Lucy Donovan and Cromwell College Case Paper Example

In Lucy Donovan and Cromwell college case, it is evident that Lucy violated the University of Houston-Downtown (UHD) policy on Academic Honesty. This is because even after realizing that the Professor Sanders mistakenly left a copy of the Midterm Exam on the photocopying machine, she went ahead and read the essay question on the exam and still took the exam the day of the exam and did not notify anyone that she had seen the questions in the test before the examination date.

The UHD Academic Honesty Policy states in Section 3.1.1, bullet 1, that Students must be honest in all academic activities and must not tolerate dishonesty. Honesty is a virtue that must accompany any student willing to progress in their academic work with merit. Students are responsible for maintaining the academic integrity of the University by following the Academic Honesty Policy. This puts Lucy in violation of the responsibility of ensuring she is responsible enough to safeguard her honesty and to report the matter to the professor so that she takes a different paper. Students are responsible for doing their work and avoiding all forms of academic dishonesty.

On the other hand, section 3.1.2, bullet 4 refers to cheating as Obtaining and using the unauthorized material. This is because she obtained the paper while conducting her duties on her work-study program. This was, however, unauthorized. Furthermore, bullet 6 refers to cheating " Violating procedures prescribed to protect the integrity of a test or other evaluation exercises." Lucy being a student is fully aware of the guiding procedures governing integrity of examinations in the institution. Therefore she should have reported the matter to the professor before the due date of the test. Cheating, in this case, is a violation of honesty.

However, even though it is prudent to note that Lucy violated the honesty policy, it is equally important to note the responsibility of the faculty in safeguarding the honesty policy. Section 3.1.2 on Faculty Responsibility states that Faculty members are responsible for knowing the principles and procedures of the Academic Honesty Policy, and for enforcing the policy when academic honesty violations occur. Faculty members must also remind students of the Academic Honesty Policy and help them comply with it. In this case, the professor failed in assisting Lucy in complying with the policy. The professor very well understood that there are students on work-study program and therefore should have been more careful. This placed Lucy in a compromising position while at the same time noting that she was required to pass the exam with an average of grade C so that she gets satisfactory results on her progress report. Furthermore, she wanted to stay at school instead of being sent home because of failing to attain the required results. This makes her fight in any way possible to get the approval from her parents for her to attend school. Notwithstanding, given that she is on a work-study, it means that she cannot foot all her academic expenses and still take chances in failing in the exam. However, it is understood that she did not want to fail in the exam although she should have focused on her academics to make the subject her strongest in preparation for the test.

In conclusion, this being Lucy's first semester at school, she should have focused on her academic and commit to realizing her dream career. She should have been more focused on making her grades better by staying in school and working hard in her studies. Her actions can be a hindrance to other willing students who genuinely wish to be on the work-study program. This is after the university implements changes to the program thereby dropping the program basing on Lucy's case. Finally, it is the responsibility of both the faculty and the students to safeguard the honesty policy in the institution. Going forward, this will reduce the cases honesty policy violations.