– I have made mistakes and been sloppy and of course take the consequences. I accept that my master’s thesis is canceled and will not appeal the decision. I am motivated to write a new master’s thesis and will try to find time for it. Beyond that, I consider the matter closed from my side and will in future focus on working with important political matters in the justice committee and as parliamentary representative for Troms, says Sandra Borch in a press release from the Center Party’s parliamentary group.
– I have acknowledged that I was sloppy in my master’s thesis, but I have not deliberately cheated. As I have said before, I take responsibility for the mistake I have made. I now consider the case closed, says Borch.
Sandra Borch has not responded to NRK’s inquiries in the matter.
The decision from the board at UiT:
Expand/minimize fact box
“The tribunal believes that the conditions in uhl. § 4–7 first paragraph letter b is fulfilled, that Borch has cheated and that the result from the master’s thesis must be annulled. The certificate must be withdrawn, cf. uhl section 4–7 fifth paragraph. Borch is not banned according to uhl. § 4–8 third paragraph, as it is almost 10 years since she took the exam.
The tribunal further writes:
“Borch was graded D, and a diploma for a master’s degree in jurisprudence was issued. The justification for the censorship decision is dated 11 May 2014, and was routinely sent to Borch as for all students. Borch’s use of sources is not commented on beyond the fact that the censorship decision states that “There are a good number of errors and inaccuracies both in the text and in the notation”. The censors did not start a cheating case.”
Resigned after exposure of plagiarism
On 19 January this year, Sandra Borch (Sp) resigned as minister of research and higher education, following revelations about plagiarism in her master’s thesis from the University of Tromsø.
Several parts of her master’s thesis from 2014 are identical to assignments submitted by previous students, without sources being given.
In several places, Borch had directly copied other people’s master’s theses, which also included typographical errors.
She obtained a master’s degree in jurisprudence. The assignment was about safety regulation in Norwegian petroleum law.
Leader of the Center Party and Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum (Sp) tells TV 2 that this case is a relationship between Borch and UiT.
– And then Sandra responds well to that, he says to the channel.
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre comments on the plagiarism cases as follows.
– These are matters between the institution of learning and those concerned, says Støre.
Sandra Borch is originally from Lavangen, but lives in Tromsø. She is a parliamentary representative for the Troms Center Party.
Lose the degree
Julia Holte Sempler is department director at UiT Norway’s Arctic University. It is her department that has handled the new review of Sandra Borch’s master’s thesis.
– Although our department has handled this case, we cannot go into the actual proceedings,
– Although Borch has publicly confirmed that she has lost her degree, she says.
The diploma is withdrawn
Sempler can still confirm something:
– We can confirm that she does not have a degree with us.
This has a number of consequences for Borch:
– This means that the diploma is withdrawn.
Despite the fact that the tribunal has proven cheating on Sandra Borch’s part, Borch is not banned and can take up her master’s thesis.
However, Sempler does not wish to comment on why the tribunal has reached this decision, apart from the fact that it has been ten years since the master’s thesis was submitted.
– I do not have the opportunity to go into detail about the tribunal’s decision, she says.
Julia Holte Sempler is department director at UiT, and has led the work to review Sandra Borch’s master’s thesis again.
Photo: Simen Wingstad / NRK
Could not be discovered in 2014
Dag Rune Olsen is rector at UiT – the Arctic University of Norway.
He believes the degree of text similarity in Sandra Borch’s thesis could not have been discovered at the time the thesis was delivered in 2014.
– The big change from when she submitted and got her grade, and until today, is that we have more answers in the database to check against.
He says UiT today has a larger text base to compare with.
– It will increase in the coming years.
He nevertheless emphasizes that UiT will not go through old master’s theses systematically to look for cheating:
– Not without us having indications that cheating has taken place, emphasizes Olsen.
He believes that there are no indications that cheating at UiT is an extensive problem.
UiT rector Dag Rune Olsen.
Photo: Sveinung Åsali / NRK
Will not take self-criticism
Olsen denies that the new review of Borch’s master’s thesis has revealed procedural errors during the grading of the thesis in 2014.
– We must always be open to self-criticism, but there were no procedural errors when the master’s thesis was assessed.
Olsen does not want to go into detail about what the process was like at the time, and refers to privacy.
– If Borch agrees to lift privacy, will details from the review be made public?
– We don’t have routines for that. In that case, it must be assessed whether she does so, Olsen replies.
Olsen denies that UiT has lost its reputation on the basis of this case.
– No, I see no basis for that, says the principal.