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Emails sent by UW Political Science professors and re-sent by the Chair of French and Italian Studies on November 3 and 4, 2003.

----- Original Message ----- 
To: Political Science Faculty
Sent: Monday, November 03, 2003 9:04 AM
Subject: reporting suspected plagiarism

As a follow-up on the meeting with Gus Kravas from the Office of
Academic Conduct, I'd like to clarify the processes for handling
suspected plagiarism.  In particular, I'd like to stress the ease and
importance of using the formal process (as well as emphasize that it
has changed since some of you had bad experiences with it).

If you suspect plagiarism, you have two options:

1. Handle it by yourself and informally. It stops there if the student
agrees with your decision (though I recommend that you document the
agreement, have both of you sign it, and keep the agreement in your
records). If there is no agreement, tell the student you will engage
the formal process.

2. Use the formal process of sending a complaint to Kravas's office

Here's how the formal process works. You send a letter to the
committee of Academic Conduct, now headed by (Gus) KJ Kravas. In the
letter, explain the assignment and the evidence of plagiarism. Provide
copies of relevant materials. Because judgment is suspended until the
matter is resolved, give the student an X grade on the grade sheet.
That's it. Your job is done. Kravas will hold a preliminary hearing to
confront the student with the evidence, and the Conduct committee
takes it from there.  You are not asked to attend any meetings, meet
with the student, submit any more papers, or do anything else. They
will notify you of the results of their decision. If found guilty of
plagiarism (I've yet to see a case where the committee did not agree),
you may fail the student for that assignment and factor the zero into
the student's final grade.

Using the formal process has lots of advantages. It's easy and
depersonalizes the process--the instructor documents the plagiarism
and the conduct committee handles everything else. But most
importantly, and in contrast to handling the problem yourself, it
provides a record of academic misconduct. As discussed at the meeting,
the sanction for plagiarizing once is not much more than a slap on the
wrist (a zero on that assignment and a disciplinary probation notation
on the student's record for the remainder of the UW career). It's only
after a second offense has been documented that the sanctions can
escalate to suspension or expulsion. And it's only Kravas's office
that can document those offenses.

Do let me know if you've any questions. If you plan filing a formal
complaint and would like to see a sample letter (names changed), just
let me know and I'll put a copy in your box.

To contact Gus Kravas with questions, you can reach him at 543-5708 or
gkravas@u.washington.edu. To refer a case of plagiarism, send
documentation to Gus Kravas, Office of the Provost, Box 351241.

----- Original Message ----- 
To: Political Science Faculty
Sent: Tuesday, November 04, 2003 9:08 PM
Subject: Re: reporting suspected plagiarism

I, too, want to chime in on how easy the formal process is and I concur
with the frustration of weak penalties.  I wanted to pass on an excellent
web search tool for plagiarism (connected to large search engines, e.g.
Google).  It is created by a Canadian Education Society and beyond the
excellent searching device it has a host of information on paper mill
websites and other plagiarism issues:
http://www.2learn.ca/mapset/SafetyNet/plagiarism/sleuth/StringSearchnew.html
 
I even caught a purchased paper via this search tool.  It took me to
Cheathouse.com.  Which gives you access to the first and last 50 words in
their essays for free.  That was all I needed.  So it is possible to find
these papers without purchasing them.