University of East London

UNIVERSITY OF EAST LONDON UNCONFIRMED

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY SUB COMMITTEE

Minutes of the meeting, held on 15th March at Docklands Campus

Present: Jules Cassidy (Chair), Laura Dabner, Toby Grainger,

Gail May, Deirdre O’Kelly, Mike Patten and Cathy Walsh

Officer: Dinaz Trudeau

In attendance: Alix Hansen and Leezac Robinson

The Chair welcomed Alix and Leezac to the Sub Committee.

90. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

90.1 RECEIVED: from Rob Bourne, Colette Coleman and Vusa Nkomo

91. MINUTES FROM THE PREVIOUS MEETING HELD ON 23rd NOVEMBER 2010

91.1 RECEIVED AND CONFIRMED: the minutes of the meeting held on 23rd November 2010 as an accurate record.

92. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 23rd NOVEMBER 2010

92.1 NOTED: that there were no matters arising.

93. ACTIONS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 23rd NOVEMBER 2010

93.1 NOTED: Mike Patten’s response to action from Minute 79.1.1

(a) the Chair asked MP to update the sub committee on progress of the development server for UEL Plus;

(b) MP reported that due to changes to the IT infrastructure the development server project was now on hold indefinitely and that IT Services had rejected the proposal to move our VLE from UEL Plus to Moodle as recommended by the E Learning Team in UELconnect; and

(c) that the Director of UELconnect had now progressed this matter as a matter of urgency to the Vice Chancellor who would make the final decision; and

(d) that MP has suggested that until this is resolved, his team can update information in the module sites and upload this during the lifetime of UEL Plus; and

(e) that the Chair has requested that this item be an agenda item at the June meeting of the sub committee and that MP updates the sub committee on any progress that may have been made.

Action: Servicing Officer to add this item to the agenda of the June 2011 meeting of the sub committee.

94. JOINT RESPONSIBLE OFFICERS GROUP & TURNITIN USERS GROUP MEETING – 28th OCTOBER 2010

94.1 REVIEWED: confirmed minutes and action sheet from the Joint Meeting of the Responsible Officers Group and Turnitin Users Group on 28th October 2010

94.2 RECEIVED AND CONSIDERED: a progress briefing from the Vice Chair and Chair of the Responsible Officers Group and Turnitin Users Group.

94.2.1 NOTED:

(a) that the Turnitin Policy: Guidance for Staff and Students had now been published on the UEL web pages; and

(b) that the Director of Academic Practice and Student Experience, Quality Manager (Collaborations and Review) and the Chief Management Accountant would now be meeting to discuss the financial implications of our collaborative partners obtaining their own Turnitin licenses; and

(c) that the Vice Chair had been to the recent National Turnitin Users Group and had and attended a talk on the virtues of e- marking, and it was noted that The Open University consistently achieves the highest NSS ratings for assessment feedback – all of this feedback is on-line.

95. AMENDED ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT REGULATIONS FOR POST GRADUATE RESEARCH STUDENTS

95.1 RECEIVED AND CONSIDERED: the proposed amended Academic Misconduct Regulations for Post Graduate Research Students.

95.1.1 NOTED: that there was a need to now amend these regulations and they had been through the Learning & Teaching Committee earlier this week and that they would also be presented to the Research Degrees Sub Committee, Regulations Committee and finally Academic Board for adoption and implementation in the new academic year.

96. STANDARDISED REFERENCING POLICY

96.1 NOTED: a verbal update from the Chair with regards to the

implementation of Standardised Referencing across UEL.

96.2 NOTED:

(a) that Standard Referencing was now being rolled out amongst our collaborative partners and this was being overseen by the Quality and Standards Committee; and

(b) that as a result the Quality and Standards Committee has requested that the Chair of AISC produce a Standardised Referencing Policy for the new academic year based on the paper that was approved at Academic Board; and

(c) that the Chair will present the draft policy to the next meeting of the sub committee in June 2011

Action: Chair to present the draft Standardised Referencing Policy at the next Academic Integrity Sub Committee for members to comment and endorse

96.3 NOTED: that alongside the link to Cite them right in the Campus Bookmarks section of UEL Plus and there is also a link to PLATO. Mike Patten asked if this was still relevant and if there was a newer version of PLATO available. The Associate Director of Libraries has asked a colleague in LLS to check if there is an updated version of PLATO and will report back to the Sub Committee on this.

96.4 NOTED & AGREED: that if there is not an updated version of PLATO available then the link will be removed from all web pages, UEL Plus and any academic integrity guidance and literature.

96.5 NOTED: that the Vice Chair has asked the Associate Director of Libraries to inform him personally of this decision so that he may amend standard letters he sends to students who have breached our academic misconduct regulations.

Action: CW to report back to the sub committee if there is a newer version of PLATO

Action: CW to inform the Vice Chair if PLATO is being removed so that he may amend his standard letters.

97. POSSIBLE AMENDMENTS TO EXAM REGULATIONS

97.1 RECEIVED & CONSIDERED: a paper from the Vice Chair detailing feedback he has received from Schools with regards to the possible amendments to exam regulations.

97.2 NOTED:

(a) that the Vice Chair sought the views of the AISC after receiving further feedback from Schools with regards to the possible amendments to exam regulations; and

(b) that there appeared to be no consensus as to how to proceed regarding mobile telephones and examinations; and

(c) that there was significant support for the proposal that reading time should not apply, by default, to all examinations

ENDORSED:

Mobile Phones

(a) in principle, that the Schools of Law, Health & Bioscience and RDBS should run a pilot scheme, wherein examination candidates would be required to turn off their mobile ‘phones and deposit them in opaque envelopes, stuck to the front of their desks;

(b) that the Vice Chair would discuss this proposal with the Secretary and Registrar and with student representatives.

