Tom Isern, NDSU

Congratulations are due Dave Mills, PhD student in History at NDSU, on having received a Larry Remele Research Fellowship from the North Dakota Humanities Council. In its deliberations last week, the council considered seventeen proposals and made five awards. This means Dave earned his award in a competitive situation. Moreover, his was the only graduate student proposal funded; all other awards went to veteran faculty. Well done, Dave. Dave's project is "Cold War in a Cold Land," a study of all aspects of the Cold-War experience in North Dakota. This fits with his more general dissertation study of the Cold War on the Northern plains. Dave is a fine presenter, too, and so given the lecture-presentation requirements of the Remele fellowship, his work is sure to go over well with the public.

Looking ahead here to the spring round of Senior Seminar presentations--there will be two events. Papers this term have pursued two lines of investigation: the history of Bonanzaville buildings, and the history of ethnic groups in Barnes County (for details, go to www.ndsu.edu/instruct/isern/489). Details will be posted later, but here are the times and dates for presentation events.

Sunday 7 May, 2:00 PM: paper presentations at Bonanzaville

Wednesday 10 May, 7:00 PM: paper presentations at Barnes County HIstorical Museum

I need to say a word about a situation that has developed in the History program here at NDSU. Somehow, a belief has arisen that it is OK to submit the same paper for more than one course. It is not. NDSU has no specific policy on this, but there are principles generally accepted across the United States. Here are quotations from the written policies of a few institutions.

The Dartmouth College Honor Code: "Submission of the same work in more than one course without the prior approval of all professors responsible for the courses violates the Academic Honor Principle."

Yale College Undergraduate Regulations: "You may not submit the same paper, or substantially the same paper, in more than one course. If your topics for two courses coincide, you must have written permission from both instructors before either combining your work on two papers or revising an earlier paper for submission to a new course."

University of Southern California Academic Integrity Quiz: "Our rules prohibit using the same essay, term paper or project in more than one course without permission of the instructors. Remember it is always scholastic dishonesty if your action allows you to obtain an unfair academic advantage. For example, you would have the assistance from your previous professor's comments and instructions and also save all the time that your classmates are using to write the paper. In addition, your professor assumes that you are writing an original paper for this class."

These are just a few examples of such statements. Broader study of extant policies reveals a range of treatments. Many institutions specifically define the submission of the same paper in more than one course as plagiarism. Personally, I don't agree with this; I don't think the term "plagiarism," commonly defined as representing someone else's work as your own, applies; but I do think it is academic dishonesty of some kind. Most institutions provide for exceptions to the prohibition of multiple submissions, with clauses to the effect that if you have the prior permissions of both instructors, it is acceptable. Often institutional policies go on to explain that a rationale for exception to the multiple-submission rule would be if a student planned a project that was bigger than the requirements of one course and therefore sought to submit simultaneously to two courses, with permission of instructors, of course. Policies also (as does the USC policy above) sometimes explain that if a student is allowed to submit the same paper to more than one course, that student gains an unfair advantage over others.

So, here is where I stand on the matter. Hereafter, in any course I teach that includes a research paper, I will announce that simultaneous submissions simply are not acceptable.

This policy is in line with accepted principles to which I, and other respectable historians, adhere in professional practice. Historical editors prohibit simultaneous submissions.

History, after all, is a profession. What defines professions is that they have rules, expectations of acceptable behavior and practice. It is important that we at NDSU play by the established, accepted rules of the profession. In the short term, some may think this is burdensome. In the long term, we all--students and faculty--will benefit by upholding the reputation of the university and our program.