Message regarding online academic integrity

Dear colleagues,

The university has recently become concerned about a potential increase in identity fraud in online courses, including cases where students hire other students or private services to do their homework or take their exams for them (see, e.g., www.wetakeyourclass.comwww.boostmygrade.com). While this problem affects our conventional seated courses as well, identity verification is often more difficult in online courses. Even as the university explores technology and policy measures to better secure the integrity of online course offerings, faculty members can take concrete steps now to ensure the academic integrity of their online courses.

The Office of Academic Affairs, in consultation with the College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Office and Academic Extension, has developed a list of resources to combat academic misconduct in online courses.

/content/online-academic-integrity

We are formulating a more systematic approach to this problem and realize that the measures above are only a start. This is a nationwide problem, and other campuses are experimenting with measures that range from honor codes to mandatory proctoring to high-tech biometric scanning.

We must also strive to maintain student access to online courses even as we take measures to prevent academic dishonesty. We welcome any thoughts you have about how we as a campus can address this problem. Contact Ron Bramhall in Academic Affairs (rcb@uoregon.edu) with suggestions or questions.

Thank you for your attention to this and have a great fall term.

Susan C. Anderson
Senior Vice Provost
Academic Affairs

Doug Blandy
Senior Vice Provost
Academic Affairs