What practice is regarded in the academic community as a serious kind of academic dishonesty

Academic Dishonesty: Cheating

Cheating is the most well-known academically dishonest behavior.

But, cheating includes more than just copying a neighbor’s answers on an exam or peeking at a cheat sheet or storing answers on your phone. Giving or offering information in examinations is also dishonest.

Turning in someone else’s work as your own is also considered cheating.

True Story

Ed Dante (a pseudonym) makes a living writing custom essays that unscrupulous students buy online. You can read his story at The Chronicle of Higher Education. Purchasing someone else’s work and turning it in as your own is cheating.

Academic Dishonesty: Collusion

Collusion, such as working with another person or persons when independent work is assigned is considered academically dishonest.

While it is fine to work in a team if your faculty member specifically requires or allows it, be sure to communicate with your faculty about guidelines on permissible collaboration (including how to attribute the contributions of others).

True story

In 2012, 125 Harvard students were investigated for working together on a take-home final exam. The only rule on the exam was not to work together. Almost half of those students were determined to have cheated, and forced to withdraw from school for a year.

Academic Dishonesty: Falsifying Results & Misrepresenting

Falsifying results in studies or experiments is a serious breach of academic honesty.

Students are sometimes tempted to make up results if their study or experiment does not produce the results they hoped for. But getting caught has major consequences.  

Misrepresenting yourself or your research is, by definition, dishonest.

Misrepresentation might include inflating credentials, claiming that a study proves something that it does not, or leaving out inconvenient and/or contradictory results.

True Story

An undergraduate at the University of Kansas claimed to be a researcher and promoted his (unfortunately incorrect) research on how much a Big Mac would cost if the U.S. raised minimum wage. His study was picked up by the Huffington Post, NY Times, and other major news outlets, who then had to publish retractions.

Alfred University Code of Honor

We, the students of Alfred University, will maintain an academic and social environment which is distinguished by honesty, integrity, understanding, and respect. Every student is expected to uphold these ideals and confront anyone who does not. Keeping these ideals in mind, we, the students, aspire to live, interact and learn from one another in ways that ensure both personal freedom and community standards. Student Senate Committee on Academic Affairs – April 2, 1997.

Definition

Unethical conduct or academic dishonesty is defined as any action that enables students to receive credit for work that is not their own. Such conduct will not be tolerated in any form. Academic dishonesty can occur both in and outside the classroom, studio, or lab. This might involve venues as varied as student publications, art exhibits, and public presentations.

In the context of tests, quizzes, examinations, or other in-class work, dishonest practices include but are not limited to:

• Marking an answer sheet in a way designed to deceive the person correcting it.
• Possession of unauthorized material that could be used during a quiz, test, or examination for the purposes of cheating.
• The unauthorized use of books or notes during a quiz, test, or examination.
• The hiding or positioning of notes or other tools for the purposes of cheating on a quiz, test, or examination.
• Unauthorized possession or knowledge of any examination prior to its administration.
• Looking at someone else's quiz, test, or examination without the express permission of the instructor.
• Any form of unauthorized communication during a quiz, test, or examination. This includes use of any electronic communication devices without the consent of the instructor. Such devices include--but are not limited to-- cellular phones, Bluetooth, computer internet, recording devices, and PDA, CD and MP3 players.

In the context of writing assignments, research projects, lab reports, and other academic work completed outside the classroom, dishonest practices, commonly referred to as plagiarism, include but are not limited to:

• Lack of adequate and appropriate citation of all sources used.
• The appropriation of another’s ideas, analysis, or actual words without necessary and adequate source citations, either deliberately or inadvertently.
• The copying, purchase, or other appropriation of another person’s academic work with the intention of passing it off as one’s own original production.
• The creation of a document by more than one student that is then submitted to the instructor as the original creation of only one student, without the express permission of the instructor.
• Submitting the same piece of work to more than one instructor without the express permission of all instructors involved.

Guidelines for Avoiding Dishonest Behavior

The following guidelines are included to assist students in avoiding dishonest behavior in their academic work, particularly in writing assignments, research projects, and lab reports.

