The Dean of Students, Walter W. Stiern Library, and the Writing resource center worked together to hold the Academic Integrity Workshop Series on March 23. 

According to Library Instructions and References Services Coordinator, Andrea Anderson, the series has two workshops for students, the Academic Honesty Skills and the Drop-in Citation Studio. The school initially had a drop-in citation at the end of the fall semester of last year, however, the overall Academic Workshop Series is the first CSU Bakersfield has done. 

Anderson explained that the Academic Honesty Skills workshop focuses on teaching students more about the meaning of academic integrity along with other resources, and helps students gain reassurance in their writing skills. 

 “It is just an opportunity to express the importance of academic integrity here at the university and in our students, their future lives, and their careers,” said Anderson. She said that the first event in the series went well and despite a small number of students present, the room was engaged in participation and discussion. Students were taught how to search for and recognize plagiarism, and it aimed to further encourage ethical writing.  

Anderson went on to explain that the Drop-in Citation Studio is where students can take their writing assignments or papers to receive assistance with their citations. Both a librarian from the library and a tutor from the Writing Resource Center will be present to help students fix any errors, learn more about citations, and teach them how to do them correctly. 

The next Academic Honesty Skills Workshop will be on Thursday, May 4 through the Zoom platform and the next Drop-in Citation will be on Tuesday, April 19 in the Dezember Reading Room.  

For students who need tutoring or additional help with writing throughout the semester, the Smarthinking Service and Smart Thinking Paper Review service are available. 

According to the Writing Resource Center and Supplemental Instruction Coordinator Jacob Whitaker, the Smarthinking Service is a content-based service accessible online, 24 hours a day. It permits students to submit any questions they may have and lets them work with a student or tutor. The paper review service allows students to send in their papers or writing assignments and receive feedback within the twenty-four hours they had sent them in.  

He went on to say that students can press on a link that can add the Smarthinking Service to Canvas and it will show up on the platform as a class that students can access.  

“Our tutoring services have held consistent with enrollment, (…) for all of our on-campus tutoring services we’ve offered virtual versions of that,” said Whitaker. He explained that even though classes have been allowed back on campus, they are still offering virtual tutoring options that are conducted on Zoom such as the Math center, Science center, Writing research center, and more. 

Whitaker said that there are various purposes for tutoring, such as help studying for an exam, seeking guidance for a writing assignment, etc. He said that sometimes students have their own preconceived assumptions about what tutoring is for that may deter them from reaching out. He went on to say that students who go to tutoring have proven to be more successful in their classes and are more likely to receive better grades.  

“It is not a bad thing, it is not a negative thing to go to those things, it is taking advantage of your resources and doing what you need to do, to do better in classes,” said Whitaker “What we do is a judgment-free zone (…) we are here and waiting to help you.” 

If any students or faculty have any questions, or suggestions regarding resources about a specific topic or the Smarthinking services, they can contact Coordinator Whitaker through his email, [email protected] for more information. This also includes anyone interested in becoming a tutor as well.