TurnItIn Provides a Valuable Service, But Jeopardizes Students' Rights

Realistically, if you're a professor who needs to ensure students aren't cheating on their papers, TurnItIn.com is a true time-saver with few alternatives. TurnItIn is a tremendous boon for professors who simply do not have time to painstakingly check their students' written work for plagiarism against the millions of other scholastic documents on the internet. In an insightful article published last month, one professor praises TurnItIn for its incredible efficiency and criticizes it for its monopolistic hold on students' original works.

The issue hinges on what TurnItIn does with all of those student papers it receives. It keeps them, archives them, and continues to use them for plagiarism checking. Whereas this is more of an issue in principle rather than reality, the fact remains that students are required to give over their intellectual products to a company that will use them to make a profit. Some may find that to be a bit unsettling, although there is no apparent harm that comes from it. After a 2007 lawsuit, a district court determined that TurnItIn is not breaking any copyright laws in their practices. Despite the fact that it is not technically unlawful, TurnItIn does influence the rights of students to be in control of their intellectual property.

As term papers, research manuscripts, and other long written assignments pile up, it is hard to argue against the benefits of using a site like TurnItIn to protect academic integrity and ensure the quality of students' educations. But there is a hidden cost of student ownership that, although practically innocuous (for now), may trouble the ethical constitutions of some.

Frankly Fridays - Who owns course content?

Frank Conversation about
Faculty Issues

Topic: Who owns course content? Intellectual Property in the Digital Age

Friday, April 4^th, 9:30-10:30 AM, Osprey Commons Faculty Lounge (Building 16, Room 4201)

Let us know you will be there: ofe@unf.edu

When a faculty member and a university enter into a relationship (based on a faculty hire), both parties typically intended for the relationship to be one with longevity. Both parties benefit from each others' success. Recent technological innovations, like Massively Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and social media, have challenged the nature of the relationships between faculty and universities and between faculty and students. Recent conversations around copyright of MOOCs has started a broader conversation about how the intellectual contributions of faculty are attributed and protected.  As Cary Nelson, a former president of the American Association of University Professors, explains, this "is not just the ability of faculty members to profit from their own writings or inventions, but the future of their profession." As faculty and universities engage in conversations about intellectual property, students have inadvertently joined the discussion. In a recent debacle over the posting of a course lecture through social media, faculty members and the university joined sides to combat students' posting of a lecture that was not intended to be distributed outside of the classroom. Digital advantages and innovations are providing some unique challenges to faculty and universities across the nation. UNF has a couple of policies that address copyright and intellectual property rights. 

Copyright policy at UNF
Intellectual Property Guidelines at UNF

Come discuss how these issues impact UNF and faculty across the nation.

We will meet in the Faculty Lounge on the 4^th floor of the Osprey Commons.

OFE will provide the coffee and pastries.

Let us know you will be there: ofe@unf.edu

Export Control Expert on Campus Oct 29th

In order to control top priority research and innovations, the Federal Government has provided laws that limit the flow of information and technology across boarders. The details of these laws can be quite complex. Faculty with good intentions can inadvertantly break these laws and put sensitive data at risk. Please see then notice below from Provost Earle Traynham regarding an expert in Export Control laws who will be on the UNF campus in October.  

We are pleased to host Mr. Steve Brotherton, our outside counsel for export control, on Tuesday, October 29 for his annual visit. Export control laws and regulations are complex, especially in the University setting.  Steve is one of the leading export control attorneys in the country and we are fortunate that he is willing to share his knowledge of this ever changing field of law with us. 

Such laws and regulations impose restrictions on the release or transfer of certain kinds of information, technology and physical items to foreign nationals, even when the release occurs entirely within the United States.  The laws and regulations also address issues involving international travel, international shipping, and the hiring of foreign nationals.  Since many of you are either directly or indirectly involved in one or more of these areas, your participation in this workshop is encouraged.  

It is especially important that faculty and staff whose assignment includes work on a sponsored project (i.e., a contract or grant), and your supervisor(s), become familiar with these issues because penalties for violation of export control laws are significant, and apply not only to UNF administrators but also to individual faculty and staff members. 

Please join us on Tuesday, October 29 from 9:00-10:30 in Room 3804 of the Student Union for our conversation with Steve.  Hope to see you there. 

Thanks

Earle

Academic Integrity Exercise

Deborah Zarka Miller at Anderson University recently published an article about an assignment she uses to teach her students about plagiarism. Instead of having students engage in plagiarism or try to detect plagiarism, she has students become victims of plagiarism. She describes the activity in this recent article.
http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-and-learning/a-lesson-in-academic-integrity-as-students-feel-the-injustice-of-plagiarism/

Photo credit: clarita from morguefile.com

Of Rights and Permissions in Academia

When "town" and "gown" meet, the partnering can be awkward with occasional missteps. In a recent article in the Chronicle, Tom Bartlett outlines a sticky disagreement between scientists at Massachusetts Institutes of Technology (MIT) and Sandia National Laboratories. MIT students received a $200,000 award for a product that was developed in collaboration with Sandia's scientists. The problem is that there was no public recognition of Sandia's contribution to the project.

When faculty work with community partners, clear, open, and consistent communication is key. Occasionally, especially in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) disciplines, issues arise in relation to intellectual property rights. UNF has a number of resources to help faculty take appropriate steps toward positive community partnerships.

Read the Chronicle Article:
http://chronicle.com/article/Who-Deserves-MITs-200000/128810/?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Find out more information about Intellectual Property Rights:
http://www.unf.edu/research/Intellectual_Property_and_Technology_Transfer.aspx