Brian McNally is a part-time faculty member at a mid-sized university located in Boston, Massachusetts. He has worked for the University in his current capacity for less than five years, but is well versed in the university's policies he has agreed to uphold.

In McNally's survey course on American History, an international student turns in her first term paper. During the grading process, McNally discovers that the student's work is a textbook case of plagiarism. The majority of the paper is copied directly and without attribution from the references listed at the back of the student's paper, and little of the work is the student's own.

The university has a strong policy about plagiarism, which is outlined in the course syllabus that McNally knows this student received. When confronted about plagiarizing her paper, she claims that she did not realize what she was doing was plagiarism, since the academic culture in her own country is very tolerant of such copying. McNally explains to her that the policy, as outlined, requires that he fail her, but that he would consider her explanation over the weekend.

In this justice-versus-mercy decision, McNally thinks that on one hand it is right to fail her and myabe even eject her from the class, because there would be no chance for her to pass the course after failing this assignment. He would be just in his decision because the rules were clear. On the other hand, it is right to show mercy and ask her to rewrite her paper. If she truly did not understand the rule, it would seem unfair to penalize her so harshly, expecially if this was just a case of cultural mistranslation.

What should McNally do?

Read more dilemmas: Education Dilemmas