Swansea University’s Professor Michael Draper has been playing a key role at international events to highlight ethics and academic integrity.
Professor Draper, from the University’s Hillary Rodham Clinton School of Law, was part of a panel discussion at a special webinar organised to coincide with the International Day Against Contract Cheating on Wednesday.
The session examined what can be done at an institutional level to protect academic integrity and combat contract cheating the wake the recent criminalisation of so-called essay mills in England and Ireland.
Professor Draper, Deputy Pro-Vice Chancellor Education at Swansea, is an expert in the field of academic integrity and was part of the University team which produced high-profile research into the extent of contract cheating in higher education.
Professor Draper said: “Ensuring academic integrity is a critical societal issue and not simply a matter for educational institutions.”
The seminar was organised by the UK Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA), the higher education Institutional membership organisation, working to benefit students and higher education and took place at the QQI 10th anniversary conference.
It was held in Dublin following the launch of the Global Academic Integrity Network (GAIN). This consortium sees education quality and integrity agencies from across the world joining forces to fight the rise of commercial academic cheating services targeting students.
Representing the Council of Europe, one of GAIN’s endorsing organisations, Professor Draper spoke at the launch to highlight the recommendation on education fraud he helped to draft. Now adopted by the 44 member states of the Council of Europe, it calls for international co-operation in countering education fraud among other issues.
Next month Professor Draper will continue his international commitments in the field of academic integrity by delivering the keynote address and taking part in an online symposium for universities in South Africa. He will then be returning to the Council of Europe’s HQ in Strasbourg to report back on his best practice presentation in Rotterdam and update member states on the implementation of the recommendation on countering education fraud.
Find out more about Professor Draper's research - Tackling Contract Cheating, Ghostwriters and Essay Mills in Higher Education