March 2003

When a Team Member Cheats, Who Pays the Piper?

In the management courses I teach, students form teams, create a research agenda and present a report at the end of the course. In a recent course, I reviewed a team’s written report and found major portions plagiarized from the Internet. My university allows the professor discretion on how to handle issues of plagiarism. Possible disciplinary actions range from an oral reprimand to a failing grade for the course. Furthermore, the matter can be referred to an academic disciplinary review committee for university-wide action, ranging from oral reprimand to expulsion from the university.

My first task was to speak to each student individually and ask for an explanation. As with most student teams, they divided the research tasks, agreed on assigned portions of the report to write, and one individual was tasked with integrating the parts to complete the report. Two of the three students said they were unaware of the plagiarized portion. The third student, the one responsible for writing the suspect portion, told me that what she presented to the group was not the plagiarized material.

After further discussion all students agreed the information was plagiarized. I asked each individual what consequences should result from this improper action and to whom should the consequences be directed–one individual, individuals equally or the team project. All students emphatically denied participation in the plagiarized portion and if consequences resulted, individual sanctions were suggested. The most serious sanction suggested by the students was a one-letter-grade penalty of their report. I probed each student further and asked what would be the consequences in a real work environment situation where a team member failed to accomplish a task or cheated in some manner. Would the situation require disciplinary action against the team?

My investigation further revealed that one student was, in fact, responsible for the plagiarized information. However, should the team be held accountable for the actions of an unethical member? Where is the line of accountability drawn? The requirement is for the team to accomplish a task and each team member to receive identical grades. Since each member of the team approved the final report, even if not by physical review but by proxy, should the team be held accountable? Should the disciplinary action taken be equal among the team members? In an academic situation, the reward or consequence outcome of a course is an individual grade. If a serious sanction, such as failing the course, is taken, how does each student justify the failing grade on their transcript?

What should I have done? What would you do?

–Submitted by Rod Erakovich, Texas Wesleyan University. E-mail: erakovichr@txwes.edu