Coralee Whitcomb ’83 MSCIS has spent six years as the heart of academic honesty at Bentley. At Faculty Senate meetings, she is the unabashed cheerleader for integrity. In the classroom, she is the energetic mentor who roasts marshmallows and skewers cheating. And to incoming freshmen, she is the first word on avoiding plagiarism.
As the university’s first academic integrity coordinator, Whitcomb has promoted the importance of honesty to faculty and students alike. She leaves Bentley this semester after more than two decades on campus.
The coordinator position was created to support the Bentley Alliance for Ethics and Social Responsibility. The alliance builds awareness of and commitment to ethics, service, social responsibility, and sustainability in research, curricula and campus culture.
“It’s been a very interesting job because every integrity incident is unique,” says Whitcomb. “I hope that as the first coordinator, I set a tone that was understanding and educational.”
Grace and Understanding
Colleagues credit Whitcomb with shedding light on the secretive culture of cheating, through workshops, a student survey, and updated guidelines in the Faculty Manual. Her even-handed treatment of both offenders and accusers wins special praise.
“When you’re dealing with this issue, you don’t always see everyone at their best,” observes Bentley alliance coordinator and management professor Tony Buono. “Coralee has been able to engage a broad range of constituents – administrators, faculty, students and parents – with understanding, grace and charm. That’s not easy to do.”
Her successes include establishing a student-run Academic Integrity Council at Bentley (she recruited members at a marshmallow roast) and creating a workshop to educate new students about plagiarism. She brought wider visibility to the issues through presentations and workshops for the national Center for Academic Integrity.
William Connolly ’10, president of the Academic Integrity Council, admires Whitcomb’s gusto.
“Coralee is not afraid to ruffle feathers and call people out for not having as strong a stance as they need to,” says the Marketing major, who consults for a web-based solution (turnitin.com) that guards against plagiarism in students’ written work.
Passionate Pursuit
Whitcomb’s Bentley days date to 1983, when she earned the MS in Computer Information Systems and a spot on the faculty. The ethical use of technology, including equal access to the Internet, is a longtime passion. Whitcomb served as president of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, spoke on privacy issues at the White House, and was named among the “25 Most Wired” by networking organization WebGrrls International. She taught in the Computer Information Systems Department until December 2009.
Associate Professor of Marketing Andy Aylesworth, who heads the Faculty Senate, appreciates Whitcomb for keeping academic integrity at the fore.
“It’s not an issue that faculty look forward to dealing with,” he admits. “But Coralee was always there to remind us how important it is – and if bad things happened, she was there to talk us through it.”
As Whitcomb looks back on her tenure, she is both wistful and joyous.
“There have been a number of times when my heart was broken, and I’ve gone to Bentley and felt like it put its arms around me,” she reveals. “Working at the same place for a long time has so many rewards. It has been an incredible ride.”