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campusreview.com.au
How India deals with cheats
The country will deploy a two-pronged
approach to plagiarism.
I
ndia has made a commitment to stamping out plagiarism
and contract cheating with the announcement that all
public and private universities will be given trial access to
anti‑plagiarism software.
“We have a two-pronged approach. As part of the exercise to
prevent plagiarism in the coming years, we are providing free of
cost anti-plagiarism software to all 900 universities, including
private players. It will be available to teachers, students, researchers,
everyone,” said higher education secretary K. Subrahmanyam.
The second part of the “two-pronged” process involves
“departmental and institutional-level panels be set up to deal with
plagiarism complaints”. Four severity levels of offences will exist for
master's level and above, and penalties will be proportionate. Also,
all theses, dissertations and academic papers meant for publication
must be checked using plagiarism software.
India’s tough stance
• No penalty for minor similarities, up to 10 per cent of document.
• Similarities of up to 40 per cent are a Level 1 offence. Students
will be required to resubmit the assessment in six months.
• Similarities of 60–40 per cent are a Level 2 offence. Students will
be unable to resubmit the assessment for one year.
• Similarities above 60 per cent are a Level 3 offence and will lead
to expulsion. The student’s registration for that program will also
be cancelled.
India’s tough new plagiarism laws have more than just the students
in mind. A Level 1 example of plagiarism (up to 40 per cent
similarity) in an academic and research publication will require the
author to withdraw the manuscript for publication.
Level 2 offenders will not be allowed to supervise any master's,
MPhil or PhD student for a two-year period, while a Level 3 offence
will result in “denial of two annual increments and debarment from
research supervision for three years”.
Suspension and termination will be considered for repeat offenders.
India's University Grants Commission warned that “institutional
vigilance” will be critical if universities are to retain their reputations.
“Plagiarism and data manipulation are issues of great concern,
which damage the credibility of research emanating from our
institutions. Institutions must take the responsibility for ensuring
academic standards and for emphasising, to both students and
faculty, the importance of maintaining the highest standards of
integrity in academic research,” said the report submitted by the
University Grants Commission. ■
Matthew McConaughey. Photo: University of Texas
From beach bum to professor
University appoints Oscar winner
to staff position.
A
lright, alright, alright, class.
Film students at the University of
Texas may well be hearing this at
the beginning of their first lecture later this
year now that Matthew McConaughey has
been appointed professor of practice.
4
The Dallas Buyers Club, Interstellar and
Magic Mike star will join the university's
Department of Radio-Television-Film and
draw from his work as an award-winning
actor and producer.
McConaughey, a University of Texas
alumnus, has served as a visiting instructor
since 2015, when he developed the course
curriculum for and began co-teaching
the Script to Screen film production class
alongside Emmy Award-winning filmmaker
Scott Rice.
“It’s the class I wish I would have had
when I was in film school,” McConaughey
said. “Working ... with these students gives
me a chance to prepare them.
“Making movies, turning words on
paper into film, is both a science and art
– no matter the time or generation. The
elements of truth and genuine joy for the
process are timeless. That will always be
our classroom focus.”
Departmental chair Noah Isenberg said
McConaughey’s passion for teaching
and all things cinematic “is palpable, even
infectious”.
Showing his chops for his new role, he
will be drawing from his own work in class
– the fall cohort will dissect two films in
which he stars, The Gentleman and Mud.
Jeff Nichols, the director and writer of the
latter, has been scheduled to visit.
This is not the only time McConaughey
has rifled through his contact book for his
work – director Yann Demange stopped
by his classes in 2017 and 2018 to help
teach White Boy Rick, while writer-director
Harmony Korine visited earlier in 2018 to
help students unpack The Beach Bum. ■