SCU president gives top priority to integrity
Updated: 2013-06-27 11:15
By Li Yu and Peng Chao reported from Chengdu (chinadaily.com.cn)
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Xie Heping, president of southwest China's Sichuan University, urged faculty and students to show integrity in their daily lives. |
"I don't expect that every single one of my students will make earthshaking achievements, but I do expect that every one of them should be honest," said Xie Heping, during a speech to the university's faculty and students on June 19.
Xie said that their integrity was particularly important as society is facing a crisis of integrity amid scandals– such as the fake photos of what was supposed to be a tiger in south China, tainted milk and academic fraud of university professors.
"Universities are society's spiritual lighthouses, and they should not aim for quick results at any cost," said Xie. He said universities should inspire honesty and a spirit of learning among its students .
Xie spoke about the experience of world-class universities, and said Sichuan University had also worked out measures to promote its academic integrity.
The university will establish a special office in charge of academic integrity. "Academic integrity will be promoted throughout the whole process of a student's enrollment, course learning and graduation," Xie said.
He added that, starting in September, every freshman must sign an academic integrity commitment when they enroll, and students must take an online test related to academic morality at the beginning of every semester.
Courses on academic morality and integrity will become required courses, and graduate students must take a required course called Scientific Morality and Academic Integrity, which is worth five credits.
Xie also said that the academic integrity of lecturers will constitute the main part of their annual assessment, the conferring of academic titles and various awards, adding that the university has "zero tolerance" for academic fraud.
In addition, the university will establish an incentive mechanism to encourage researchers to devote themselves to honest academic researches.