Koury Honored With Academic Integrity Award

By Dirk Hoffman

At the conclusion of each spring semester, in conjunction with National Honesty Day on April 30, UB’s Office of Academic Integrity (OAI) recognizes individuals or groups who have gone above and beyond their duty to promote and enhance the culture of integrity at UB during the past academic year. Winners receive a crystal pillar award.

Kelly H. Ahuna, PhD, director of OAI noted that Koury was nominated by his department chair, Paul J. Kostyniak, PhD.

“While Dr. Kostyniak points out that Dr. Koury has had decades of service to UB in which he has consistently demonstrated integrity, his nomination centers on something that could have easily gone unnoticed,” she said.

Koury identified a serious breach of academic integrity when he uncovered a previously unknown flaw in the lockdown browser used for online exams, Ahuna said.

“This was not an obvious issue, and addressing it required careful attention to detail and a willingness to dig into the technical aspects of exam administration,” she added. “Dr. Koury pursued the matter with diligence and care, working through the complexities of both the technology and the academic integrity process to bring the cases to a fair and just conclusion.”

Importantly, she noted, Koury’s work had an impact beyond the individual cases. By identifying this vulnerability, he was able to alert other faculty, and OAI, and provide guidance on how to monitor for similar issues, helping to prevent it from becoming a more widespread concern across the university.

“What stands out here is the extra effort,” Ahuna said. “As his nominator points out, many people might not take the time to investigate something this technical or complex — but Dr. Koury did.”

Ahuna said she was pleased to present the Distinction in Academic Integrity award to Koury “for his diligence and his longstanding commitment to academic integrity.”

Koury said he was very appreciative of Kostyniak nominating him for the award.

“I was very honored to receive the award, though I did not expect any kind of special recognition for discovering the breach of academic integrity that occurred in my fall courses,” he said.

“I think all of us who teach at UB feel it is important that students who devote their time and energy to excel in their studies don't have their efforts diminished by a small subset of students who seek to achieve better grades through violation of the academic integrity standards of the university.”