Wow, this article in today’s Journal Star edition about “cheating” allegations at UNMC’s dental college will raise some eyebrows, and cause some embarrassment. If these allegations are true, it does not bode well for perceptions of the school, and in particular perceptions about the quality of students it graduates. Although students, and even faculty, circulating study aids for exams isn’t new, the fact that the material passed around among UNMC students both contained unreleased information and had a monetary cost does indeed sound a tad disturbing. I have never heard of something like this before, but I never went to dental or medical school either. Is this a regular practice that is done at other schools?
Three other notes: I have been a patient with the faculty practice at UNMC’s dental school here in Lincoln, and have been very impressed. I recently underwent root canal re-treatment procedures there and – for a root canal re-treatment – it was about as pleasant an experience as it could have been, and the faculty member who did it clearly knew what he was doing and did an excellent job.
Secondly, I didn’t know that Mike Foley had the authority to investigate University of Nebraska activities. One wonders if this is an indication that an internal investigation just didn’t pan out. Well you learn new things everyday.
Finally, the article in the Journal Star was long, very informative, well-written, and well-researched. Kudos to Melissa Lee.
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I wouldn’t have thought that Foley had that ability, but I guess it is a state entity, and he’s the man at the state with the authority. Makes sense.
The Omaha World Herald article is better, in that it illuminates that the faculty themselves vetted this material in the past and that some things were removed, and its distribution continued. Between that and the fact that such a small student body did this for so longs spells approval until it was brought to light recently in an ‘official capacity’. Now they have to go through the motions of righteous indignation. Grad programs have many past exams online for student at schools all across the country with links on their official sites. This is not the scandal they are trying to make of it.
Thanks for the tip, I’ll have to find the OWH article. Still, I wanted to give a “shout out” to the Journal Star (to quote Governor Palin) for what seems to me to be a fine piece of journalism.
Mike Foley certainly does have the authority, although the University has their own internal auditors as well.
i haven’t been to dental or medical school either, but some of my best friends have. and i’d just say this article makes it sound worse than it really is, in my opinion. i couldn’t figure out what people were upset about - is it the actual “study guide” that is going around, or is it that students have to pay for it? is someone just unhappy that someone else is making money?
Here’s the OWH article.
The OWH story seems to accept the “study guide” claim at face value and focus more on the intellectual property claim.
The best part of the LJS story were the points in which that “harmless study guide” idea was challenged and revealed to be not as innocent as the PR-spin suggests
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