7 students at ONU appeal removal edict

3/14/2003

ADA, Ohio - Seven Ohio Northern University pharmacy students, who have been accused of cheating, may learn today whether they can remain in school.

The seven, whose names were not released by university officials, were allegedly caught cheating on an end-of-semester lab assignment, university President Ken Baker said. The dean of the College of Pharmacy, Rudolph Raabe, expelled the students.

Before the dismissal is carried out, the students will be able to appeal their cases to a review board made up of three professors and two students. The board was expected to convene today.

“What the students are appealing is their dismissal from the college in which they hope to receive a degree, in this case the College of Pharmacy,” Mr. Baker said yesterday. “They are not disputing their academic dishonesty. That occurred in a science class in the College of Arts and Sciences.”

There are nearly 1,000 students in university's pharmacy college - the second largest college on campus. There are 3,318 students enrolled at ONU.

Students in pharmacy pay about $30,000 a year for the program.

Mr. Baker said that the students charged with plagiarism apparently acquired a copy of a lab report from a student who had taken the same entry-level biology class earlier. They then took the results and used them to write their own lab reports, he said.