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On Thursday, April 6th 2023, the Ashesi Judicial Committee (AJC) adjudicated on a case of plagiarism.

Background
A faculty member in the Leadership II course flagged the mid-semester examination paper of a student from c2025 when Turnitin reported a similarity index of 57%. Investigations carried out by the faculty member revealed that the paper submitted was similar in content to a paper submitted a year ago by a student in the c2024.

Hearing
During the hearing it was discovered that the sophomore had requested help in writing the essay from the junior. The junior, unable to give the sophomore the needed help and attention at the time shared the essay via WhatsApp to serve as a guide. With deadlines fast approaching, the sophomore decided to copy large sections of the essay and submitted it as her own. The case was escalated to AJC due to the severity of the case and a similarity index of 57% captured by the Turnitin Report. The junior whose work was copied, was completely oblivious to the fact that large portions of the work had been submitted.


Verdict & Recommendation(s)
After deliberating, the AJC concluded that the student involved was found guilty of plagiarism and would receive a failing grade (E) for the course.

As stated in Ashesi’s Student Handbook: 
“Academic dishonesty includes plagiarism, unauthorized exchange of information or use of material during an examination, unauthorized transfer of information or completed work among students, use of the same paper in more than one course, unauthorized collaboration on assignments, and other unethical behaviour. Disciplinary action will be taken against academic dishonesty” (Section 7.4)

Advice to the Ashesi Community:
The AJC would like to remind students that plagiarised work and a lack of academic integrity will have serious repercussions. In addition to this, the Ashesi community should remember the following:

  1. Upperclassmen should be careful when sharing their work with other students. They should be aware that they risk having their work plagiarised and appearing before the AJC. Make it clear that submitted essays are to be used as a guide and nothing more.
  2. Students in receipt of submitted essays from upperclassmen should be aware that they will be held accountable should the work be reported to have been plagiarised.
  3. Students should plan their academic life well because leaving things to be done at the last minute generally leads to rush work and copying. Please manage your time well.
  4. When students are submitting their work, they are required to take the time to learn about proper and improper citation practices. This information has been made available to them in the Appendix of the Student’s Handbook (pgs. 83-84)
  5. In addition to the above, Ashesi’s Written and Oral communication course, the Writing Centre, Library, and peer tutors are great resources for help in submitting your work. Students, please take advantage of these resources.
  6. Faculty should require all written assignments or papers to be submitted to Turnitin.

We trust that this case will serve as a learning experience for our community. Academic honesty is very important at Ashesi and is central to our mission: To train a new generation of ethical and entrepreneurial leaders in Africa; to cultivate within our students the critical thinking skills, concern for others, and the courage it will take to transform a continent.