Post by corsair67 on Jul 31, 2010 20:18:23 GMT 12
Yep, there's nothing quite like the taint of serious academic misconduct to damage a university's public standing - especially when it appears that the university in question didn't investigate the issue properly in the first place! 
Air safety 'at risk from uni cheats'
Andrew Trounson
From: The Australian July 30, 2010 12:00AM
RMIT University has been rocked by a cheating scandal in aeronautical engineering, exposed by Victoria's Ombudsman.
The Ombudsman condemned the university yesterday for not properly investigating what it said was an issue of aircraft and public safety.
Ombudsman George Brouwer's report alleges that, in 2008, aeronautical engineering teacher Nihal Hana helped three advanced diploma students cheat on exams in structural stress and fatigue. Mr Hana allegedly helped one of the students cheat on another exam last year.
The report, tabled yesterday in state parliament, makes no conclusions on Mr Hana's alleged motivations, but notes he had a poker machine gambling habit with debts of more than $80,000. "Such personal circumstances, not surprisingly, can accompany the risk of corrupt conduct," the report said.
The ombudsman said Mr Hana "vehemently denies" the report's conclusions.
The ombudsman investigated after being tipped off by a whistleblower after RMIT's disciplinary board found there was insufficient evidence to prove the students had cheated.
Mr Hana continued to teach until made redundant by a restructuring in December.
"This is sufficient to indicate a clear failure to address a serious matter, which potentially affected not only the reputation of the university but, more importantly, the standard of the education provided by the university, including the inherent public risk arising from inadequately trained graduates of the university," the report said.
The Ombudsman decided to disclose the findings because of the potential risk posed to safety. Graduates may work on maintenance tasks if under the supervision of engineers. The report said both the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and Engineers Australia had advised that any incompetency in these graduates was a risk to public safety.
But RMIT told the Ombudsman the risk from the allegations was "greatly overstated". Acting vice-chancellor Daine Alcorn said all students with the qualification "must do additional study and obtain CASA accreditation before they can work independently on an aircraft".
"We have already addressed, and are continuing to address, all the matter raised," she said, adding that RMIT stood by the quality of its courses and graduates.
She refused to take questions until the university had more time to look at the report.
The report details allegations that Mr Hana provided the students with a copy of the exam paper for a test in November 2008. There are further suspicions the students used otherwise banned programmable calculators to store answers.
It details frequent phone contact between Mr Hana and one of the students in the lead-up to the exam. In another incident, in June last year, it details evidence that Mr Hana phoned the same student within a minute after opening an email containing the exam paper for a test the student was due to re-sit the next day, after an earlier failure. The student passed with a mark of 67 out of 70.
The Ombudsman concluded Mr Hana had assisted students to cheat in two exams.
"This resulted in the students achieving marks well beyond their academic ability and allowed them to progress their studies in the advanced diploma and, in one instance, to graduate," the report said.
www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/air-safety-at-risk-from-uni-cheats/story-e6frgcjx-1225898696289
Air safety 'at risk from uni cheats'
Andrew Trounson
From: The Australian July 30, 2010 12:00AM
RMIT University has been rocked by a cheating scandal in aeronautical engineering, exposed by Victoria's Ombudsman.
The Ombudsman condemned the university yesterday for not properly investigating what it said was an issue of aircraft and public safety.
Ombudsman George Brouwer's report alleges that, in 2008, aeronautical engineering teacher Nihal Hana helped three advanced diploma students cheat on exams in structural stress and fatigue. Mr Hana allegedly helped one of the students cheat on another exam last year.
The report, tabled yesterday in state parliament, makes no conclusions on Mr Hana's alleged motivations, but notes he had a poker machine gambling habit with debts of more than $80,000. "Such personal circumstances, not surprisingly, can accompany the risk of corrupt conduct," the report said.
The ombudsman said Mr Hana "vehemently denies" the report's conclusions.
The ombudsman investigated after being tipped off by a whistleblower after RMIT's disciplinary board found there was insufficient evidence to prove the students had cheated.
Mr Hana continued to teach until made redundant by a restructuring in December.
"This is sufficient to indicate a clear failure to address a serious matter, which potentially affected not only the reputation of the university but, more importantly, the standard of the education provided by the university, including the inherent public risk arising from inadequately trained graduates of the university," the report said.
The Ombudsman decided to disclose the findings because of the potential risk posed to safety. Graduates may work on maintenance tasks if under the supervision of engineers. The report said both the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and Engineers Australia had advised that any incompetency in these graduates was a risk to public safety.
But RMIT told the Ombudsman the risk from the allegations was "greatly overstated". Acting vice-chancellor Daine Alcorn said all students with the qualification "must do additional study and obtain CASA accreditation before they can work independently on an aircraft".
"We have already addressed, and are continuing to address, all the matter raised," she said, adding that RMIT stood by the quality of its courses and graduates.
She refused to take questions until the university had more time to look at the report.
The report details allegations that Mr Hana provided the students with a copy of the exam paper for a test in November 2008. There are further suspicions the students used otherwise banned programmable calculators to store answers.
It details frequent phone contact between Mr Hana and one of the students in the lead-up to the exam. In another incident, in June last year, it details evidence that Mr Hana phoned the same student within a minute after opening an email containing the exam paper for a test the student was due to re-sit the next day, after an earlier failure. The student passed with a mark of 67 out of 70.
The Ombudsman concluded Mr Hana had assisted students to cheat in two exams.
"This resulted in the students achieving marks well beyond their academic ability and allowed them to progress their studies in the advanced diploma and, in one instance, to graduate," the report said.
www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/air-safety-at-risk-from-uni-cheats/story-e6frgcjx-1225898696289
