Policy Number: AUS-AAP.00x.001

Audience: Students and all AUS personnel

Sponsor: Office of Academic Affairs

THE ACADEMIC HONESTY AND INTEGRITY POLICY AND PROCEDURES

I. POLICY APPLICABILITY

All community members of the American University of Science, hereinafter referred to as AUS or the University, are expected to conduct themselves in accord with the standards of academic honesty and integrity.

II. POLICY RATIONALE

The University seeks to prepare its students to be knowledgeable, forthright, and honest. It expects and requires academic honesty and integrity from all community members. The University views “academic honesty and integrity” as the duty of every member of an academic community to claim authorship for their work and only for that work and to recognize the contributions of others accurately and completely. This obligation is fundamental to the integrity of intellectual debate and creative and academic pursuits.

Academic honesty and integrity include proper use of quotations and appropriate and explicit citation of sources in instances of paraphrasing and describing ideas or reporting on research findings or any aspect of the work of others (including that of faculty members and other students). Academic dishonesty results from infractions of this “accurate use.” The standards of academic honesty and integrity, and citation of sources, apply to all forms of academic work, including submissions of drafts of final papers or projects. All University community members are expected to conduct themselves according to intellectual honesty and integrity standards.

Academic dishonesty and disintegrity are serious offenses with serious consequences for the student who commits the offense and the University. When a student engages in academic dishonesty, the educational integrity of the entire University is threatened. For this reason, the University treats matters of academic dishonesty and disintegrity with the utmost gravity and imposes severe academic penalties where appropriate. Nevertheless, in these matters, the University strives first to educate students and, in this case, to impress upon them the importance of academic honesty. For this reason, the University intends its procedures for dealing with academic dishonesty and disintegrity charges to be educative and disciplinary.

III. POLICY PURPOSE

In support of AUS’s mission, vision, and core values, this policy establishes academic honesty and integrity standards. It also enforces the AUSs commitment to teaching and learning while maintaining authenticity, ethics, and scholarship in one’s work as a student at the University. And it provides fair and equitable administrative procedures for addressing breaches of those expectations and includes options for handling incidents.

IV. POLICY STATEMENT

1. Definitions and Examples of Academic Dishonesty

(1) Academic dishonesty is willful and intentional fraud and deception to improve a grade or obtain course credit. It includes all student behavior intended to gain an unearned academic advantage by fraudulent and/or deceptive means.

2. Academic Dishonesty includes but is not limited to:

i. Cheating, which includes possessing unauthorized sources of information during examinations, copying the work of others, permitting others to copy their work, submitting work done by others, completing assignments for others;

ii. Plagiarism, which includes taking the words, ideas, or substance of another and either copying or paraphrasing the work without giving credit to the source through the appropriate use of footnotes, quotation marks, or reference citations;

iii. Providing materials to another with the knowledge they will be improperly used;

iv. Purchasing or acquiring academic work from other students or third parties in person, online, or through an intermediary and submitting it as the student's work;

v. Possessing another's work without permission;

vi. Unauthorized recording, dissemination, or publication of academic work (including handwritten notes) for a commercial purpose.

vii. Altering the work of another with the intent of deceiving;

viii. Knowingly furnishing false or incomplete academic information;

ix. Altering documents that makeup part of the student record;

x. Forging signatures or falsifying information on any official academic document;

xi. Altering work after grading and subsequently submitting it for re-grading without the instructor's permission;

xii. Submitting the same work for two or more classes without the permission of all the instructors involved;

xiii. Retaining materials that the student has been instructed to return to the instructor; inventing, dishonest adjusting, omitting, or otherwise misrepresenting data or falsifying an account of the method through which data were generated; and

xiv. Lying to an instructor or to a university official to improve a grade.

V. RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Responsibilities of the University

i The University is responsible for providing faculty with resources and training to deter and identify academic dishonesty.

ii. The University is responsible for providing faculty with best practice guidelines for addressing academic dishonesty.

iii. The University is responsible for providing students with resources and training opportunities to avoid committing academic dishonesty.

iv. The University is responsible for providing students with clear and consistent guidance regarding their rights when charged with academic dishonesty.

v. The University may impose additional disciplinary sanctions, which the Provost may determine, should the student have documented prior incidents of academic dishonesty that have been reported to the Office of Academic Affairs.

2. Responsibilities of the Students

i. Students are responsible for the integrity of their actions and must be willing to accept the consequences of these actions.

ii. Students are responsible for being familiar with the University policies and seeking clarification with faculty if they are unclear about expectations for any assignment.

iii. Students are also encouraged to report academic dishonesty.

iv. In the sense that a university is a community, students should understand their roles in creating a culture that encourages honesty and discourages academic dishonesty.

v. Students need not tolerate any action on the part of another that diminishes their integrity or that of the University.

