Wichita ? Students caught cheating or plagiarizing at Wichita State University could soon get slapped with a grade of “XF” on their transcripts.

The Student Government Assn. and the university’s Faculty Senate are pushing for the new grade, saying it will add teeth to penalties for cheaters.

“It does sound a little bit odd from a faculty member’s perspective that students would come forward and say, ‘Hey, if I screw up, punish me even more,'” said student senator Sarah McAndrew, 21. “But … if you don’t cheat, you don’t have to worry about it.”

Currently, faculty can deal with cheating students by either flunking them in the course or expelling them from the university. But some professors said students could escape any ramifications by dropping the course, if the questionable conduct occurred early enough in the semester.

“It’s an excellent idea because it calls attention to a real problem,” said Faculty Senate President Will Klunder.

Since 2000, Kansas State University has used an XF grade, which started in the 1990s at the University of Maryland.

In most cases, students can get the X part of the grade removed by undergoing some sort of reform program. At Wichita State, students and faculty are suggesting cheaters take an ethics seminar.

At Kansas State, 46 of the 168 students who have received an XF have chosen not to take that school’s reform program, which requires a semesterlong academic integrity course.