Academic Integrity: A Cause Worth Fighting For
Two years ago I left Western Carolina University and moved to the central part of North Carolina to fulfill a life-long goal by attending law school. I now attend school in the evenings after work. A few weeks ago I drove back to Asheville to meet with Dr. Alvin Malesky to discuss our ongoing investigation into the industrialized cheating companies that have proliferated in the past few years online. As we discussed the many ways these companies have developed to subvert our educational system for their own profit, I felt a familiar anger. I care about American education. I believe that American education is a critical element of our path forward as a nation. And American education is under attack.
One of the results of this attack is that many people- students, educators, and the general public- believe that cheating is commonplace in education today. The practical effect of this belief is that a college degree is no longer valued as it once was. The United States spends 148 billion dollars a year on these degrees. Those who pursue them match that investment financially. More importantly, they sacrifice their time and toil for years for the privilege of working toward a college degree- a degree whose value is being systematically undermined by companies for their own profit.
These thoughts troubled me on the long drive home across the state. Interstate 40 passes at least 11 colleges on the way from Asheville to Chapel Hill. As I drove I imagined the thousands of people attending each of these colleges, all hoping that a college degree would be the accelerant that launched them into the achievement of their dreams. I live beside the last of the 11 colleges on my drive. The sun was setting as I passed the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The crown jewel of the UNC system sparkled in the fading light, as magnificent as ever. Even here, however, the dull rot of academic dishonesty has taken hold. The campus was rocked by scandal in 2013 when reports emerged of a 16 year conspiracy to assist athletes to cheat.
It would be convenient to dismiss the Chapel Hill scandal as a problem with the athletic department, now solved. I confess I was tempted to do so. I have a personal interest in the UNC system. When it is troubled, I am troubled. To dismiss the scandal as an isolated issue would be to ignore the truth. The UNC scandal was the result of a complex system designed to facilitate cheating. Perhaps it began initially to meet the needs of some athlete who desperately needed to cheat. Ultimately, the existence of this system acted at least partly to induce people to cheat.
Today at least a dozen companies exist online whose sole purpose is academic fraud. They are not small companies. They generate significant revenue. Doubtless, a large part of the money they are making originates as funds from the US Department of Education. They are defrauding not only the schools, but the government and, ultimately, the tax payer. The end results of their efforts is to undercut the value of education. This is a threat that should not be ignored.
These thoughts troubled me that evening and throughout the next day at work. I work remotely from my home, so there was little to distract me from my concerns. That evening I had class. While some of my classes are remote, the bulk of them are not. I sit behind a young lady named Shawna[i] who often brings her daughter with her to class. I have become friends with them. Shawna, too, works remotely, for the Veteran’s Administration. We bonded initially commiserating over the troubles unique to the remote worker.
Each night Shawna spends a few minutes sharing dinner with her daughter before class begins each night, then her daughter sits outside in the common area and does homework or plays games on her tablet while we attend class. After her daughter left, just before class began, I mentioned how inspiring I found her dedication to her daughter and her education. Shawna sighed and thanked me. She said, “It just seems like more and more when she comes home from school or after dinner, all I ever get to say to her is ‘SHHH! Mama’s reading!’”. Then she repeated the mantra of graduate students everywhere, “But it will all be worth it when I get the JD.”
I nodded along, but my heart was troubled. I am less certain that our degrees will be worth as much in the coming years as they have been in years past. As cheating becomes an industry, as employers begin to believe that all students cheat, will my friends hours of study still be rewarded as they once were? I do not know. What I do know is that the future of education is online, just like the work week of my friend and I. I do know that it is our duty as educators to protect the educational system as it moves online. We owe it to Shawna, to her daughter, and to every other student who sacrifices their money and their time for a degree that we have promised them will mean something.
[i] Name has been changed