When: Wednesday, October 16, 14:00 – 16:00
Where: Main Corridor | 1st floor, Student Lounge, CN Building

Contract Cheating & academic integrity infractions, generally just not fair to anyone!

Raise your voice – Int’l Day of Action against Contract Cheating

Standing up for academic integrity – and against contract cheating – Deree students are once again this year bringing attention to the subject as part of an international effort aimed at educational communities, governments, and all citizens. Defined as the practice of engaging a third party to complete student work, contract cheating is particularly threatening, with research establishing that as many as 16 million people could be receiving fraudulent certifications on a yearly basis as a result of the practice! The goal of this day of action is to raise awareness around its existence and the dangers it poses to educational systems.

On and even before the day, Deree students are raising their voices: making pledges and video testimonials in support of integrity – and against contract cheating; sharing creative efforts in the form of a motto contest, a theater installation, a mural, posters, interactive (board) games and other activities (a spinning wheel to learn about integrity violation – penalties), writing-on-the-spot from ‘bio prompts’ provided by attendees at the event, and more!

More about the International Day of Action against Contract Cheating

The International Center for Academic Integrity (ICAI) is delighted to announce the 4^th International Day of Action against Contract Cheating (IDoA) on Wednesday 16^th October 2019.  This is a global event, when students, teachers and staff in universities, colleges and schools across the whole world organize events to celebrate their commitment to academic integrity.  The IDoA provides a timely opportunity for the threats, dangers and consequences of contract cheating (students submitting work for credit that was completed by someone else) to be fully discussed and understood by everyone – members of the educational community, graduates, parents/families and employers. Many educational institutions and other organizations have signed up already as IDoA participants on the specially designated ICAI web site and we welcome others to join us for this exciting day: https://academicintegrity.org/day-against-contract-cheating/

Some participants are devoting more than one day to activities and some see it, in the positive sense, as a global day of ethics and integrity. Some of the activities will be led by students. Participants may develop their own materials or use the many freely available resources and ideas for activities, including the Poster Contest, 2019 Checklist and Toolkit created in 2016 for the first Day of Action.  The emphasis is on encouraging participants to share their ideas with others and to get the message across that contract cheating is wrong.  Below are thoughts from some of the IDOA organisers.

“The IDoA has been designed to connect and unite people from across the world who are serious about integrity in education.  We are all seeking ways to disrupt contract cheating, a global threat to academic quality and standards” Dr Irene Glendinning, Coventry University, UK.

“The more we explore, the more we find how extensive the problem of contract cheating is, how vast, how far reaching, how diverse and how complicated. This is why raising a united voice to highlight it is so crucial, making IDoA a vital addition to academic calendars globally” Dr Zeenath Reza Khan, University of Wollongong in Dubai, UAE.

“Contract cheating is evolving so rapidly that to stand by and do nothing is not an option. As educators we have to work on challenging the normalizing of the practice and the threats it poses. We can raise awareness within the educational sector and media as necessary starting points to impact other sectors too (legal, business). By committing to the IDoA rather than remain a silent ‘accomplice,’ we become a voice for change.” Litsa Mourelatos, Deree – The American College of Greece

“I first raised the issue of contract cheating as posing a threat to higher education in 2006. Since then, we’ve seen the development of a savvy essay industry using deceptive tactics to get students to buy assignments from them. We need to work with students as our partners to combat contract cheating and to jointly help others to understand the dangers of engaging with the contract cheating industry, which can lead to blackmail, course failure and ultimately expulsion.“ Dr Thomas Lancaster, Imperial College, London, UK.

“Academic integrity is of the utmost importance to us at WGU. Innovative technologies are critical to combatting cheating but no method is a fail-safe. Sadly, contract cheating affects all institutions of higher education and that’s why raising awareness and allowing institutions to collaborate is so important.” – Christine Gee, Western Governors University, USA.

IDoA participants will upload pictures taken during the day and communicate by social media, locally and internationally, offering thoughts and suggestions for countering contract cheating. The two hashtags #Defeatthecheat and #Excelwithintegrity are available for postings now.  For further information about the IDoA please contact us at [email protected]