Sorry it's a Tuesday lunchtime response to a Friday
afternoon question but:
1) I think your institution would be in considerable
difficulty if it does not have an ability to remove an award
once conferred and the willingness to do so for due cause.
Suppose you awarded a PhD and found out some years later
that the thesis had been 100% copied from elsewhere. Do you
simply shrug and say, "We didn't spot this at the time, so
he/she can carry on calling themself Dr X"? If you accept
that that is not an appropriate response, how can you
justify treating an undergraduate award differently?
2) I agree absolutely with your views on the correct way to
respond to such a situation (and it is not an infrequent
one, given the growing prevalence of essay mills). If the
tutor is satisfied on the balance of probabilities that, in
their academic judgement, the work is not that of the
student submitting it and if that academic judgement is
tested in the appropriate disciplinary procedures and
upheld, also on the balance of probabilities, then the
student should be deemed to have committed plagiarism and
the appropriate penalty imposed at that point.
All the best,
Jon Appleton
Mcintyre D A (CELT) wrote:
> This may be a kind of Friday afternoon question but it cropped up today
> in a discussion and, although pretty well hypothetical is none the less
> interesting. Here you go:
> If a tutor very strongly suspects that plagiarism has taken place (based
> on various factors such as the writing style, unexpected quality of
> work, idiosyncratic phrases and more) but cannot find any evidence as
> such, could a penalty be applied retrospectively if the original source
> of the work was found at a later date? Even after graduation??
>
> My thoughts were that if such a scenario arose, as much opinion as
> possible (even utilising the external examiner) would be of help and the
> end conclusion based on a balance of probability - so a retrospective
> view shouldn't be necessary. But any other thoughts would be welcome!
> Does any institution have anything as drastic as the ability to revoke
> an award is something came to light at a late date?
>
> Best wishes
>
> Denzie McIntyre
>
> /Manager,/
> *Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT)*
> /The University of Glamorgan./
>
> /Tel: 01443 482791, Fax: 01443 483667/
> /Visit our website on: http://celt.glam.ac.uk//
>
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