I was asked to co-chair a committee to review my school's plagiarism policy today. The "policy" (it's really a protocol- only the Board of Education can make policy) is particularly important to me because (a) I wrote it, and (b) as English Department Chair, I am invited to every discipline meeting involving a case of plagiarism. I have spoken to lots of faculty members over the years who have passionately exclaimed the insidious nature of this academic offense and the merits of one type of discipline or another. And I have been berated by parents, as have many of my colleagues, over our handling of individual cases. So I went today expecting a rigorous debate.
I got four people. Yup. Four. And two of the four were friends that were involved in pretty high profile plagiarism cases that I worked on. The other two were pleasant surprises, both middle school teachers who were espousing the merits of a unified and consistent approach to plagiarism. So we had our forty-five minute chat the five of us, while the rest of the faculty were engaged in other meetings (cell phones the topic du jour--the cry of ban them echoed down the halls--really productive, like the suggestion to build a Jetson's-like bubble over the school to intercept cell calls...) that carried weight and importance, too, I suppose. And to think that right down the hall the five of us were only talking about issues that could potentially fail a student, jeopardize their future, or lose them gobs of tuition cash.
Maybe the issue is too hard to handle, or people feel that it is the purview of the English teacher alone, or that it just doesn't affect them, or that it was just too convenient to stay put while my colleague, the associate principal, started his session. Maybe it was more entertaining. I don't know. Maybe the cell phones are just part of a deeper issue that covers plagiarism, too. Maybe it's all about the kids cheating on one level or another. All I know is that I'm passionate about my issue, as are a handful of others. Maybe I'm weird, but I can't help but feel that plagiarism in all of its manifestations is pretty darn important, probably more important than the kid in the back of the room with the cell phone. Maybe I should just sit down and keep my mouth shut.
As I adjourned our intimate gathering I made sure to make plans to convene an ad hoc committee to study the policy more, but really wondered how that would go. I mean, if I can't get more than four people to show up for a forty-five minute session, how many would be willing to sit on a committee? I guess, in the long run, screaming at a student about his iPhone is more important than the fact that this generation feels empowered to rip others off academically. I guess we as a faculty really don't care enough to attend a meeting unless it affects us. But, boy, when it does affect us, look out, then people are concerned!
Maybe that's how I'll populate my committee...wait until someone gets good and ticked because their student plagiarized a paper and they feel betrayed, and then let them help me revise the policy. And if I'm not around when they need me, they can always just text me from class. Hell, the kids do it all the time.
