BFC takes on athletics, Web service

The Bloomington Faculty Council overwhelmingly approved a resolution Tuesday for a three-year renewal of IU's subscription to the plagiarism-detection service TurnItIn.com. Both BFC undergraduate student representatives voted against the measure.\nIUSA Vice President of Operations Scott Norman and Vice President of Administration Jesse Laffen were among the few "nays" in a voice-vote Tuesday afternoon. Their opposition stemmed from the absence of what they called "stronger language" in the resolution supporting the educational usage of the service and explaining the rules of citation and plagiarism.\n"We sincerely believe using TurnItIn without strong educational provisions is like posting speed limits without giving students speedometers," Laffen said.\nIn an attempt to alleviate concerns, the BFC's Educational Policies Committee adjusted the proposal to include a provision stating that the Dean of Faculties office should notify all instructors each semester of their responsibilities regarding academic integrity and the prevention of cheating and plagiarism.\nBefore the vote, William Wheeler, chairman of the Educational Policies Committee, read numerous faculty testimonials from the service, all of which praised TurnItIn as helpful for grading and as an effective way to lessen the temptation to plagiarize. \nAccording to statistics released at the Feb. 15 BFC meeting, 88 percent of faculty who used and evaluated the service rated it positively.\nGraduate students were also pleased with TurnItIn. Eric Zeemering, one of the council's graduate student representatives, said the testimonials he received from fellow associate instructors were favorable.\n"All of the respondents were enthusiastic about continuing the TurnItIn service," Zeemering told the council. "Not just to catch cheating, but to help students learn."\nBoth Laffen and Norman said they want to preserve academic integrity and restrict plagiarism. But because IUSA wanted stronger language inserted into the bill to stipulate the service's educational use, they were left disappointed with the measure.\nNorman said IUSA isn't too concerned that the service will continue without any educational provisions introduced further down the line, yet TurnItIn won't be a cure-all.\n"TurnItIn isn't going to fix academic misconduct," Norman said. "Educational programs will." \nThe three-year lease to TurnItIn, paid in yearly installments with the potential of university discounts, will total about $74,300.\nThe BFC also began discussion surrounding the streamlined IU Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities and Conduct. Bradley Levinson, co-chairman of the Student Affairs Committee, said his committee had hoped to have a vote taken Tuesday on the entire code, but numerous unresolved issues arrested such a move.\nA vote to adopt the code, which if passed will then go to the University Faculty Council and eventually the IU board of trustees, is scheduled for the March 22 meeting.\nAmong the more contentious segments in the code were an amendment to redefine alcohol possession in on-campus housing and the phrasing involving restrictions on faculty-student amorous or sexual relationships.\nAn amendment by telecommunications professor Herb Terry would allow the use or possession of alcohol by students of legal age in places of residence -- including greek houses -- but only when supervised by live-in employees, for example Residential Programs and Services-supervised dorms such as Willkie Quad, which allows alcohol use and possession. \nCouncil members neither voiced adamant opposition nor outspoken support for the amendment. Dean of Students Richard McKaig said the amendment "may extend University liability and authority further than is institutionally prudent" and could create a "large burden" on an enforcer.\nBefore such a clause is adopted, council members agreed there would have to be fairly clear guidelines.\nThe council also voted 17 to 15 to retain a sentence in the suggested wording of the relationships clause of the student code. That sentence -- "All amorous or sexual relationships between faculty members and students are unacceptable when the faculty member has direct professional responsibility for the student" -- sparked debate about whether there would be a universal understanding of what is direct or indirect and what kind of relationships would be allowed. \nThe relationships clause references students to the IU Code of Academic Ethics, which governs faculty-student relations. The council recommended the Student Affairs Committee possibly consider inserting the specific language from that code into the student code of rights for accessibility.\n-- Contact Senior Writer Tony Sams ajsams@indiana.edu.