Reading Time

(c) in principle: (i) that reading time at the start of exams should not apply as a general rule and should only apply where the academic responsible for a particular examination deemed it appropriate (and had informed the Timetabling Manager); and (ii) that where, exceptionally, reading time did apply, candidates would be permitted to write, but only on the examination question paper.

(d) that, as this proposal was a matter for Academic Board, the Vice Chair should seek the Secretary and Registrar’s advice as to the most appropriate way to proceed.

Action: the Vice Chair will progress this with the Secretary and Registrar and will report back to the June 2011 meeting of AISC

98. INFO SKILLS – THE NEW LIBRARY ONLINE SUPPORT TOOL

98.1 RECEIVED: a demonstration and verbal update from the Associate Director of Libraries and Learning Services regarding the new Info Skills Online Support Tool.

98.2 NOTED: that the Info Skills tool is available to all via the LLS web pages and is aimed at Level 1 students and has a wide range of self help tools for students.

98.3 NOTED: that there has been considerable interest in the tool from UEL staff and students, collaborative partners and interested parties from outside the university

98.4 NOTED: that dependent on funding, LLS and UELconnect wished to implement Phase 2 of building the tool by including information and self help tools for Levels 2 and 3 and Postgraduate students.

98.5 NOTED: that LLS were keen to elicit student feedback as to the Info Skills Online support tool.

98.6 NOTED: Laura Dabner suggested that Cathy Walsh approach Yousuf Joondan in UELSU to offer to demonstrate the tool to Student Programme Representatives at one of their regular meetings. Laura offered to also give feedback directly to Cathy.

98.7 NOTED: the Chair thanked and congratulated Cathy, LLS and UELconnect for the production of this tool.

99. INVESTIGATING PANELS

99.1 NOTED: an update from the Chair of the AISC regarding the recent Investigating Panels.

99.2 NOTED: that there had been a panel on 3rd March 2011 at which two cases had been heard one involving suspected importation into an examination and one involving suspected collusion.

99.3 NOTED: that there were currently 8 outstanding cases and four would be heard at a panel on 23rd March 2011 and the remaining 4 at a panel after Easter.

99.4 NOTED: that the guides produced by the Servicing Officer regarding Investigating Panels would be published by the end of March 2011.

100. ACADEMIC INTEGRITY WEEK – SEMESTER B 2010/11

100.1 NOTED: a verbal update from the Servicing Officer regarding Semester B Academic Integrity Week.

100.2 NOTED:

(a) Academic Integrity week took place this Semester in week 4, w/c 28th February 2011; and

(b) this year the focus continued to be on the new standardised referencing system; and

(c) that all February starters were sent a text message on Monday 28th February using the strap line. The text message content was to introduce Cite Them Right and encourage students to use it; and

(e) that an announcement was also made on UEL Plus and plasma screens informing students that this is Academic Integrity Week; and

(f) that articles were published in “In Focus” to increase staff awareness of Academic Integrity week, and in “Universe” (new student e-zine) to increase student awareness of AIW; and

(g) that there were stands at each site manned by student ambassadors who talked to students about academic integrity and the standard referencing initiative.

101. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

101.1 RECEIVED & CONSIDERED: the Annual Report of Assessment Offences 2009/10 from the Vice Chair which was tabled at the meeting.

101.2 NOTED:

(a) that the overall numbers of instances of academic misconduct have fallen for the first time since 2000 when the Vice Chair first started collating this data; and

(b) that Black students continue to be over represented in the figures; and

(c) that this may be because ethnicity data in the UEL Management Information System is incomplete and has limited options for ethnicity. Additionally, many students do not declare their ethnicity; and

(d) that the Vice Chair will be also analysing the data to determine the numbers of home and international students that commit instances of academic misconduct; and

(e) that the Vice Chair will also be analysing the data to determine a breakdown within the numbers of undergraduate, postgraduate taught and postgraduate research students.

101.3 NOTED: that the Chair thanked the Vice Chair for producing the report.

101.4 NOTED: that Deidre O’Kelly would be drafting guidance for students who are suspected of importing materials into examinations. This guidance would be given to the student by the Invigilator to give them information about why their work has been separated from the rest of the cohort and what the next steps would be.

101.5 NOTED: that many students were unaware of why their exam scripts were separated when suspected of a breach of regulations and it was hoped that this guidance would raise awareness and answer any questions.

101.6 NOTED: the Chair asked that Deidre bring this guidance to the next meeting of the AISC for consideration and endorsement. The Chair also advised that student feedback on this guidance would be appropriate and asked Laura Dabner to liaise with Deidre in this matter.

Action: Deidre O’Kelly to draft guidance for students who are suspected of importing materials into examinations and bring to the June meeting of AISC.

Action: Servicing Officer to include this item on the agenda for the June meeting

Action: Laura Dabner to liaise with Deidre O’Kelly regarding student feedback on this guidance.

102. DATES OF FUTURE MEETINGS

102.1 NOTED: that the next meeting of the Academic Integrity Sub

Committee for the academic year 2010/11 will take place on 9th June 2011 in RBG.13, Stratford Campus from 10.00am.

Academic Integrity 2 15th March 2011

Sub Committee