Plagiarism cuts uni profits

BY PETER ROBSON

NEWCASTLE — The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has been called in to investigate procedure at Newcastle University, after 15 off-shore Malaysian students were accused of plagiarism whilst enrolled at the university's Graduate School of Business.

Right-wing Newcastle Herald columnist Jeff Corbett has weighed into the debate, claiming on August 8 that international students "get it easy" and are treated preferentially because they pay the costs of their degrees up-front.

Higher education minister Brendan Nelson has attacked Newcastle University for damaging "an important export market". The Coalition views education as a resource to be bought, sold and profited from. He is worried that being lenient on plagerism will damage the sale value of Australian education. This is the sort of thinking that caused the problem in the first place.

Newcastle University has very comprehensive policy on plagiarism, but most undergraduates won't have read it. In most beginning lectures, students are told to look at the web site for information on it. There is almost no face-to-face teaching about plagiarism or the importance of citing sources. By postgraduate level, it's assumed that students already know. This lack of information is compounded for students who are off-shore.

Meanwhile, "get the students in, get their money and get them out as quickly as possible" has become the slogan of education policy-making under this government. Minor instances of plagiarism can easily be overlooked due to overworked staff and poorly taught policy.

Although scant details are available about the case, the ICC is investigating, that the problem may have been avoided with more contact hours between the students and their tutors. Which is exactly what Nelson's policies are preventing.

From Green Left Weekly, August 20, 2003.

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From GLW issue 550