The number of academic integrity violations university-wide, including plagiarism, is on the rise, according to a report released at last week's Faculty Senate meeting.

The Senate Committee of Undergraduate Education's Academic Integrity Violations report showed that the increase in the number of plagiarizing cases for the 2005-06 year was higher than it had been in previous years, yielding 230 cases of plagiarism. Last year, there were 200 cases reported.

Vice Chairwoman of the Senate Committee of Undergraduate Education Laura Pauley said the increase in the number of cases does not necessarily mean more students are plagiarizing. The 230 cases refer to the amount prosecuted by the Office of Judicial Affairs.

"It is how many cases reported versus how many are actually happening. We don't know how may are actually happening, we only know how many are reported," Pauley said.

University policy states that academic integrity within the university includes not replicating the work of others and remaining ethical in attributing those whom do the work. The Office of Judicial Affairs deals with those who violate the policy.

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Undergraduate Education Gregory Ziegler also said the numbers in the report might not be representative of the actual number of plagiarism cases.

He added that the numbers might increase but not have a significant statistical impact.

The report states that the total number of cases represented in the charts might not be a clear depiction of the actual number of cases here at the university, but the numbers tell a different story. Rose Martin, a member of the Senate committee on undergraduate education, said the rise in the number of cases reported might be a result of an unclear academic integrity violations policy.

"Some of those violations were not always true plagiarism. That's the problem with that, it is kind of eluding. [Plagiarism] might be getting to be more of a concern, and I think the reason why is the Internet," Martin said.

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Undergraduate Education Gregory Ziegler said he also thinks the policy is difficult to understand.

"At this point you can cut and paste pretty easily. In previous years you had to read something and type it out, and you knew you were typing it out," he said. "We are kind of in a cut-and-paste world now, and I think it's just more tempting and not well understood as to what constitutes plagiarism."

Whether the numbers are a true depiction of plagiarism here or not, Ziegler and Martin both agree that the Internet is a culprit in aiding plagiarism.

"Instructors are always concerned. It is human nature [to copy] when you don't know that answer and want to get into medical school. It is always a concern, and I think we have always tried to do what we can to limit it," Martin said.

Martin said she hasn't noticed differences in the performance of her classes in regards to plagiarism.

"I do not think it is on the rise, not what I personally have seen," Martin said.