Academic Integrity
Academic Integrity Committee
Committee College of Health and Human Development
Also see: 
Faculty Instructions Academic Integrity Form (.pdf document)
University Regulations
Academic Integrity (Senate Policy 49-20) Definitions and expectations: Academic integrity is the pursuit of scholarly activity in an open, honest, and responsible manner. Academic integrity is a basic guiding principle for all academic activity at The Pennsylvania State University, and all members of the University community are expected to act in accordance with this principle. Consistent with this expectation, the University’s Code of Conduct states that all students should act with personal integrity, respect other students’ dignity, rights, and property, and help create and maintain an environment in which all can succeed through the fruits of their efforts. Academic integrity includes a commitment not to engage in or tolerate acts of falsification, misrepresentation or deception. Such acts of dishonesty violate the fundamental ethical principles of the University community and compromise the work completed by others. To protect the rights and maintain the trust of honest students and support appropriate behavior, faculty and administrators should regularly communicate high standards of integrity and reinforce them by taking reasonable steps to anticipate and deter acts of dishonesty in all assignments. At the beginning of each course, it is the responsibility of the instructor to provide students with a statement clarifying the application of University and College integrity policies to that course.
Academic and disciplinary sanctions (ACUE Policy G-9) The University procedures provide for two types of sanctions: academic and disciplinary. Academic sanctions range from a warning to removal from the academic program, and include deductions of points or alterations in grades. Academic sanctions are determined and assigned by the instructor or by the instructor together with the College Academic Integrity Committee. Disciplinary sanctions may be recommended by the instructor, the College Committee, or the Associate Dean, and are assigned by the Office of Judicial Affairs. The SF grade is a disciplinary sanction that is only assigned with the concurrence of the instructor, the College Academic Integrity Committee, and Judicial Affairs.
Grades (Senate Policy 47-20) Grades shall be assigned to individual students on the basis of the instructor’s judgment of the student’s scholastic achievement as set forth in section 47-60. This specifically includes the instructor’s judgment regarding an appropriate academic sanction for academic dishonesty defined in section 49-20.
To implement the University policy on academic dishonesty, the College of Health and Human Development will encourage the following procedures to minimize dishonest behavior by students. These procedures include practices for faculty that will foster honest scholarship and defines dishonest actions and provides a standard protocol to be used by all instructors in handling cases of suspected academic dishonesty.
Faculty Conduct
Although students should be aware of the fact that they are expected to be honest, faculty are responsible for stating their expectations for academic honesty as part of the grading policy for every course. All course syllabi will be required to contain a statement on this topic. In addition, the instructor will be responsible for clearly stating to students expectations for such issues as group work, take-home assignments and exams (if used), for supporting information or assistance devices if allowed in examinations. It is the responsibility of the instructor to provide sufficient proctoring for examinations.
Student Conduct
All course work by students will be done on an individual basis unless an instructor clearly states that an alternative is acceptable. Any reference material used in the preparation of an assignment, whether quoted or paraphrased, must be explicitly cited. In an examination setting, unless the instructor gives explicit prior instructions to the contrary, regardless of whether the examination is in-class or take-home, violations of academic integrity shall consist of any attempt to receive assistance from any person or papers or electronic devices, or any attempt to give assistance. Other violations include, but are not limited to, any attempt to gain an unfair advantage in regard to an examination such as tampering with a graded exam or claiming another’s work to be one’s own.
Infractions
Uncontested cases (ACUE Policy G-9) The instructor should arrange a meeting with the student involved, confronting the student with the information suggesting inappropriate conduct, and ask for an explanation. In cases involving more than one student, it may be advisable to confront them together. If the student does not deny the allegations of academic dishonesty or contest the sanction assigned by the instructor, the student is asked to sign the Academic Integrity Form. Assignment of sanctions should be consistent with the guidelines of the Academic Integrity Committee of the College of Health and Human Development (see below). [If the instructor feels that disciplinary sanctions are warranted, the instructor will request that the Office of Judicial Affairs consider the case.] The Academic Integrity Form is then signed by the instructor and forwarded to the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies and Outreach. The instructor may then impose the sanction indicated on the Academic Integrity Form.
Contested cases (ACUE Policy G-9) If the student denies the allegation of academic dishonesty or the academic sanction proposed, the student signs the form indicating that they contest the allegation or sanction. The instructor then signs the Academic Integrity Form and forwards the form and copies of all supporting documentation to the Academic Integrity Committee.
Guidelines for supporting documentation
The instructor has the responsibility to gather information and documentation, which indicates in a clear and convincing way that the student’s conduct did violate the academic integrity policies of the University. This documentation is not as demanding as is required for court cases, however. Clear and convincing documentation typically requires the following conditions be met:
- If the supporting information is circumstantial or subjective in nature, then two corroborative pieces of information will be required. For example, if a student was observed looking at another student’s test during an exam, then a statement by a proctor attesting to this shall constitute a single piece of supporting information.
- Single pieces of supporting information are acceptable if they are such things as a cheat sheet, possession of two exam copies, formulae programmed into calculators, another student’s name appearing on the exam or the same student observed attending two exams at different times.
- In cases of blatant plagiarism, only copies of the plagiarized material (annotated as needed) will be required as supporting documentation. In cases where plagiarism is not word for word, the supporting information should provide a clear, and significant, link between the two student’s work. For example, copies of two similar term papers, lab reports, or projects might show consistent sentence or paragraph structures throughout.
