University of Saskatchewan announces first annual Academic Integrity Week

Posted September 12, 2003


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Sept. 12, 2003 2003-09-12-OTHER

University announces first annual Academic Integrity Week

University of Saskatchewan students and faculty know the importance of
"academic integrity", which means doing ethical research, not cheating on
exams, and writing their own essays. The value of a University of
Saskatchewan degree is tarnished if it is not obtained honestly.

This year, the university is sponsoring "Writing it Right" Week from
September 29 to October 3, with speakers and panels where students and
faculty can discuss integrity in writing, research, and examinations.

The keynote speaker will be Dr. Nancy Olivieri from the University of
Toronto. Two years ago, Dr. Olivieri focused Canadian attention on ethics
in research when a pharmaceutical company and, initially, the University of
Toronto itself, took her to task for announcing publicly that the drug she
was testing was harming her patients. Her presentation will take place on
Monday, Sept. 29 at 2:30 in room 140 St. Thomas More College and media are
welcome to attend.

Other sessions will include:

- Noon-hour discussion panels on the importance of ethics for students and
for professionals, examples of student cheating cases, and the challenges
faced by graduate students who are both students and teachers themselves.

- Other presentations will cover how faculty can use the Internet to catch
plagiarizers, how students can use the Internet appropriately for research
on essays, how students can adopt a professional approach to their studies,
the help available from the student advocacy office, how faculty committees
should handle accusations, sketches by Drama students showing how students
can deal with pressures to cheat and the showing of the popular movie "The
Emperor's Club."

A full schedule of events is available online at:
www.usask.ca/honesty/week.shtml .

The week is sponsored by the Office of the University Secretary and the
Gwenna Moss Teaching and Learning Centre, in association with the USSU and
the Graduate Students Association.

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For more information, please contact:

Gordon Barnhart
University Secretary
University of Saskatchewan
Tel: (306) 966-4632
Email: gordon.barnhart@usask.ca

Cathie Fornssler
Office of the University Secretary
University of Saskatchewan
Tel: (306) 966-5036
Email: cathie.fornssler@usask.ca