Academic dishonesty

University Policies

The University's official policy on cheating is available here, as presented by the UW-Madison Dean of Students Office.

Cheating is a topic with a lot of associated urban mythology. Many TA's can tell you stories involving a friend of a friend, or the story about this one TA who... The Center for Academic Integrityis dedicated to fighting ignorance. How much of a problem?

As a math graduate student, you have probably found it easy to do well in mathematics classes. Many of your students may not feel that way. This is particularly true in courses the student is taking only as a requirement, not something he/she is really interested in. In a required course the student may also question whether the material will ever be of use, i.e. whether there is any real point to learning it other than to get a grade. Such a student may find it very tempting to try to get the grade without the learning... Every year there are quite a few instances of attempted cheating in our math classes! So you do need to be vigilant. At the same time an honest student may get very nervous and not do well on an exam if you are breathing down his neck, or otherwise telling him you think he is likely to cheat.