If a Boston University student hands in a plagiarized term paper, the expectation is that his or her professor will be able to spot it and bring about disciplinary action.

Should the same expectation be extended to that student’s classmates? It may soon happen in the College of Communication. Two recent proposals drafted by a committee in COM’s Mass Communication department would require students working on group projects to either report instances of suspected plagiarism to their professor or confront the suspected plagiarist. If they don’t, they will themselves face disciplinary action.

Nothing has been set in stone yet, and the proposals would only apply to COM. But they could set a precedent for the rest of the university if BU decides to adopt a more comprehensive plagiarism policy — and that’s a cause for concern.

We believe that neither of these proposals has a place in a university setting. It’s not the responsibility of students to be on the lookout for plagiarism by their peers; that burden lies with professors and TAs, who can draw upon extensive knowledge in the field and are the most qualified to judge whether plagiarism has actually occurred.

In a learning environment, students must be focused first and foremost on their schoolwork — not on keeping watch for dishonesty by their peers. These policies would likely distract students from their primary responsibility to their academics.

While group projects are meant to display what students have learned, they are just as much about building trust and learning to work as a team. But it would be hard for that to happen if members of the team are constantly worrying whether their peers have been dishonest. After all, if they don’t remain vigilant, they’ll be held responsible, too.

This is not to say that students should be free from responsibility over their own work. Plagiarism is an extremely serious matter, and all college students should face serious consequences if they’re found guilty of it.

But instead of expecting students to police themselves, COM should be encouraging students to fulfill their individual responsibility for intellectual honesty. That way, both students and their professors can do the jobs they’re supposed to do.