My letter about plagiarism is in the print edition of the Chronicle of Higher Education today. Smaller newspapers never cut my letters, but when I have written to a more prestigious publication, they usually do. So, it has been cropped (sentences are omitted, though no words are changed). I think my original was better, but the shorter one is OK, too.

It is online, but it is a subscription site. Here is the letter, at it appears in the print and online editions:

I have failed nine students for plagiarism in the past five years. ... It is an upsetting experience, one I try very hard to avoid -- but once the line is crossed by the student, the action I must take is very clear to me.

I spend time every semester explaining to students what plagiarism is, that I am good at detecting cheating, and that I will pursue a severe penalty in all instances I find. ...

Those of us who are horrified by academic dishonesty have no choice but to stand up for what is right, no matter the professional risks (frankly, the personal ones involving angry students scare me more, but that is one reason we have campus-safety officers). When I caught the first student cheating, I thought maybe if a teacher had outed the various leaders now involved in business scandals when they were still students, they would have learned something important. ... As a colleague said to me at that time, "sometimes the most valuable lessons learned in school are not actually part of the curriculum."

Here is my original:

I have failed (in the course) nine students for plagiarism in the past five years, and referred six of the cases to the university level, where five were eventually suspended from the university. It is an upsetting experience, one I try very hard to avoid, but once the line is crossed by the student, the action I must take is very clear to me. I spend time every semester explaining to students what plagiarism is, that I am good at detecting cheating, and that I will pursue a severe penalty in all instances I find. I believe the university to be supportive, but I also think that while some faculty members take it seriously, many others decide to avoid the hassle and issue a minor (or no) penalty. It isn't necessarily condoning it (in some cases it may be), but instead, avoidance.

If cheating and plagiarism are as rampant among students as I suspect, and if what another poster wrote is true (that lots of ethically-challenged undergraduates go undetected or move through degree programs without being penalized, then go on to be faculty members and published authors), it is a sad situation indeed.

Those of us who are horrified by academic dishonesty have no choice but to stand up for what is right, no matter the professional risks (frankly, the personal ones involving angry students scare me more, but then, that is one reason we have campus safety officers). When I caught the first student cheating, I thought, maybe if a teacher had "outed" the various leaders who were involved in business scandals when they were still students (and probably just beginning the path of wrongdoing), they would have learned something important and avoided future pain all around. As a colleague said to me at that time, "sometimes the most valuable lessons learned in school are not actually part of the course curriculum."