Duke's business school punishes 34 graduate students for cheating

I can gladly say I never cheated in business school. We shared notes, passed around tests that professors let us take home and I got help from my friends but I never abused the honor code. But we did our work individually, we never got the same tests from the professors and it was all pretty much for reference for those of who were lost, so to speak.

Undergrad and High school was a different story but the competitive pressure seemed to put us between a rock and a hard place. Learning is always the most important thing but that message gets lost in the grading system. A lot of people I know cheated but I can say pretty confidently, not in business school and since all these people are going to managers and executives - influential people I'm very happy that it was that way. I know whats going on below in this article happens all the time at the so-called top schools. I know because I went to one of those high schools. There's something wrong with the system.





RALEIGH, North Carolina (AP) -- The largest cheating scandal ever at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business involved more than a take-home exam, a business school official said Tuesday.

After finding consistencies in exam answers, "the professor said, 'Let me take a look at other stuff that's been handed in,"' said Mike Hemmerich, an associate dean at the business school. A judicial board later investigated the final exam and other assignments, resulting in the punishment of 34 graduate students.

Nine students face expulsion from the competitive two-year program, which will cost first-year students in 2007 almost $50,000 for tuition, books and a laptop computer. Another 15 students could be suspended for one year and receive a failing grade in the course.

Nine others are set to get a failing grade, and one student could receive a failing grade on an assignment separate from the exam. Four others were found not guilty, Hemmerich said.

"Typically, students do file an appeal on an honor code violation," Hemmerich said.

The students have until May 17 to appeal. They were allowed to finish classes last week and are now taking final exams.

Duke has not identified the professor who gave the exam, and Hemmerich said federal privacy laws prevent the school from identifying students. The average age of students in the first-year class is 29, and more than 1,140 people applied for only 411 available spots in the program.

The scandal saddened those in the program, said Charles Scrase, a first-year student and president of the MBA Association at Duke.

"I think we view ourselves as ethical leaders," he said. "At the same time, people are both proud and relieved that we have an honor code system that works and didn't get swept under the rug."

The punishments could remain on the students' records for three months up to three years. If students appeal, the appeals committee has 10 business days to make a ruling.

The difference in punishments is based on the severity of the offense in the university's honor code, which sets different levels of infractions.

"Based on the hearing and investigation the judicial board conducted, they felt some students fell into one category and some fell into another," Hemmerich said. "Various factors were taken into account as to why one infraction would be more severe than another."

The honor code is posted in Fuqua classrooms, said Douglas T. Breeden, dean of the business school.

A survey released last year by Rutgers University professor Don McCabe showed 56 percent of MBA students acknowledged cheating in 2005. In other fields, 47 percent of graduate students said they cheated.