The Academic Integrity Board (AIB) plays an important role in the preservation of Case Western Reserve University’s values of integrity, transparency and academic excellence. The AIB is composed of a diverse group of students from a variety of backgrounds and majors who are committed to the aforementioned values and who work to promote a campus environment where those values permeate all aspects of academic and professional life.

Julia Gaspare-Pruchnicki, a fourth-year medical anthropology major, joined the AIB after she was nominated by one of her professors.

“I found it went really well with my values and my moral code,” she said. “I just really like the promoting we do on campus and the ability to interact with students and faculty.”

As part of their promotional campaign, the AIB presents a video to all first-year students during the orientation process. Gaspare-Pruchnicki is currently working with a team of other AIB members to rewrite and reshoot the video in order to keep it up-to-date and make it more interesting for the students.

Being a part of the campus organization that is responsible for upholding honesty and the prevention of cheating comes with some pushback from the student body.

Third-year history major Claire Howard said, “My friends will definitely joke with me about it and tease me: ‘Oh, you’re going to turn me in.’ But mostly people are pretty respectful. They’re excited you have this opportunity.”

Gaspare-Pruchnicki explained that it is a good opportunity to not only get involved on campus but also to show future employers or graduate schools that you care about integrity. The showcase is especially important if one plans on going into the healthcare field or wants to do research.

“The board is here for the students,” Gaspare-Pruchnicki said. “Academic hearings are composed of three students and two faculty members, so it is a fair judgment on the part of the student.”

Koko Etokebe, fourth-year political science major and the faculty relations chair for the AIB, explained that the group acts as advocates for not only fairness and honesty but also for students who might find themselves involved in integrity proceedings, making sure the proper steps are taken depending on the situation.