In the first class Jeff Morgan taught in the early 1980s and during his first examination as a professor, he witnessed firsthand the lengths students go through to get an easy A.
He’s good at remembering faces and saw an unfamiliar one taking his exam. The male student had a female name on the test. He knew the name and knew she hadn’t attended class regularly. Her male accomplice did horribly on her exam, so that was punishment enough.
He should have disciplined her. In a later examination, he caught the same student attempting to steal another student’s completed exam, intending to put her own name on it.
Today, with more 20 years of experience, Morgan has seen it all and is passionate about preventing cheating during examinations.
"Cheating in classes is a lot like stealing something from a store," Morgan said. "I think that what we have here at the University is just as valuable as what’s sold in a store. What we’re selling out here is knowledge."
Morgan is the chairman of the Mathematics Department and director for the Center for Academic Support and Assessment. A UH graduate and PH.D. recepient, he said cheating was a rampant problem when he returned in 2002.CASA was created to provide a heavily monitored testing center and to offer tutoring services to students.
CASA opened its doors in 2006, and there have been less than 10 instances of cheating being caught. He said that’s a dramatic improvement, but CASA’s latest protocol requires students to not only register their photo but their fingerprint as well.
Sitting on the floor outside CASA Wednesday afternoon, sophomore Michael Hernandez said he’s a little uncomfortable about it.
"I feel a little uneasy," he said. "I just don’t like having to give out any more information than is necessary."
Morgan insists student information is entirely safe. Furthermore, the software used to scan a student’s finger can neither print nor export the image. The image is just as protected as the grade the student receives from the test.
But while waiting in line to register with CASA, finance sophomore Leo Lopez said he also didn’t know about the fingerprinting. He found the process awkward and questioned the need for more security when proctors at the testing center were already taking and storing photographs of students.
"Given that the technology is available for us to do that, I think we should," Morgan said. "It’s highly irresponsible for us as a University not to make sure that people getting credit for the courses are the people taking the exams."
Fingerprint verification is not just limited to the negative image of getting stuck in jail. Morgan said these types of biometric fingerprint scans are inexpensive and have been around for many years. He said UH was behind the technological curve since many businesses use it as a means for its employees to gain access to computers.
Physics junior Ashley Thackeray has had her index finger registered since summer school. She said she’s OK with it because she understands the need to prevent student cheating. Hernandez and Lopez agree on the importance of not cheating.
"It isn’t worth the effort," Hernandez said. "You have to be very creative and that creativity determines whether or not you get caught."
Through CASA, the days of scribbling notes on the flat edges of pencils, cheat sheets under ball hats or on the insides of Coca Cola labels are over. And though it’s still possible, it’s much more difficult for students to alter their student identification and pose as someone else. If they do and have to take a test at CASA, they had better be prepared to do it all semester.
"Anybody can be anybody," Morgan said. "Now, could a student cheat under this current scenario we’re setting up now? Well they could, but once they become this person, they’ve got to be that person. Once you go over there and register yourself with this biometric scan and this picture right here, well, you got to pretty much bring that finger every time you come."
