When a Syllabus Is Not Your Own

By JENNIFER SINOR

Is it plagiarism when a colleague borrows your syllabus and then uses it in its entirety for his own course?

A former student asks to borrow a book. She assumes I have it because, after all, "we're using your syllabus."

"What do you mean you're using my syllabus?" I ask.

"I'm fairly sure it's yours," she replies. "It looks like you." Rifling through her bag, she produces a stapled copy and hands it to me.

It is my syllabus. Only it isn't my name at the top. It's

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