Despite seven proven cheating cases this semester, instructors are often hesitant to report students for judicial action.

NIU Judicial Office Director Larry Bolles said there were 29 proven cases of cheating at NIU during the fall semester and seven cases proven since the beginning of this semester.

Instructors usually overlook a cheating offense the first time or resolve the matter with the student, leaving the judicial office out, Bolles said.

“Most people say ‘it’s the hassle you go through,'” Bolles said, adding some faculty feel “it’s a lot easier not to deal with it.”

The formal charges of academic misconduct include paperwork and a judicial hearing that some instructors find bothersome, Bolles said. However, “we’ve streamlined it (the charge system) here at NIU,” he said.

Many cases “are dealt with at what I call the faculty desk,” Bolles said. “That’s totally OK. Those verbal warnings take place more often than not.”

However, the more serious or repeat offenders often end up in judicial trouble, Bolles said.

Most of the proven cheating cases are in the math and computer science departments, Bolles said.

“Students seem to have more anxieties about those courses,” Bolles said. “When they feel like they’re not going to perform well, they take a shortcut and this shortcut often leads to cheating.”

However, math department Chairman John Selfridge said the number of proven cases does not reflect the number of cases resolved outside the judicial office.

The instructor has the option of dealing with the student and can impose sanctions, including giving an ‘F’ in the course, Selfridge said. “If a teacher can make an open and shut case,” first offenders usually do not receive formal charges, he said.

The math department often uses different forms of the same test, he said. Because cheaters might not realize this, they are often caught copying answers that do not make sense, he said.

“A student really does take a much bigger chance copying something he doesn’t understand,” Selfridge said.

Although less than 1 percent of NIU’s student body is caught cheating, Bolles said he realizes much more cheating occurs than is reported.

“The questionable cases are usually handled outside the judicial office,” Bolles said.

“There’s always going to be cheating no matter what you do,” Selfridge said.

While proven reports of cheating are on the upswing, “for the most part, most students don’t cheat,” Bolles said. However, the group that cheats is getting larger, he said.

According to a survey conducted by the Girl Scouts of America released this week, 65 percent of high school students surveyed said they would cheat on an important test.

The survey questioned more than 5,000 students from 233 private, public and parochial high schools.

“I don’t think we’re any different” at NIU as compared to the rest of the nation, Bolles said.

Some precautions instructors take to discourage cheating include seating arrangements, having different versions of the same test and having teaching assistants proctor tests, Bolles said.