Ohio University’s Russ College of Engineering and Technology will no longer review plagiarism allegations involving engineering students to remove questions of conflicting interest.

After consulting with the provost and legal affairs, the college decided to stop reviewing plagiarism allegations in early March, opting instead to bring in external investigators, said Colleen Carrow, the college’s director of external relations.

Nearly four years ago, Tom Matrka, then mechanical engineering graduate student, reported numerous cases of plagiarism to OU judiciaries. The scandal became public in May 2005. Matrka continues to find and report plagiarism to legal affairs and the college every few weeks.

Currently the college’s Research Integrity Committee, chaired by engineering professor Michael Prudich, prepares casebooks on suspect thesis and provides the casebook to the Academic Honesty Hearing Committee for judgment.

As of early February, 25 former students had been told to rewrite their theses and eight cases had been dismissed. OU revoked one degree last year. At least 30 theses have yet to be reviewed, Prudich said.

In the new model, Prudich will forward allegations to a party outside the college, but within OU.  Prudich and Engineering Dean Dennis Irwin are searching for candidates. “Finding someone who wants the job won’t be easy, but we’re confident,” Prudich said.

Although the college’s faith in their own committee has not shaken, removing the whole college from decisions of guilt or innocence eliminates questions of integrity, Carrow said. “It really came down to a matter of public perception.”
Prudich agreed.

“We want to make sure no one can say Russ had a horse in this race,” Prudich said.

The external reviewer will prepare a casebook and send it to the honesty committee for action.  If the honesty committee decides a thesis must be rewritten, a professional outside the university will approve the student’s rewritten thesis.

Earlier this year, Matrka discovered that two theses approved by college advisors contained large deletions and little rewritten text. One lacked a literature review.

Prudich said he is searching for candidates to oversee re-writes.

The integrity committee will still report the number of cases, students and faculty involved, but will no longer review individual cases, Carrow said.  However, the committee will have the opportunity to take actions or make recommendations if they identify a pattern or larger concerns, she said.