Ethical Decision Making
Samuel Johnson wrote in his book, The History of Rasselas, “Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.”. Mankind has grown and evolved ever since, and as a result has acquired a lot more knowledge, exponentially increasing the importance of Integrity. Interestingly though, living in the constantly increasing chaos of this growth hungry, technology filled and fast paced world has made it even more difficult for one to maintain their integrity. A simple lapse of judgement in even one of the millions of activities we undertake each day can have grave consequences. This margin for error reduces infinitely once we factor in the effect of our actions others around us and vice-versa, specially in organisations and groups, such as businesses, clubs and educational institutions. This is why the words of Samuel Johnson need to be kept in
Academic Integrity is essential as it helps the University determine whether a student deserves the right to the degree by confirming the work they did towards it was their own and not somebody else’s, in short that they have understood what they have learnt and will be able to use it in the future. This also safeguards the University and helps it ensure the authenticity of the certification it provides to an individual as otherwise it would not be able to maintain the standards of education the University wishes to uphold. Students benefit from Academic Integrity as it ensures that they accomplish their purpose of learning. It also helps them develop habits and values that will help them prepare to be successful in their future. It also
upholds Legal laws such as copyright laws and helps both the Student and the University are safeguarded from legal action.
Upon going throug Academic Integrity in school and Ethics in professional life have a very similar dynamic. Both are indicators of integrity, good professional ethics lead to renown and many other benefits, for example, a business that is known for having a good professional ethic will be trusted more than one known for bad or shady practices, which will lead to an increase in (as you may have guessed correctly) business. Good ethics can lead to and are essential to attaining all that every professional in the world aspires, some of which include renown, success, enlightenment, security and wealth. Although one might argue that there are many unethical ways of attaining the same as well, it is important to remember that those paths lead to very short lived fruits, and even a tiny blot or simply a question raised on one’s integrity can have grave consequences which will continue to haunt them for a very long time to come. No business or professional practice will be willing to hire a convicted felon or a known criminal, no matter what the scale of their crime be. Once one’s integrity is breached, they need to work extremely hard to get it back, no matter how smart or talented they might be.
I’m going to delve a bit into fiction to support my claims by giving the example of Mike Ross from the popular sitcom “Suits”. In the show, Mike is a college dropout working with Pearson Hardman, one of the top law firms in New York. Even though he doesn’t have a law degree, he is one if the most talented associates at the firm. Together with his boss Harvey Specter and with the use of his perfect recall, Mike helps win a large number of cases for the firm. He also has someone hack the databases of Harvard University and the Bar Association to get himself fake credentials, and keeps practicing law with their help. Eventually though, his secret does come out and he ends up a convicted felon facing a prison sentence, causing a lot of problems and almost leading to the shut down of the firm Pearson Specter List at the time. All of the work that he had done was questioned and the firm earned an extremely bad reputation for having knowingly hired a fraud. Upon his release he finds it extremely difficult to find a job, and even when he does get a job teaching at a church, he is forced to leave because the parents of a student did not want a convicted felon teaching their son. Now Mike will have to work very hard to get his life back and does not know for sure whether he will be able to do so. (Suits, Season 1-6).
Where Academic Integrity comes into question, the dynamic is ever so slightly different. Though maintaining a good Academic Integrity record may have lesser returns than Good Ethics do, it does go a long way as far as the education of the individual goes and can also help gain a better entry into the professional world by them getting glowing reviews from their professors rather than having disciplinary marks on their record. Again having a negative or a bad record can wreck havoc in a person’s personal, professional and educational journeys. Schools take academic integrity violations extremely seriously and if the student does not take corrective action in time, it may very well be the end of their dreams to graduate.
I myself have some personal experience to add to the same as i was recently given notice of Suspension from the University of Southern California, following two counts of Academic Integrity violations. The process itself took over a year and has taken a colossal toll over my health, my personal life and also my pursuit to earn a college degree. I underwent extreme amounts of stress which led to the exacerbation of a physical condition I had known as fibromyalgia, and also suffered from many anxiety issues and self confidence hits. In order to try relieve my stress and try salvage my health I decided to transfer out of USC, something which was not at all easy as no College or University would accept me with the pending Academic Integrity cases. I myself felt ashamed that I had let something like this happen to me and pretty soon my life started to evolve around these incidents and how I could clear my name.
The accusations did not just affect me but also others around me especially my parents, and they too endured a lot of stress worrying about me, especially with the way my health is and also about my future. Although I do not approve of the process and definitely do not support the outcomes, the whole ordeal has led to many changes in me and has definitely taught me a lot. Firstly, in order to avoid any further accusations, I registered with DSP to take my exams separately and also notified my professors about my condition in advance. I took help from counsellors to get my confidence back and be able to try to clear my name by furnishing facts to support my story, I read up on measures to avoid plagiarism online and started following them diligently. It taught me that life is not always fair, and that when hardships come my way instead of shying away from them, it also made me realise how strong I am and gave me motivation by believing that I can achieve anything I want to provided I commit myself to it.
Although the measures I undertook have helped me achieve my goal to avoid any future accusations and will ensure that I can salvage my reputation in the next place I go to, I only wish I had worked on them sooner rather than running away from the situation as it would have helped me avoid suspension and remain at USC. The suspension did come as a shock to me but it has made my resolve to prove myself even stronger and I am bound to bounce back from this to something way better, this time with the correct Academic Standing. All in all the past year was probably the worst i’ve ever had to go through by good measure, I am extremely grateful for the life lessons it taught me for they have helped me become a better person overall.
Works Cited
Johnson, Samuel, and D. J. Enright. The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia. London: Penguin , 1985. Print.
Korsch, Aaron. “Season 1-6.” Suits. USA Network. 23 June 2011. Television.
“University of Southern California.” SCampus Part B | Policy | USC. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2017.