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Academic Integrity is a commitment, even in the face of adversity, to five fundamental values: honesty, trust, fairness, respect, and responsibility. From these values flow principles of behavior that enable academic communities to translate ideals into action (*International Center for Academic Integrity).
GSW's Policy on Academic Integrity sets forth principles of behavior intended to enable its community members to act according to these fundamental values, thereby fostering a community of excellence in teaching and learning. This policy defines academic integrity, assigns responsibility of community members for upholding these principles, defines academic dishonesty, and delineates the procedure for handling violations of the community standard.
Accurate Attribution of Ideas: While the free exchange of ideas does not demand that every idea a person expresses be her or his own original thought, it does demand that a person accurately represent the origin of the thoughts she or he expresses. The forms of attribution vary depending upon the formality of the setting in which ideas are exchanged. In conversation, attribution might be as simple referring to where you heard an idea while in a class presentation or a written assignment, a specific style of attribution or documentation will be required. The specific format for attribution is usually defined by the academic discipline.
Collaboration on Assignments: Collaboration is a fundamental component of community building and a valued ability in the work force, as well as one of the most important practices of a democratic society, but it depends on community members exercising the values of fairness, respect, and responsibility. Respectfully listening to the perspectives of others and shouldering the responsibility for contributing equitably to the success of the group demonstrate academic integrity. In the academic setting, collaboration has been shown to improve students’ learning, but it must be balanced with the need to assess a student’s individual mastery of a topic. Thus, faculty may actively discourage collaboration for some types of assignments, such as homework or papers, while encouraging it in other circumstances, like group projects or presentations.
Collection of Data: The academic community is a culture of evidence in which decisions are made and opinions evaluated largely on the basis of the factual or logical support. Therefore, whenever a community member presents data they have collected firsthand through observing, interviewing, surveying, or experimenting, he or she must be careful to describe clearly how the data were collected to verify that the results are presented accurately and to maintain all confidentiality agreements with participants.
Quizzes, Tests, and Examinations: The academic community often calls upon its members to demonstrate what they know, or what they can do individually, often under the pressure of time constraints, which can put a student’s honesty, trust, fairness, respect, and responsibility to the test. Academic integrity requires that a student abide by the rules established by the faculty member for assessing individual learning.
Students do not always come to the GSW community knowing the principles of academic integrity and therefore teaching students to exercise these principles is the duty of the faculty. Given that the parameters of academic integrity are defined by the goal of an assignment or activity, the type of assessment being used, and the standards of the particular discipline, faculty members should be explicit about their expectations of students. To that end, faculty members should state in their syllabi the expectations for 1) attribution of ideas, 2) collaboration on assignments, 3) collection of data, and 4) quizzes, tests and examinations.
As partners in their own learning, students are responsible for making themselves aware of how the principles of academic integrity apply in each academic setting they enter. While the faculty member is responsible for setting expectations, it is the student’s responsibility to seek guidance from the faculty member, especially when unsure of how to apply the principles in a particular situation. When in doubt, seek guidance from the instructor.
Violations of academic integrity will be subject to sanction by the academic community. The examples given below are intended to clarify the standards by which academic dishonesty may be judged.
Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to, asking someone to write an assignment, copying someone else's work (published or unpublished), inadequately documenting research, downloading material from electronic sources without appropriate documentation, or representing another’s works or ideas as one’s own. Artificial intelligence (AI) plagiarism occurs when products created by generative AI technology (example: ChatGPT) are misrepresented as original student work. However, the faculty have the freedom to create educational assignments that use generative AI, with the provisions that this technology use must be explicitly authorized and accompanied by instructions for work attribution (AI generated versus student work).
Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to, asking someone to write any part of an assignment, copying someone else's work (published or unpublished), inadequately documenting research, downloading material from electronic sources without appropriate documentation, unacknowledged use of Generative Artificial Intelligence tools, or representing others' works or ideas as one’s own.
The use of AI tools should be acknowledged to avoid appearing to represent the product of AI as your own work. Faculty have the freedom to allow the use of AI tools and to stipulate the conditions under which such tools may be used in their classes. Students should be aware that the spectrum of acceptable AI use will vary from class to class and could run from absolutely no use allowed to complete freedom of use. Faculty members must inform students what level AI use is acceptable in their classes, and students must make themselves aware what level of AI use is acceptable in each of their classes. Unacceptable use of AI is subject to sanction by the university as described below.
Unauthorized collaboration includes giving or receiving unauthorized help for work that is required to be the effort of a single student, such as the receiving or giving of unauthorized assistance in the preparation of a laboratory or writing assignment, or an online exam.
