David Murray, adjunct associate professor in the School of Management and Sciences, walked into his class on Oct. 29 just a little after 6 p.m., slammed a stack of papers on the front table, approached the chalkboard in the Knox Hall classroom, and wrote, "WE HAVE A PROBLEM."
His Introduction to Management Info Systems online-based class, MGS 351, was preparing to take an exam when Murray, known for his friendly personality, confused students by announcing that the test was canceled, according to Jordan Daniel, a junior business major.
"[Murray] told us that someone had stolen the test and he was going to do whatever he could to find out who did it," Daniel said.
Rumors had circulated that a copy of the exam had been illegally obtained prior to the test at 6 p.m. Arik Kayam, a junior business major, heard that the test was being passed around to students in the class after it had possibly been stolen by a student who had taken the test earlier that day.
While Kayam denies having obtained a copy of the test, he knows of someone who saw the exam before the second exam began at 6 p.m.
"I know of a kid that had a hard copy of the test five minutes before the test," Kayam said. "As we were walking out of the test and talking about what happened, [my friend] said that someone [walked up to him] and [handed him] a copy of the test and just walked away."
The copy seemed like a rough draft of the exam because it had questions but lacked answer choices, according to Kayam, who heard the information from a friend.
Rumors also circulated among students that a copy of the exam had been taken from Murray's office the previous day.
Murray has used the same test each year, and it is relatively easy to acquire, according to James*, a senior in the School of Management.
"For the first two tests [last year in Murray's class], I didn't get a hold of the tests at all," James said. "But I heard from some kids that the questions on the test and the order [of multiple choice answers] are exactly the same, maybe just a little bit different. I got a hold of the final exam and the test was pretty similar. It has been around for a long time. I wasn't surprised that [students obtained the test]. If he hands back the tests and uses the exact same tests, it is going to happen."
According to e-mails that Murray sent to his class listserv about the incident, the test, regardless of how it was obtained, was sent using various media sources around campus. The e-mail states sources including "e-mailing, transferring while connected to Resnet or UB Wireless, printing, DC++, messaging programs (QQ) and others."
Murray, who declined to comment to The Spectrum, is a professor in Digital Forensics. According to the course description, the class teaches students to "acquire, authenticate and analyze digital evidence."
In one of the e-mails to his class, Murray stated that he is working with the UBIT Department to compile a list of all students who sent or received the exam.
E-mails that are stored on any UBmail account can be retrieved by officials, according to Andrew Seier, a junior Spanish and biochemistry major and a technical assistant with the CIT Help Desk.
"You can [try to] permanently delete an e-mail from your account," Seier said. "But if the e-mail was in any folder for longer than 24 hours, then a backup is automatically made and can be readily restored."
The process to recover e-mails is simple and takes little more than a proper request form, according to Seier.
"It would be trivial for the university to recover sent e-mails," Seier said. "All you would need is a TKS restore form, which can be found on the UBIT website, [to be filled out and include] the content in the e-mail."
In cases of academic dishonesty at UB, the problem is initially handled by the professor directly involved. The matter then proceeds to the chair of the department and, depending on the severity of the incident, the dean of the department and Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education may step in.
The chair of the School of Management, Dr. Ram Ramesh, is out of the country and could not be reached for comment. In cases where Ramesh is unavailable, Hejamadi R. Rao, SUNY Distinguished Service Professor and professor for the Department of Management, handles all complaints.
Unfortunately, Rao is out of the country as well.
Dr. G. Lawrence Sanders, former department chair of the School of Management, denied having any knowledge of this incident but remarked that Murray, a former student, was a reputable person.
"I have complete trust in Murray's integrity," Sanders said.
Katherine Ferguson, associate dean for the School of Management, states that her department is taking the cheating in Murray's class very seriously.
"There is an ongoing investigation on which I will not comment," Ferguson said. "However, academic integrity is one of our core values and principles, one that we take very seriously and feel is of the utmost importance."
Murray is working extensively to not only find those involved with cheating on the exam but also to make sure all students are treated fairly, according to Ferguson.
"He is following all university procedures to make sure all interests of those involved are protected," Ferguson said. "Murray is conducting the most thorough and humane investigation possible."
Ferguson, while shocked by the extent of the cheating on the MGS 351 exam, is not surprised that academic dishonesty is a problem on campus.
Professors in the School of Management have to work diligently to prevent academic dishonesty within their classes, according to Ferguson.
"The way we deliver our online courses [with such a large number of students] makes it the faculty's responsibility to create classroom conditions for academic integrity," Ferguson said.
While she does not feel that teachers are ever to blame for students cheating on a test, Ferguson believes that there are appropriate procedures in place to prevent against students working the system to their advantage.
Although this situation is disheartening, Ferguson sees this moment as a learning opportunity for undergraduate students.
Murray has dedicated "hundreds of hours" to investigating this incident, according to Ferguson, and while Ferguson would not comment on possible punishments for those involved, she did say that students would be prosecuted based on the degree of their involvement.
In an e-mail sent to the MGS 351 listserv, Murray told students that he had a list of "dozens" of names of the students involved and gave them until Friday, Nov. 12 at 9 p.m. to come forward and admit their involvement.
Students who came forward and told Murray everything they knew will be looked favorably upon, while those who refused to admit involvement will be sanctioned accordingly, Murray told his class in an e-mail.
According to Elizabeth Lidano, director of judicial affairs and student advocacy, her office plays a limited role in handling such cases of academic dishonesty, and the departments rely on guidelines for academic standards that are posted in the Course Catalogue online.
The Academic Catalogue for 2010 to 2011 states that students who obtain a copy of a test prior to an exam are guilty of being in possession of "confidential academic materials."
UB's academic guidelines state that those involved in the "procurement, distribution or acceptance of examinations or laboratory results without prior and expressed consent of the instructor" are guilty of academic dishonesty.
Students who violate academic dishonesty guidelines face sanctions of varying degrees of severity, ranging from a warning, to failing the class, to expulsion from the university itself.
Students, including Kayam, find this whole incident to be unfortunate and unfair for those not involved.
"It was frustrating…I didn't go out the night before, I studied for [the exam] all day and I show up to the test and it gets canceled," Kayam said. "I was prepared for it. The test looked easy [because I had studied] and I was ready to take that test."
Murray, who offered numerous makeup tests to replace the canceled exam, apologized to students who were innocent and negatively affected by other students' actions.
"I am very sorry to tell the 90 students who took the 6 a.m. exam that your scores will not count," Murray said in his e-mail. "Unfortunately, the selfish actions of these students have resulted in a tremendous inconvenience for the rest of the class."
*James is not the student's real name. The Spectrum changed it because he wished to remain anonymous.
E-mail: news@ubspectrum.com