If sufficient supporting documentation (as outlined above) is not available to warrant academic sanction, but the instructor nonetheless feels a dishonest act has occurred, then the instructor may ask the Academic Integrity Committee to send the student a letter of warning in which the College policy on Academic Integrity is outlined.
Categories of infractions and assignment of sanctions
Listed below are guidelines that instructors should use to determine the severity of the dishonest action. These are guidelines only. If an instructor feels it is appropriate to upgrade a violation, they may do so upon consultation with the Academic Integrity Committee.
In general, minor infractions involve errors in judgment without a clear intent by the student to violate academic integrity. Moderate infractions are unpremeditated dishonest acts that directly affect only one student. Major infractions are premeditated dishonest acts, or dishonest acts that directly affect the grade of another student.
Minor Infractions
- A student paraphrases or copies a sentence (or two) without citing the source or provides an improper citation.
- A student places, or allows his/her name to be placed, on a group project to which they contributed little or nothing.
- A student copies part of the work of another student exactly on an assignment on which collaboration is allowed, but copying is not.
Moderate Infractions
- A student collaborates on an assignment when they clearly were asked to work alone.
- A student hands in an identical written assignment (such as a term paper, lab report, or other project) to two classes without obtaining prior approval from the instructor, or stating explicitly that they did so.
- A student cheats, or facilitates the cheating of another, on an examination (in cases where there is no evidence of premeditation).
- A student places their name on a written assignment they did not write. This includes copying of “old” assignments such as term papers and lab reports that were written in previous years.
- A student tries to gain an advantage for an exam by removing reserved materials from a lab or library to have additional study times at home.
- A student fabricates a false reason to miss an exam, report deadline, or other academic obligation (“dying grandmother,” false sickness, family obligation, causing or fabricating a computer problem).
Major Infraction
- A student poses, or facilitates the posing of, someone else during an exam.
- A student cheats, or facilitates the cheating of another, on an examination in a way that is premeditated (e.g. using a cheat sheet, a prearranged system of sharing answers, or some similar method that was planned in advance).
- A student steals the work of another and uses it as his or her own.
- A student steals an examination.
- A student places, or allows his/her name to be placed, on an honors thesis to which they contributed little or nothing.
- A student causes another student’s score to be lower through their actions (e.g. rearranging locating pins on a lab practical, stealing public copies of sample examinations, tampering with data sets).
- A student changes the answer on an examination after it is returned and attempts to gain additional points because of a “grading error.”
- A student attempts to take the same exam more than once: one time under a fictitious name, and one time under their real name.
- A student claims to have taken an exam (when, in fact, they did not) then claims the instructor lost the exam.
- A student tampers in any manner with any course or University record.
Assignment of sanctions
Sanction assignment is at the discretion of the instructor within the guidelines set out by the College and University. In general, minor infractions involve the subtraction of points for an assignment. Moderate infractions generally involve the lowering of a course grade (maximally to F). Major infractions generally involve failure of the course, sending the case to Judicial Affairs for possible assignment of an “XF” grade in the case where a disciplinary sanction is warranted. The instructor may ask the student to perform an additional assignment or take a make-up exam; this work can then be used to help assign a final course grade.
Procedures to be used by the Academic Integrity Committee
In those situations in which the student does not contest the allegations of violations of academic integrity and the academic sanctions imposed, the Academic Integrity Form is forwarded by the instructor to the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies and Outreach.
The Associate Dean determines whether there are previous violations of academic integrity by contacting the Office of Judicial Affairs. If there are no previous violations, the case is forwarded to the Office of Judicial Affairs for record keeping and the instructor is informed that the academic sanction should be imposed.
If the student has a history of two or more previous academic integrity violations, or if the faculty member has recommended that the student be referred to the Office of Judicial Affairs for disciplinary sanctions, the student is informed by the Associate Dean that disciplinary issues remain open and that the student may not late drop or withdraw from the course pending resolution of the disciplinary issues.
If the instructor recommends that a disciplinary sanction be applied by the office of Judicial Affairs, the Associate Dean forwards the case to the Academic Integrity Committee for review. The Committee will review the case without formal fact finding and if the Committee feels it is appropriate, the request for disciplinary sanction will be forwarded to the Office of Judicial Affairs for review. If the Committee does not support the recommendation for disciplinary sanctions, the instructor will be informed that the academic sanction should be imposed.
If the student has a record of past violations of academic integrity, the case will be forwarded to the Office of Judicial Affairs which may levy disciplinary sanctions based on the cumulative record of repeat offenses. In those situations in which the student does not admit responsibility for an academic integrity violation, the instructor forwards the case to the Academic Integrity Committee.
If the instructor has not recommended disciplinary sanctions and the student does not have a record of two or more academic integrity violations, the Academic Integrity Committee conducts fact finding in accordance with due process procedures.
If the Committee finds the student violated standards of academic integrity, the Office of Judicial Affairs is notified for record-keeping purposes. The Committee notifies the faculty member to carry out the academic sanctions. If the Committee finds a record of two or more previous violations of academic integrity and the instructor and Committee are in agreement that disciplinary sanctions are warranted, the case is forwarded to the Office of Judicial Affairs for disposition. Office of Judicial Affairs will notify the faculty member to carry out the proposed academic sanction if warranted or to grade the student based on the finding that no violation of academic integrity has occurred.
4/09/03