The Daily Orange

Issue date: 5/1/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Katie Dalrymple

Elet Callahan seems frustrated.

When Callahan and the Syracuse University academic integrity committee she chairs made recommendations for cheating policies for students, the university community was receptive. But when the focus turned to faculty and staff, that level of attention simply wasn't there.

"I don't believe that the university community or the leadership of the community see those two issues as equally urgent," said Callahan of student integrity versus faculty staff integrity. "And I think that's a mistake."

The committee's final report published in December contained numerous anonymous accounts of faculty and staff academic integrity violations as well as alarming complaints about the current processes and procedures.

"It was clear there was a very strong perception among a number of people on campus that the climate of the university was at risk," Callahan said.

Members of the committee as well as national academic integrity experts stress that ethical behavior must start from the top to create a proper campus climate. Yet several months after publishing their final report, Callahan and her fellow committee members are still waiting to see their recommendations set into motion.

"We think that the issue of faculty/staff integrity should be viewed on par with student academic integrity," she said. "I think from a personal perspective, it's folly to think student academic integrity will improve if the rest of us just keep doing what we are doing."

National experts agree.

"Students are often exclusively the object of moral development instruction, and part of that is a legitimate part of the teaching culture," said Tim Dodd, executive director of the National Center for Academic Integrity. "But we are all part of the campus culture of integrity. And we all need to be held accountable."

The focus on students was a result of the college academic environment, said Vice Chancellor Eric Spina.

"I think it is natural," he said. "There are many more students. The focus of the institution is on students. It doesn't surprise me that there was more focus on student integrity. But I think as a community coming out of this exercise, the thing we need to embrace is that we all need to be held of strong academic integrity."

Dodd echoed the sentiment of the committee and said that those at the highest level of the university must set an example for students.

Continued...

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