8 students charged in UMDNJ cheating
The dental students face discipline or dismissal. Questions were passed via e-mail, the dean said.
NEWARK, N.J. - A cheating scandal at the dental school of the University of Medicine of Dentistry of New Jersey has led to at least eight students' facing suspension or dismissal.
Students secretly memorized test questions and distributed the answers to other students who were likely to take the tests the following year, the Newark Star-Ledger reported yesterday.
Eight students were charged with violation of the school's honor code, and punishments ranging from letters of reprimand to outright dismissal have been recommended. The students can appeal the judgments.
"It's clearly not something we accept at this university," Cecile A. Feldman, dean of the dental school, told the newspaper. "This is not what we do as professionals."
Feldman said students memorized specific questions from the tests and e-mailed the questions to other students using e-mail accounts under false names. The questions would be posted on a Web site, assembled, and given to members of the next year's class.
"The majority of our students are honest students, and this put them at a disadvantage," Feldman said.
Last year, nearly one-quarter of the dental school's graduating class was found to have traded clinical credits for procedures they never performed. The students were forced to perform up to a year of community service, and one student was denied a diploma.