The dean of the University of Nebraska Medical Center's College of Dentistry has ended the practice of allowing students to sell copies of past dental exams, notes, and other study materials to younger dental students, according to a story in the Omaha World-Herald.
The study guides, which have been compiled and revised by dental students at the school for some 20 years and sold to freshmen in both print and CD form for $150 each, have been a major fundraiser.
But state officials say the practice raises questions about cheating and whether the university's intellectual property can be sold.
Many instructors at the college release copies of their tests -- after they have been administered -- as a learning tool, Dave Crouse, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs, told the Omaha World-Herald.
The problem, Crouse and others said, is when tests that are not released by a professor are obtained, copied, and then distributed to younger students.
The dental school is working to adopt a policy similar to that of the university's medical school, in which no tests are released to students but students can review the tests under supervision and without means to copy the tests.
Similar ethical breaches have occurred recently at dental schools in New Jersey, Nevada, Illinois, and Indiana, including one involving the sale of a study guide, according to the Omaha World-Herald story. Earlier this year, the ADA settled a lawsuit brought by 13 University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) dental students accused of helping other students cheat on the National Board Dental Examination. The ADA had charged the students with remembering questions from the test and passing them along on a CD for other candidates preparing for it.
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