Plagiarism Consequences for A Student Caught Cheating That Way (Essay Sample)

Plagiarism Consequences for A Student Caught Cheating That Way
Student's Name
Institutional Affiliation
Course
Professor's Name
Date
Plagiarism Consequences for A Student Caught Cheating That Way
Plagiarism is knowingly using someone else's words, notions, information, or any other creative (not common-knowledge) content without acknowledging them as the source. Thanks to the internet, plagiarism is on the rise in modern academic institutions. Intentional and unintentional plagiarism results in harsh consequences for students since colleges expect them to know how to reference borrowed information. Sanctions due to plagiarism often include a grade bump, failing or repeating a course, suspension and expulsion in extreme cases or for repeat offenders. Plagiarism is a capital academic offense that colleges should dissuade by imposing harsh academic sanctions, taking disciplinary action, and imposing reputational penalties for students caught cheating that way.
Academic sanctions at the institutional level communicate an institution's commitment to a liberal and integral education. Institutions academically sanction students by bumping their grades, failing or making them repeat the course, or denying them the degree pursued, especially repeat offenders. These sanctions deter the rest of the students' populace from plagiarizing or cheating altogether since plagiarism "diminishes [a student's] chances of a good reference from the instructor for a scholarship application, study abroad program, graduate school, internship or graduate assistantship" (Dowd, 2017). Students caught unintentionally plagiarizing should have a sealed envelope containing details of their offense attached in their files and opened when they re-offend for harsher action. In minor cases, colleges should require students to attend conferences and seminars on the dangers of plagiarizing and how it affects their academic careers (Dowd, 2017). Such seminars dispense critical knowledge of plagiarism's evils and how to avert this fraudulent academic mistake in the future. Academic sanctions imperil a student's academic career and warn them of future offenses, restoring the integrity of an institution's methods of education.
Disciplinary action should be stiff and harsh to forewarn potential offenders and foster academic integrity. A formal complaint and warning letters for first offenders in their student files, suspension, expulsion in extreme cases, and rescinding of bestowed honors and degrees are some of the possible disciplinary actions. The degree of disciplinary action should be commensurate to a student's level of offense – the number of times caught and the amount of content plagiarized. For students caught more than once, institutions should consider suspension or expulsion for severe cases (Gray, 2016). For students caught to have plagiarized their thesis or dissertation papers post-graduation, institutions should recall the bestowed honors and degrees to ascertain their programs' integrity. For instance, Universität Bayreuth revoked the German Defense Minister's Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg doctorate in March 2011 (Pidd, 2011). Such disciplinary action affirms institutional commitment to upholding educational integrity and dissuading dirty antics by circumventing the system to acquire fraudulent degrees that do not meet the threshold.
Student reputational penalties paint the student as a cheat and a lie willing to bend the rules and circumvent the system to get his or her way. Students caught plagiarizing in that manner should suffer the wrath of being shamed on campus as cheats. It diminishes their standing in the campus academia fraternity (Dowd, 2017). Similarly, their file should contain an attached letter of their plagiarism crimes and antics issuable to employers in the future for severe cases. Although seemingly drastic, such measures give the students a befitting reputation as cheats. Potential employers will approach them cautiously to protect their reputations and their work from infringement by underserving characters. These studen