Plagiarism found in engineering theses

A former student had alerted officials about suspected plagiarism in 2004.
ATHENS, Ohio (AP) -- A committee at Ohio University has determined that 21 mechanical engineering graduates plagiarized in the theses they wrote as part of the requirements for master's degrees, school officials said.
The committee reviewed 46 of the research papers from the past 20 years and found that the 21 contained passages copied from published materials or previous students' work.
The committee has recommended giving the graduates accused three months to respond and another nine months to rewrite the theses. It also will recommend revoking the degrees of those who don't comply, but College of Engineering Dean Dennis Irwin said he's considering more extensive measures.
"My view is that if someone has plagiarized, there should be something in their transcript or in their thesis that notes that," he said.
Besides the 21, the committee found that another 16 students who worked in groups may have copied from one another or failed to note group research in their theses.
The committee did not find fault with any instructors, but Irwin said he will conduct his own review into possible involvement by professors.
The committee was formed after former mechanical engineering student Tom Matrka told university officials in 2004 about suspected plagiarism he found while reviewing the theses of master's graduates, which are stored in a university library. He eventually pointed out 30 suspected cases.
Matrka graduated in 2005 with a master's degree and works as a mechanical engineer in Vinton County in southeast Ohio.
He said the committee should review all 335 mechanical engineering master's theses from the past 20 years.
Irwin said he won't ask the committee to do that.
"It's not good what we found, but it is from the past," he said. "Do we dwell on the past or do we fix the problem and go on?"
Provost Kathy Krendl in march formed a separate committee to consider ways to change university rules and practices to prevent plagiarism. She expects a report by late this month.