years in the corporate world before joining Rutgers in 1988. His last corporate position was Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Devro, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson company. His areas of expertise include ethical decision-making with an emphasis on the relationship between college education and ethical development, and student cheating in college.

Portions of Dr. McCabe’s research can be reviewed on the SUU Convocations website, through a link in McCabe’s biography at http://suu.edu/convocations/fall2008.html.

For complete details on Tuesday’s lecture, or any other upcoming University convocation, please visit www.suu.edu/convocations.

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