When 
LSA 
sophomores 

Rebecca Bernstein and Andie 
Harris 
received 
a 
problem 

set back from their Stats 250 
graduate student instructors, 
their grades were a shock: They 
both received zeros.

Emails from their respective 

instructors 
explained 
their 

respective homeworks were too 
similar to those of their friends 
in the class. While the lowest 
homework grade is dropped, 
the sharp reprimand confused 
Bernstein and Harris.

Their situations, however, 

were very different. Bernstein 
was 
working 
with 
friends 

in a study group as they do 

every week. She said working 
together means answers might 
be similar, but is a common 
result when collaborating with 
students.

“I 
wasn’t 
cheating,” 

Bernstein said. “I was genuinely 
working with someone else to 
help through the concepts, so to 
say that working together could 
be a form of cheating, I think 
it’s just really unfair because 
I feel like we go to a really 
collaborative 
university. 
On 

campus, there isn’t that much 
sense of competition among 
students. I work together with 
other students in my classes all 
the time so to be able to work 
on a problem together when 
it’s multiple choice and not get 

To tip off the University of 

Michigan’s Academic Innovation 
Initiative Summit, University deans 
gathered at a panel on the future of 
innovation in academics Tuesday 
afternoon, with 70 in attendance.

Last year, University President 

Mark Schlissel and former Provost 
Martha Pollack kicked off the 
Academic Innovation Initiative, 
an effort to engage all members 
of the University community in 
discussions on how to further the 
University’s projects and promote 
constant 
academic 
innovation. 

The summit, held at the end of 
the University’s bicentennial year, 
included 
panels 
and 
breakout 

activities supporting the initiative.

James Hilton, vice provost for 

academic innovation and dean of 
libraries, 
moderated 
Tuesday’s 

conversation and began by asking 
panelists how they are developing 
academic innovation within their 
respective schools.

Lynn Videka, dean of the School 

of Social Work, spoke about three 
main areas of academic innovation 
the school has been working toward: 
Launching a MicroMasters Massive 
Open Online Courses program in 
the fall, using captivated modules 
and face-to-face interactions to 
train social workers in hybrid 
continuing 
education 
programs 

and developing the Civil Rights 
Academy, a program that aims to 
provide technology and tools to 

instill middle-school- and high-
school-age youth with social action 
skills at an early age.

“It’s in helping develop informed 

and responsible citizens,” Videka 
said. “This Civil Rights Academy 
does just that — it awakens young 
adolescents to social justice issues, 
how to organize in the community, 
how to achieve goals working with 
social groups. We think that’s a 
great skill and a worthy contribution 
and something that doesn’t compete 
… 
with 
our 
in-person 
based 

programs.”

Joanna Millunchick, associate 

dean of undergraduate education 
in the College of Engineering, 
discussed how the school’s on-the-
ground 
classroom 
innovation 

techniques, such as their new Ph.D. 
program, Engineering Education 
Research, 
place 
engineering 

education researchers into the 
actual departments rather than 
creating a new, separate research 
department. The school is also 
developing new modes of teaching 
through virtual and augmented 
reality techniques.

“Our 
students 
know 
(these 

techniques) are the next big thing, 
too. … They are the ones taking the 
top (research) prizes. They already 
realize what it is that future scorers 
hold,” Millunchick said.

Jonathan Massey, dean of the 

Taubman College of Architecture 
and Urban Planning, spoke on the 
school’s emphasis on preserving a 
community of face-to-face learners 
and peer collaboration. However, 
architecture’s high contact hour 
per credit hour program raises the 
question of how to apply academic 

innovation to preserving hands-
on training and balancing time 
dedication.

“(Time dedication) skews the 

field,” Massey said. “Our project is to 
figure out how to incorporate some 
of the academic innovation and 
blend in a way that preserves the 
strengths of the studio pedagogy.” 

Laurie McCauley, dean of the 

School of Dentistry, emphasized her 
goal to use academic innovation to 
personalize education in three main 
areas: online degree completion 
programs, the University’s first 

completely 
online 
bachelor’s 

degree; Pathways, the dental school 
curriculum used throughout all 
four years of the program; and 
the 
community-based 
dental 

program, partnering with health 
professionals at 20 sites throughout 
the state for patient care.

