The Baruch College Faculty Handbook

Last updated on 1/17/2003

The taskforce met for the first time on January 16. Those who attended are listed at the bottom of this page. Faculty interested in attending future meetings please contact Associate Provost Dennis Slavin. A brief summary of the Jan. 16 discussion follows.

January 16, 2003 Discussion

Summary

Consensus emerged around the idea that all members of the Baruch community need to understand our interrelationships as “collaborative” and not “adversarial.” In an environment dedicated to the creation and dissemination of knowledge and the pursuit of truth, our educative mission depends on trust. Communicating that mission and the processes it entails might start with orientation sessions and the freshman seminar, but it should remain a significant theme in classes: faculty should clearly communicate their understanding of their own and student responsibilities through syllabi that are discussed in class; procedures in cases of academic dishonesty should be spelled out and enforced — including informing the Office of the Dean of Students; and treatment of students (and treatment of faculty by students; indeed treatment of all members of the community) must begin with respect.

This emphasis is intrinsic to our mission, but it also transcends the immediate academic environment. Within the workplace, students will derive at least two significant benefits: having learned to work independently and to think critically, they will be able to bring those skills to their careers; by earning a reputation that our programs emphasize honesty, the college will bring added value to the degrees we grant.

Next steps

On Thursday, Feb 6, the Provost will speak to the Faculty Senate about faculty rights and responsibilities. Our efforts in promoting academic integrity throughout the community will be one focus.

Creation of effective syllabi will be the subject of a faculty seminar and will be the focus of an effort by the Provost’s office this semester — as will be a move towards more systematic and effective
peer observations.

The Schwartz Communication Institute will work this semester with individual departments to discuss and develop discipline-based approaches to academic integrity; these will be coordinated with the Provost’s
office and with members of the taskforce.

Potential steps

Creation of a “Student Guide to Academic Integrity” parallel to the faculty guide, written by students with the assistance of the Office of the Dean of Students.

Creation of a “generic” websites modeled on efforts such as those by Holowczek or Taylor. Faculty could use these generic sites, or the sites could serve as the basis or inspiration for individual efforts.

Attendees
Ron Aaron

Glenn Albright

Paul Arpaia

Jerry Bornstein

David Dannenbring

Mindy Engle-Friedman

Bert Hansen

Muhammad Iqbal

Sam Johnson

Carl Kirschner

Barbara Lawrence

Alison Lovell

Salome Makharadze

Robert Myers

David E. Rivera

Donald Schepers

Dennis Slavin

Eric Williams

Joanne Wong