A Verdict on Backfiles

Students learn from a young age that cheating in school is a cardinal sin, and the penalties are there to prove it. In writing essays, taking tests, working problem sets, and doing research, students know it is of the utmost importance they avoid plagiarizing, cite their sources, meet expectations of group work, and avoid the appearance of cheating during exams. Class syllabi and course evaluations remind students at the beginning and end of every semester of the importance of academic integrity. Students caught plagiarizing on papers or collaborating on work not intended for groups can expect extremely harsh punishment ranging from zeroes on assignments to failing marks to expulsion. And these punishments carry weight: A mark of academic dishonesty can mar a student’s professional record for life.

But none of these warnings are preventing what is perhaps one of the worst-kept secrets on college campuses: various degrees of cheating are constantly flying under the radar at universities across the country. Some students share their answers on homework and problem sets to help out friends in need. Others take prescription amphetamines illegally in order to give themselves a competitive advantage during stressful times. In total, according to one informal and nonscientific online poll of 30,000 students by the website College Humor, 60.8 percent of respondents admitted to cheating on tests and assignments. Some see these incidents as the understandable side effects of a highly competitive academic system, while others shun cheaters for choosing the easy path of dishonesty. However, because of the harsh punishments issued for cheating, many students will choose not to inform on their peers.

University administrations claim to take integrity very seriously, yet under the surface lies a startling reality which undermines their aspirations of fairness.

This startling reality comes in the form of backfiles, or catalogs of tests, quizzes, problem sets and homework questions that are collected by students and distributed through social networks. Backfiles allow students to prepare for exams by studying from past tests given by their professors. This allows them a competitive advantage as many professors use the same or similar questions from year to year.

Backfiles are widespread at Washington University, although large lecture-based classes are more susceptible to them than others. They are not simply a Washington University problem; students at universities across the country report having access to past exams through their social networks.

Officially, almost all universities including Wash U condemn the use of such archives. In its official policy, Wash U instructs students wishing to avoid cheating to never “refer to, study from or copy archival files that were not approved by the instructor.” This shows that the administration is aware that such archives exist. But their use continues to be widespread.

Many students approach the subject of backfiles nonchalantly. They assume that professors know about them and don’t really care. Some even insist that using backfiles isn’t “really cheating” although the university’s official policy says otherwise. The administration’s halfhearted response and lack of enforcement has implied that it doesn’t really matter. Students understand that the university’s policy discourages backfiles because they have to say that, but often argue that the lack of university response to the widespread phenomenon points to its harmlessness. They argue that if backfiles were really wrong and the university really had a problem with them, then they would crack down, considering the extent of the problem.

Moreover, students and professors alike argue that the advantage of studying from backfiles is small and that students who use them mostly harm themselves. However, student rumors suggest that certain classes with an abundance of backfiles are favored by those looking for an easy A. But the high scores of students who study from backfiles can tilt class grade curves, harming those who choose to abstain with integrity.

When large-scale cheating scandals at elite universities have been publicized in the past, the public has responded with outrage. In 2012, Harvard University erupted in scandal after 125 students were found to have unfairly collaborated on an Introduction to Congress take-home test. After a New York Times piece was written on the incident, the University announced that “somewhat more than half” of the students were forced to withdraw.

With the precedent of mass public outrage in response to cheating, it is shocking that elite universities across the country remain silent in response to the massive unfairness that backfiles create. Washington University as well as all others should make clear whether backfiles are acceptable and respond accordingly. If the University insists that they are unacceptable, then it should engage in a widespread investigation into which student groups are disseminating the archives. And if it decides that they are fine to use, then it should allow students to access the files legitimately by making them accessible to the full University body. This would promote fairness by erasing the competitive edge some students get from studying off hard-to-find backfiles.

The university’s choice is not an easy one. If it decides that backfiles are unacceptable, it commits itself to a massive investigation which could implicate hundreds of students and dozens of student organizations. This would be a major blight to the University’s public name and could have extensive ramifications.

If the university decides that backfiles are acceptable, then it must expend major resources to create a public archive. This wouldn’t need to cover every single exam, but any test which students are allowed to take home after completion (opening the possibility of scanning and copying) should be included in the public archive in the name of fairness. This is already done in certain classes, like calculus, where old exams are archived through the department’s website.

Proliferating an open exam database would considerably complicate professors’ work in creating and administering tests and exams. Writing good exams that properly cover course material can be difficult. Many professors rely on databases of questions to save time and energy in writing test questions. Professors who want to allow students to take home exams to study for their finals would need to exert substantial effort in writing new tests every subsequent year.

However, if we intend and aspire to be part of a world-class institution that truly values the virtue of integrity, then the prospect of hard work and allocation of resources should not prevent us from doing the right thing. The University should make its policy clear and cease to tolerate the rampant cheating that abides.