Unauthorized collaboration includes giving or receiving unauthorized help for work that is required to be the effort of a single student, such as the receiving or giving of unauthorized assistance in the preparation of a laboratory or writing assignment, online exams, etc. Unauthorized collaboration includes giving your GeorgiaVIEW or GoVIEW login credentials to anyone; these credentials are for your use only (see also GSW Computer and Network Acceptable Use Policy section 4.7.1 Sharing of Access).
Falsification includes, but is not limited to, the fabrication of citations or sources, of experimental or survey results, and of computer or other data.
A student may not submit substantial portions of the same work for credit more than once without the explicit consent of the faculty to whom the work is submitted for additional credit. If a work product is to be substantially revised or updated, the student must contact the faculty member in advance to discuss necessary revisions. In cases where multiple submissions are approved, faculty members will require copies of the original documents for comparison.
Instances of academic dishonesty are a serious violation of community standards for academic integrity and may result in suspension or expulsion from GSW. While faculty members have the primary responsibility for establishing the parameters of academic integrity in the academic situations they supervise, it is the responsibility of all members of the GSW academic community to report suspected instances of academic dishonesty. Therefore, any member of the GSW academic community can lodge an academic dishonesty complaint with GSW’s Director of Student Rights and Responsibilities.
Any member of the academic community who has evidence of academic dishonesty should report his or her suspicion and evidence to the faculty member of the student(s) believed to be in violation of the policy. The faculty member is then responsible for responding, and if she or he has adequate evidence, may file an Academic Dishonesty Violation Report with the Director of Student Rights and Responsibilities.
If an instructor discovers a case of academic dishonesty, he or she may impose whatever penalty is deemed appropriate by the faculty member, given the standards and expectations shared with students in that course (including but not limited to rewriting assignments, failure on the assignment, or failure in the course). The faculty member’s syllabus policies will establish how the violation will be handled in his or her own classroom if the student does not contest that a violation has occurred. In addition, the faculty member’s syllabus policies will establish how the violation will be handled in his or her own classroom if the Academic Integrity Board confirms that a violation has occurred.
All incidents of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Director of the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities using the Academic Integrity Violation Report Form which asks for a description of the incident, a copy of the faculty member’s written policy on academic dishonesty, evidence that a violation has occurred, the penalty imposed by the faculty member, and the student’s signature indicating the faculty member met with the student about the incident and explained the consequences.
The Director of the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities will keep on file all Academic Integrity Violation Report forms. When a new report is received, the director will review the record to determine if the student has any other academic integrity violations on file. A first violation will be filed, but no action will be taken by the University unless the student chooses to dispute that a violation has occurred. If a student disputes that a first violation of this policy has occurred or the student has more than one violation on file, the Director of the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities will call for a hearing of the Academic Integrity Board, and the faculty member may be asked to submit further documentation of the violation. All hearings of the Academic Integrity Board will be held in accordance with the due process procedures as specified in GSW’s Conduct Code.
The Academic Integrity Board’s first responsibility in a hearing is to determine if a violation of the academic integrity policy has occurred. In cases where a student is exonerated of accusations of academic dishonesty by the Academic Integrity Board, the student may appeal the faculty member’s penalty through the regular grade appeal process. If the Academic Integrity Board determines the student to be in violation of the academic integrity policy and it is the student’s first violation, no further action will be taken by the Director of the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities. If the Academic Integrity Board determines the student to be in violation of the academic integrity policy and the Director of the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities informs the Board that the student has previously violated the academic integrity policy, then the Board may consider recommending further sanctions.
Recommended sanctions may be educational, such as assignments which require the student to research the topic of academic integrity or speaking to UNIV 1000 classes about academic integrity, or may include probation, suspension, or expulsion. The Academic Integrity Board will provide in writing its recommendations on the case and sanction recommendations to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs within five business days of the hearing.
The Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs will notify the faculty member, who referred the case, of the Academic Integrity Board’s recommendations, including any University sanctions imposed, within five business days, excepting any days when the Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs is travelling on university business. After this communication with the faculty, the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs will issue an outcome letter to the student, with a copy to the faculty, as well as any other appropriate academic records file, within five (5) days following the communication with the faculty. If sanctions include suspension or expulsion, the student’s Department Chair or Dean will also be notified. A student may not withdraw from the course in which an accusation has been made during the student conduct process. Students accused of academic dishonesty are entitled to the due process rights outlined in the Conduct Policy. A student has the right to appeal the Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs’ decision to the President of the University.
*International Center for Academic Integrity. The Fundamental Values of Academic Integrity. Des Plaines, IL: Office of College Relations at Oakton Community College, 1999. 4. International Center for Academic Integrity. Web. 3 October 2012.