Joe has taught art at a community college for several years. A particular student who had been doing "B" work for the semester submitted a piece of art for a final project that was very good and received an "A". Joe thought it was better than expected, but after all it was a final project (the student probably tried harder) and he was grading 20 other student projects during the group critique. He did not have a conversation with the student individually. The situation did not seem unusual.

In the course outline students are instructed that copying artwork produced by others without giving proper credit to the artist is not acceptable and he has talked during the semester about how to label such work if a copy is made and that art that is an exact copy of even photographs is also to be considered plagiarized and illegal. Joe has "caught" 2 or 3 pieces of work in his 20 years of teaching, and is careful about such things, but can't be aware of every painting in the world.

One year later, Joe finds out by accident, that the final project was copied, by seeing the original of the work that was copied and remembering he had seen it before. Does Joe have an obligation to the student and the school?

Questions: Which of the following do you most agree with,? Why?

No, it's water under the bridge and should be left alone.

Yes, he should try to find the student, and

- change the grade to an F by notifying the college

- reprimand the student by letter

- insist that the student do another final project without notifying the college (what if the student refuses?)

- just change the grade without telling the student

In the future, have all students sign a statement declaring that their work is original (would that solve the problem?)