Once a person has decided that they want to
join the ranks of academia with the vision of bettering themselves and entering
the professional world, the steps that they take while pursuing this vision
become the code by which their future is built.
The actions that are taken and the ideals which are formed during this
academic tenure will often determine just how influential and respected a
person can become in society, as well as the ethical code that they
follow.
The philosophy of ethics can be broken down
into three categories; personal ethics, professional ethics and academic
ethics. Personal ethics are the basic
principles and values that oversee how we get along with each other. Society has dictated that good ethics include
those which impact our experiences in a positive manner when interacting with
others either in a social or business manner.
Anything that is negative would not be considered as socially acceptable.
Professional ethics are the personal and
business behavior, values and guiding principles which have been established by
organizations in order to help guide their members and help them perform their
job functions according to the organization's ethical principles.
Academic ethics are the personal behaviors
of an academic community to present work that is truly their own. Plagiarism, cheating, or following the
regulations are all offenses which can compromise the integrity of the facility
and diminishes the academic spirit of the college experience.
The official plagiarism policy of Kaplan
University can be defined as "All work done for the completion of a course
must be your original work with appropriate citations or acknowledgements for
any sources utilized in the completion of any coursework, project, or
assignment. This includes, but is not limited to, discussion boards, computer
programs, marketing plans, PowerPoint presentations, papers, and other
assignments, including drafts and final versions. (Kaplan University,
2014)."
The Kaplan plagiarism policy then goes on
to further identify the offenses which make up plagiarism as those which
include, but are not limited to the usage of ideas, words and/or other works
from their authors without their consent or credit, the purchase of a paper off
of the internet for the purpose of using it as the original work of the
submitter, and the submission of any paper, whole or in part, as your own -
even though you did not do the actual work.
According to Lobanov-Rostovsky's definition
of plagiarism in Angelaki: Journal of the Theoretical Humanities, (2009),
"Plagiarism is traditionally viewed as a form of theft, with an emphasis
on the unearned benefits – educational, financial, or professional – that the
plagiarist gains by appropriating the intellectual work of another." The paper goes on to claim that this idea of
what plagiarism is simply means that none of our ideas or thoughts are actually
our own, but are a regurgitation of compilations of preexisting knowledge.
The act of committing plagiarism is a very
serious offense which has equally serious consequences. If it has been determined by the University
that such an offense has taken place, then one of three consequences will
occur. These consequences, as defined by
the Kaplan Integrity Policy, are: first offense - failure of the assignment,
second offense - failure of the class and, third offense - expulsion from the
University (Kaplan University, 2014).
The plagiarism charges are subsequently
recorded in the Kaplan University database and stay there permanently. Should a student continue to commit
plagiarism, the charges will accumulate and upon the third offense, the student
will be permanently dismissed from the University.
To avoid these consequences, the University
has given students guidelines that they can use to follow so they can avoid
committing any action which could be deemed plagiarism. Some of these ways include the Q & A
Center, Live Tutoring, and various workshops, either live or recorded, the
Kaplan University Writing Center (KUWC).
These resources can be found inside the Academic Support Center at
Kaplan University.
Personal choice is always the first
recourse to becoming known as an ethical person, both in academia and in
professional institutions. It is first
within the academic institution where students develop their moral and ethical
standards which they then take with them into their professional careers. It is up to them to then maintain a high
level of honesty and integrity and their actions both within and without these
careers. To do otherwise would cause
others to question the policies of the institution involved.
The profession that a person chooses, where
they choose to practice said profession, the actions that they take, and how
they choose to practice this profession are all personal choices that are made
by the individual. These personal
choices have been consciously made because of the path that the student took
during their academic career. It is
these conscious choices which become that person's code of ethics and is influenced
by their ethical identity (Romani & Szkudlarek, 2014).
The case of the shooting of 18 year old
Michael Brown in St. Louis, Missouri brings the problems behind personal choice
and ethics to light. Officer Wilson had
to make his own split second decision when faced with a young man who, some
witnesses stated, was charging him.
Since the conclusion of the Grand Jury trial, and the subsequent
acquittal of the officer, there have been many different opinions raised across
the country of the ethics of Officer Wilson and the St. Louis police
department. The decision to shoot was
simply a personal choice that Wilson made in the face of whatever peril he perceived
at the time of the incident (Cassell, 2014).
If ever faced with any type of ethical
question, the main thing to do in order to maintain personal ethics that
conform to the expected ethics is to both fall back on the ethics taught to you
during your academic and professional career.
Stay up to date on what the ethics state and simply comply with the laws
and rules of the day.
It is
the actions and ideals which make up a person's ethical code during his
academic career that will have a lasting impact on how he or she will be viewed
in the professional world. Cheating,
stealing another person’s ideas, prevaricating or acting in a socially
inacceptable manner will all subject an individual to untold scrutiny and
negative consequences. Thus, it is by
following the ideals and ethics that were exemplified during the academic
career, that one can ensure themselves a positive future ahead.
References
Cassell,
P. (December 08, 2014). The overlooked audiotape of the Michael Brown shooting.
The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/12/08/the-overlooked-audiotape-of-the-michael-brown-shooting/
Kaplan
University. (2014). Kaplan University's Policy on Plagiarism. Academic Support
Center. Retrieved from https://kucampus.kaplan.edu/MyStudies/AcademicSupportCenter/WritingCenter/WritingReferenceLibrary/ResearchCitationAndPlagiarism/KaplanUniversitysPlagiarismPolicy.aspx
Lobanov-Rostovsky,
S. (2009). The Death of the Plagiarist. Angelaki: Journal Of The Theoretical
Humanities, 14(1), 29-39. doi:10.1080/09697250903006435
Romani,
L., & Szkudlarek, B. (2014). The Struggles of the Interculturalists:
Professional Ethical Identity and Early Stages of Codes of Ethics Development.
Journal Of Business Ethics, 119(2), 173-191. doi:10.1007/s10551-012-1610-1