1. Students’ written work should reflect their own personal preparation for the assignment, such as reading books and articles, performing research on the internet and in electronic databases, and taking notes in class and during the research process.
2. Students should avoid using the actual words of the authors of their sources whenever possible, opting instead to demonstrate an understanding of the authors’ ideas by rewriting them in their own words.
3. All ideas and analyses that are derived from other authors must be attributed to those authors in the form of appropriate source citations, even when their own words are not used. Source citations usually take the form of footnotes, endnotes, or parenthetical citations in addition to a formal bibliography and/or works cited page at the end of the writing assignment. The format for these source citations depends on the conventions of each academic discipline: consult your instructor as to the appropriate form to use.
4. When the use of an author’s specific text is unavoidable or necessary, that material must be identified as a direct quotation and must either be surrounded by quotation marks or formatted as a block quotation. Appropriate source citations must follow all quotations, as per the instructions above.
5. Circumstances when direct quotation is necessary or desirable include: when the wording of the text is essential to the student’s own analysis; when the text exemplifies the author’s particular perspective; when quoting the text is a more efficient way of presenting the author’s ideas than a more elaborate and lengthy paraphrase would be. It should be noted that lengthy quotations and/or their overuse is neither desirable nor appropriate in most instances and should be avoided. Additionally, overreliance on lengthy quotations can be considered a form of plagiarism.
6. Some instructors find collaborative assignments useful. Students may be allowed to collaborate in shared assignments only with the specific permission of the instructor. In those circumstances the limits to the collaboration will be established by the instructor and students should be aware that they are responsible for maintaining the appropriate limits to that collaboration.

Procedures

First Offense

If academic dishonesty is suspected, the following procedures should be followed:

• Before a formal charge of academic dishonesty is made, the instructor is strongly encouraged to have their department chair or, if that department chair is deemed inappropriate or impractical, another colleague or administrator, review the alleged infraction.
• Within seven semester days after the infraction is observed or verified, the instructor shall advise the student orally, if possible, and by email that the student has (or may have) committed an act of academic dishonesty. This will allow simple misunderstandings and misinterpretations to be resolved. A semester day is defined as a day when the university is in session and classes/exams are held.
• If the instructor remains convinced that an offense has occurred, a written statement of the offense will be sent to the student by email and also by regular mail. The statement will include whatever penalty the instructor considers appropriate. For offenses categorized as Tier One (see below), a copy will be sent to the instructor's dean, the student's dean, and the Provost. This letter should include a reference to this section of these regulations to inform students of their rights and the procedures to be followed if an appeal is needed.
• The penalties assessed may range from non-grade penalties to failure in the course.
• Infractions shall be categorized as Tier One (major) or Tier Two (other).
  • Tier One infractions shall be reported to the student’s dean and the Provost. A second Tier One infraction will result in dismissal from the university. Tier One offenses include (but are not limited to) the following: plagiarism, submission of a commercially-derived term or research paper or report or art presentation, use of a research paper or report prepared by another person without the instructor’s permission, producing a research paper or report for another student without the instructor’s permission, cheating on an examination or quiz, aiding and abetting academic dishonesty, falsification of grades or records, unauthorized viewing or altering of academic or administrative records, gaining an unauthorized or unfair advantage on academic assignments (including preventing other students from fair access to academic materials), buying or selling assignments or examinations.
  • Tier Two infractions are generally considered less serious than Tier One offenses. They need not be reported to the Provost and the dean(s). Examples of Tier Two infractions include attendance-related dishonesty or submission of assignments to two or more classes with the instructor’s permission. If an instructor is uncertain about categorizing an infraction as Tier One or Tier Two, they shall make a determination in consultation with a department chair or, if the chair is a party to the case or is otherwise unavailable, the dean or assistant dean of the college.
• The academic dean of the student’s college should advise the student of appeal procedures that are available.

