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Learning From FSU's Cheating Scandal

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 31, 2007

Considering that a quarter of Florida State's football team has been suspended for cheating in an online music-history class, it seems ironic that the Seminoles are playing today in, of all things, the Music City Bowl in Nashville.

Since the cheating scandal was exposed, university President T.K. Wetherell has placed most of the blame on a "rogue tutor" and a "learning specialist" who was fired.

Missing is any acknowledgment of institutional responsibility for one of the most blatant academic-fraud scandals of recent times.

With the National Collegiate Athletic Association sure to issue sanctions, Wetherell should admit there was, to use an oft-repeated term from the NCAA, a serious lack of institutional oversight.

Online courses have changed the way many students are taught, yet it seems FSU's safeguards haven't kept up.

As the Tribune's Adam Emerson pointed out, about 30 percent of the university's courses now are offered on the Internet. With the change has come new ways of cheating, too, a problem that deserves closer attention.

For starters, the athletic department should have better monitored the academic progress of its student-athletes. Placing the bulk of the blame on a teacher and a tutor is a copout.

Nevertheless, we wish the Seminoles the best in today's game. Wouldn't it be great if this depleted team - made up of players who didn't cheat - finds a way to win?

These players could show the world that honor and success only comes with hard, honest work.

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