IIT-B has introduced
ethics and honour codes in order to curb academic malpractices in the
institutes. The authorities have released a 4 page document comprising six
broad sections and the penalties charged on account of defiance of any rule or
code. The institute has a committee called ADAC (Academic Discipline Action
Committee) including professors and student representatives, who have been
working on academic malpractices in the past months. The honour codes document
was initiated by the ADAC Committee convened by Prof Narayan Rangaraj, Academic
Affair Dean of IIT-B.

Some of the
disciplinary actions in the document include meting out Fail grade i.e. failing
students if found carrying any unauthorized material during exams, giving proxy
attendance or tampering with official documents. Penalties also include
suspension of up to a year and/or community work on account of forging faculty
signatures or communicating during toilet breaks. According to Shubham Goyal,
who is a student representative in the committee, “the honour codes have made
students more responsible in their attitude towards exams and projects.”

On the other hand,
there are some other students who find the penalties too harsh and the criteria
describing them ambiguous. Riddhi Dobrial, a second year student at IIT-B says,
“How does an institute define academic malpractice? A professor may sometimes
misinterpret a student’s behaviour during exams as cheating. Such penalties
will make students more conscious of minute actions at a time when there is
enough stress in the atmosphere.” Another student Ayushi, from the first year
feels, “Penalty such as suspension upto one year is too extreme. It’s better to
simply debar the student from the semester exam rather than wasting their
entire academic year.”

However, Prof Soumya
Mukherji, Students Affairs Dean, IIT-B says, “These rules have been long existing
in several other universities like Harvard, MIT, etc. We obviously have a zero
tolerance police. We have simply made them explicit now.” The rules have been
implemented this year and the deans hope to see some improvement over the next
few years. Students have been made to sign these documents giving the institute
the right to mete out punishments on occasions of disobedience.

 “It is only after a few years that the results
or improvements in student behaviour will be visible,” says Prof Mukherji. Whether
or not these additions will help positively curb academic malpractices is a
matter of analysis. As of now, the students may take some time to absorb and
adjust to the changes in rules.