“I am quite fortunate that our 

faculty need very little prodding 
to do this; they love doing these 
projects, they love engaging with 
students on a one-on-one basis and 
individualized manner,” McCauley 
said.

Thomas Finholt, dean of the 

School of Information, emphasized 
the importance of Massive Open 
Online Courses and the school’s 
commitment to online education. 
Several hundred thousand people 
are taught through MOOCs and 
a third of faculty are involved in 
these online education platforms, 
according to Finholt.

“(MOOCs) 
really 
reflect 

three kinds of considerations — 
expanding the brand and reaching 
out, 80 percent of students who have 
With current political climate 

and an increasing number of athletic 
protests against social inequalities, 
the interplay between sports and 
public policy are two entities 
that are becoming increasingly 
intertwined, according to former 
NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue 
and Jim Hackett, president and 
CEO of Ford Motor Company 
and former interim director of 
University of Michigan athletics. 
The two discussed this intersection 
and more to University faculty and 
students Tuesday afternoon. 

Since September 2016, the NFL 

has been the topic of controversy 
within much of the political 
sphere, as former NFL player Colin 
Kaepernick first knelt during the 
national anthem to protest social 
and political tension nationwide. 
Other athletes have followed suit, 
leading President Donald Trump 
and other politicians to denounce 
the symbolic protest of kneeling. 
NFL teams like the Saints, Ravens, 
Jaguars and multiple individual 
players from teams throughout the 
league, have been controversially 
contributing to the cause originally 

michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, November 15, 2017

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INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 31
©2017 The Michigan Daily

N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

S U D O K U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

CL A S S I F I E DS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

LSA looks 
at cheating, 
coproducing 
and integrity

CSG passes #UMDivest resolution 
in a secret ballot after 8 hour meeting

HALEY MCLAUGHLIN/Daily

Pro-divestment audience members holds signs that read “Stop Silencing Us” at the CSG Divestment Resolution in the MLB Tuesday.

SARAH KUNKEL/Daily

Panelists at the Academic Innovation Initiative Summit in the Michigan League Tuesday. 

ACADEMICS

 159 of 305 academic integrity violations 
were due to unauthorized collaboration 

23 votes for and 17 against, resolution approved for first time in campus history

Divestment — for the first time 

in the University of Michigan, 
Ann Arbor’s history — passed 

at Central Student Government 
early Wednesday morning with 23 
voting in favor, 17 against, and 5 
abstained. 

“We feel like we finally were 

given a voice on this campus,” a 
SAFE student tearily said to the 
audience. “We are celebrating 
when Palestinian are given real 
human rights. This is the first step 

we can take. This is an amazing 
victory.”

The divestment movement calls 

for the support of the University of 
Michigan administration to divest 
from companies operating in Israel, 
on the behalf of Palestinians and 
in fear of human rights violations 
against them. The resolution this 
year was embroiled in controversy 

within 
the 
Central 
Student 

Government 
executive 
board, 

prompting CSG to create its own 
investigative committee. 

The meeting Tuesday night 

deviated from previous years in 
several ways. Unlike last year, a 
secret ballot was approved, with 
28 in favor, 7 against, 9 abstained. 

DYLAN LACROIX, 
RHEA CHEETI & 
JORDYN BAKER
Daily Staff Reporters

Talk looks 
at blending 
of policy, 
athletics 

CAMPUS LIFE

Ford CEO, Former NFL 
commissioner speak on 
social justice movements

SAM SMALL

For the Daily

Massive Online Open Courses the central topic 
of discussion at Academic Innovation Summit

Panelists discussed significance of digital initiatives, hybrid education programs and online degree completion

michigandaily.com

For more stories and coverage, visit

ALEX COTT & 

MATT HARMON
Daily Staff Reporters

See RESOLUTION, Page 2A

See AWARENESS, Page 3A

See SUMMIT, Page 3A

See CHEATING, Page 3A

statement

THE MICHIGAN DAILY | NOVEMBER 15, 2017

MATT HARMON
Daily Staff Reporter