October 13, 2017

Academic honesty statement from Tony Vizzini, provost and senior vice president

WSU students reading https://thesunflower.com were recently targeted by a company that describes itself as a provider of professional essay writing services. According to its website, the company guarantees to deliver a custom essay on time and of the highest quality. They are diligent, they say, in checking their essays against the web and their own databases to ensure that the work is original.

That's a clever way of saying that students who use their services won't get caught.

Such a company is a promoter of academic dishonesty and it is disheartening to have their advertisement appear on the online version of The Sunflower, or for any media that supports truth.

Any student using this service would be in violation of the Student Code of Conduct and, in particular, the section on academic dishonesty. There are also moral and ethical dimensions to cheating, but that's a matter of individual judgment.

I encourage students who have any questions about what is permissible to contact their instructor.

Even though syllabi contain information on academic honesty, I encourage faculty members to take a few minutes to communicate with their classes on this important subject.

I commend The Sunflower for responding immediately to my concerns on this subject. Editor Chance Swaim took needed steps to get the offending advertisement removed by the national vendor that provides website hosting for The Sunflower.

If you have additional questions or comments, please share them with me, tony.vizzini@wichita.edu