International News
Plagiarism Cases - Update 28/09/2011
COLLUSION AND PLAGIARISM CASES - UPDATE
Dear Students,
Today the University made a public apology to the students involved in the collusion case in the national press: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/uni-says-sorry-to-collusion-accused/story-e6frgcjx-1226148435045.
We have made a number of major advancements in the case over the past fortnight including:
- A clear communication channel through which to communicate on this matter.
- A public apology to the students
- The appointment of an independent marker
A clear communication channel
Last week, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic (Professor Kevin McConkey) invited Eduardo and me to a meeting where it was agreed that I would be responsible for communications from NUSA and he would be responsible for communication from the University.
A public apology to the students
In the article in the Australian today, Professor Kevin McConkey states:
"The university has not always been clear in its communications with you," says the draft from the deputy vice-chancellor (academic and global relations) Kevin McConkey. "I am aware that some students have been distressed during this process. I am sorry for this.
"The use of the word collusion in correspondence to some students was not appropriate. I apologise for any confusion or hurt the use of the word may have caused."
The appointment of an independent marker
Yesterday, Eduardo and I met with Professor Kevin McConkey where he offered the following solution to the demand for an independent marker:
A second person (independent) would remark the assessment items along with the original marker. If the marks were identical, then that would be the student’s mark, if not a process would be established to remedy this. The deputy head of faculty would oversee this process.
What happens next?
- If you are happy to resubmit your assessment item
If you have been asked to resubmit your assessment item, it is not because you have colluded. From our understanding, when SACO viewed your paper they found other problems and it is those problems they wish you to address. If you are happy to address these problems and resubmit your assessment, then we are happy to assist you and the University has assured us that there will be an independent marker.
- If you are not happy to resubmit your assessment item
However, if you do not wish to resubmit your assessment because you are being punished for something separate to that which you were accused of, we are happy to continue to discuss this with the University. There is an ethical dimension to this situation and we understand, and concur with, the fact that you have been mistreated.
As the student association we will support you either way
The decision is yours and we will support and respect your decision. We will be asking for an inquest into this and making recommendations that the process be changed to avoid this situation in the future.
Other issues and that arisen around this
During this case a large number of us have come forward with other issues. These issues have all been very serious and we take them very seriously. We have informed Professor Kevin McConkey that there are a large number of problems and that we will be writing a submission to him concerning these.
In order for us to write the best possible submission, we need you to tell us about all the issues which have affected you. For example, there were a number of students who spoke about behaviour from academic staff which included humiliating them in front of the class, or telling them to go home because their English was not good enough. This is not acceptable and breaks University policies. We need to know who it was that did this.
There are students who talked about being attacked. We need to know about these attacks. In fact, earlier this year we setup an anonymous survey for international students to report both physical attacks and verbal abuse. It is on 7 languages and we encourage you to fill it out every time something happens. You cannot be traced and the information recorded is very simple, so it will not be possible to identify you.
To access the survey please go here: http://nusa.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=104&Itemid=68
And choose the language you wish to respond in. [Note: we fill this in every time someone tells you to go home to – this is verbal abuse.]
Students also mentioned a number of things about the city campus which could be improved. For example, access to computer labs on the top floor after hours. We want to know about all these possible improvements.
To assist us with the submission, we need you to come into our office and talk to us, or to write a detailed account of what happened. We will keep this information confidential, and we will protect your identity if you wish. However, we do need the identities of the lectures and tutors who have behaved in this way towards you.
We will always support our students and we will be requesting from the University an office space in the City Campus so that we can have a physical presence there. We would appreciate any support you can give us with this.
We are the representative body for students studying at the University of Newcastle. We are students representing students. We are international students representing international students.
We are here for you – we exist for you – don’t forget that.
Thank you for all your hard work and the support you have given to each other during this time
Heather Richards
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| Heather Richards | Eduardo Carvajal | Veronica Meneses |
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