Following a Charge of Academic Dishonesty

1. A student charged with an unethical practice may accept the judgment and penalty assessed by the instructor.
2. A student charged with an unethical practice may appeal in writing directly to the instructor who assessed the penalty within fourteen (14) semester days after the instructor sends email and written notification of the offense and penalty to the student. The fourteen semester day period is not dependent on proof that the student has read the instructor’s email or written notification.
3. If the penalty is modified to one acceptable to both student and instructor, the appropriate academic deans and the Provost will be notified of the change.
4. If the instructor will not modify the penalty, the student may present the case to the Ombuds Officer.
5. In the event the matter is not resolved in a manner satisfactory to all parties through the Ombuds Officer’s review, the Ombuds Officer may at their own initiative, or shall at the student’s request, refer the matter to an appeals committee. A student request for appeals committee consideration of the matter must be made to the Ombuds Officer within fourteen (14) semester days after the Ombuds Officer notifies the student orally, by email, or in writing, that the Ombuds Officer has been unable to resolve the matter.
6. The appeals committee will be constituted by the Ombuds Officer within 14 semester days. Membership of the appeals committee shall include one student, to come from the University Student Grievance Committee, and two full-time and/or tenured faculty. If the Student Senate has not appointed members of the Student Grievance Committee, or if those members stand in a conflict of interest with the student accused of the infraction, the Ombuds Officer may select any full-time senior student for this purpose. The appeals committee should meet as soon as possible after members of the committee have been selected. The appeals committee will review the case and prepare a written recommendation, to be forwarded to the student, the instructor(s) involved in the case, the student’s academic dean, and the provost within seven semester days once the appeal committee has come to a recommendation.
7. The instructor, the appropriate departmental/divisional head (if they are not a party to the case), and the instructor's dean (if they are not a party to the case) will consider the recommendation and notify the student, the student's Academic Dean, and the Provost of their final decision.
8. The student may bring one other student or employee from Alfred University to the appeals committee hearing, but no person not a member of the university community shall be permitted to attend the hearing. The invited other person shall not have the right to speak or otherwise participate in the hearing. No sound or video recording of the appeal committee hearing shall be permitted.
9. If the student is subject to more than one charge of academic dishonesty in a single class and the student requests an appeal committee hearing, all charges shall be considered together in a single hearing.
10. All testimony given at the hearing shall be considered confidential except for communication to appropriate university faculty and administrators.
11. If the appeals committee judges that the student is not guilty of academic dishonesty and the instructor who made the initial charge accepts the recommendation of the committee, all written records pertaining to the matter will be destroyed.

Second Offense

Notification and appeal procedures regarding second infractions are identical to those for an initial infraction.

1. A student found guilty of a second major infraction will be dismissed from the university within fourteen (14) semester days, unless the student appeals the charge.
2. In unusual cases, the Provost has the right to dismiss a student who has committed more than one minor infraction from the university, to be determined by the Provost in consultation with the appropriate dean(s).
3. If the instructor chooses not to drop the charge and the student wishes to appeal the second offense, the Provost will transmit the appeal to the Ombuds Officer for an appropriate appeals committee review and recommendation for action to the Provost. If the review and recommendation confirms that the second offense is a major infraction and that the instructor’s action is warranted, the student will be dismissed from the University immediately.
4. In the case of a senior who plans to graduate at the end of the semester in which the second offense occurs, the appeals committee review should be conducted as soon as practical. If the date of the commencement ceremony makes the appeals committee meeting impractical, then the Provost, together with the student’s dean, shall have the authority to dismiss the student prior to the commencement ceremony.

Notification

Regarding all cases that fall under the purview “Second Offense”, the Provost will notify the instructor(s) and student of a final decision.

When more than one college is involved (for instance, if a student from one college is charged with an infraction by an instructor in another college), the Provost shall inform all appropriate deans or program directors of the events and penalties.

Records

All reports and documents pertaining to each case, including faculty charges, student appeals, and appeal-committee records, along with written responses from the Provost’s Office, will be filed with the Vice-President of Student Experience. Where practical, electronic copies of this information shall be sent to the Provost.

All such information is subject to regulations regarding disposal of records and release of information mandated by Alfred University and/or found in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), or as mandated by any other controlling legal authority.

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