Around 50 students coming from all public and private universities in Montenegro chatted online with Dr. Tricia Bertram Gallant about academic ethics on 9 December 2020. Dr. Bertram Gallant is a well-known author, speaker and consultant on ethics and integrity and the Director of the University of California, San Diego Academic Integrity Office.
The online chat was centred around a number of questions: the purpose of higher education, what is the reason for getting a higher education? What are the drivers behind students’ unethical behaviour or “outsourcing oneself” such as plagiarism, contract cheating, paying for grades etc.? Are the grades and degrees purposeful or they are just symbols? The students and speaker concluded that the answer is not straightforward. The truth is whether you are at university for learning or for job prospects you are here for the same thing! Getting and keeping a job after graduation is tied to learning and employers, among other things, greatly value ethical judgement and integrity.
Students also learned how to manage stress and pressure by starting assignments early and by connecting with instructors or university tutors etc. Nurturing ethical values and respecting university standards should model student’s behaviour. A number of issues the students raised were connected to current challenges in higher education such as the health crisis and digitalisation, but also with local and family environments that stimulate certain behaviours in early childhood.
The event is a part of series of awareness-raising debates among students and academic staff to be organised within the framework of the joint European Union/Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022” and its action “Quality education for all” in Montenegro.
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