3. Responsibilities of the Faculty

i. Faculty will take measures to discourage dishonesty, adjust grades appropriately if dishonesty is discovered, and recommend that additional administrative sanctions be considered. Grading policies are the exclusive prerogative of the faculty.

ii. Plagiarism is considered a form of academic dishonesty and thus must require notification of the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities and possible disciplinary action. However, as plagiarism may be due to poor learning or inattention to format and no intent to deceive, instructor discretion on the penalty in the classroom work is appropriate. Under such circumstances, the instructor may elect to work with the student to correct the problem at an informal level, which will not be considered a penalty.

iii. In any case of a potential intentional violation that any penalty is applied, the student must be informed by the instructor of the event for which they are being penalized and the penalty within one week of discovery of the event.

iv. When a faculty member discovers a potential intentional violation of the University’s policy of academic integrity, the faculty member is required to notify the Office of Academic Affairs and the student(s) involved to ensure that repeated violations do not go undetected if they occur in separate departments or with different faculty.

v. If a student successfully appeals, they may contest the underlying charge of academic dishonesty through the “Student Academic Grievance Policy and Procedures.”

VI. POLICY PROCEDURES

Notification to Student

(1) A faculty member who suspects a student has engaged in academic dishonesty will meet with the student. The faculty member is expected to contact the student within ten (10) days after the last day of courses for the semester or session in which the alleged incident occurs. If academic dishonesty is alleged on an examination, paper, or creative work due within the last two weeks of courses, the faculty member should submit an incomplete grade until the student can be properly notified and the matter resolved. If grading a major culminating work (for example, a Senior Exhibit, final course paper, Masters's Thesis, or Doctoral Dissertation) takes longer to evaluate, faculty may request an exception to this deadline through the Dean's office.

(2) The student must contact the faculty member within ten (10) days of the notification to schedule a meeting with the faculty member. The faculty member is responsible for setting the appointment. This meeting can be in person or online. A student who fails to respond in the time required will be deemed to have waived their rights under this policy. If the student does not respond, and the faculty member determines that the infraction is an actionable offense, s/he will inform in writing the School's Designee of their determination and include copies of the following: correspondence with the student, syllabi, and course assessment.

(3) In cases where the student is taking a course with a faculty member of a different school, the faculty member's school designee will inform the student's School Designee, who will then oversee the adjudication process.

Faculty Meeting with Student

(4) During the meeting with the student, the faculty member will review the allegations with the student and allow the student the opportunity to respond. The student and/or the faculty member may voluntarily request the presence of a designated third party from the student’s school or the University’s student ombudsperson. A Third Party is appointed within each school for this purpose and can assist in clarifying questions about this policy and its processes and facilitate communication between the faculty member and the student. The School Designee can never also serve as a Third Party. If the faculty member and/or the student elect to have a third party present, the requestor is responsible for notifying the other of their decision before the meeting. During this meeting, the student may either accept responsibility for the allegations or dispute them.

(5) Regardless, the faculty member will consult with the School Designee and then make one or more of the following determinations:

i. Indicate that the student has not infracted this policy.

ii. Indicate that the student has committed an infraction and impose one of the following sanctions: a. require the student to resubmit the assignment; or b. give the student a failing grade for that particular assessment, or c. give the student a failing grade for the course.

iii. Indicate that the student has committed an egregious infraction supporting the recommendation to the Dean that the student be suspended or expelled. Examples of egregious infractions include but are not limited to (a) multiple instances of academic dishonesty in a single course, (b) repeated instances of academic dishonesty by a student in different courses, and (c) academic dishonesty related to a major culminating work such as a Senior Exhibit, Masters Thesis or Doctoral Dissertation.

(6) The faculty member will send correspondence, syllabi, and course assignments to the School Designee with their determination.

(7) In the rare and exceptional circumstance where the Faculty Meeting with Student process cannot occur, the instructor or the School’s Designee shall notify the student of the instructor’s concern that the student has engaged in academic dishonesty and that the matter has been referred to the Dean for resolution. In such cases, the student may proceed as outlined in the Appeals Procedures.

Review of Faculty Determination and Possible Imposition of Sanctions by School Designee

(9) The school designee will review the faculty member’s determination and consult, as needed, with appropriate academic personnel. Based on the faculty member’s determination, the nature of the most recent violation as it relates to past violations, consistency within the division and across the University, and on any other relevant information pertaining to the student’s record at the University, the School Designee may determine that modified sanctions should be imposed on the student that can include but is not limited to suspension or expulsion.

(10) Recognizing the importance of the decision for the student, the faculty member and the School Designee will notify the student in writing of the sanction(s) as soon as possible, but not more than twenty (20) days after receipt of the faculty member’s written recommendation. In addition, the School Designee will notify the appropriate offices in the school, the faculty member, the faculty member’s School Designee (if the course at issue is offered through another school), and the Office of the Provost and the Office of the Chancellor.

(11) Disciplinary sanctions will be imposed by the Office of Academic Affairs.

VI. APPEALS

If the student is dissatisfied with the outcome of the adjudication procedures, s/he has the right to appeal.

Student’s Right to Appeal to the Dean

(1) The student may appeal the school designee’s decision to the Dean/Director of the School or their designee (hereinafter “Dean”). The appeal must be in writing and sent within ten (10) days of the decision letter received by the student. The student may request that the Dean convene a meeting of the existing committee responsible for academic standards and standing or convene such a committee, should one not already exist, to review the appeal. No committee member will have been part of the appeals process to date. The committee’s recommendation will be made to the Dean, whose decision is final except in cases where the student has been suspended or expelled. Alternatively, the student may waive review by a committee and request that the appeal be reviewed exclusively by the Dean or their designee, who will not be the School’s Designee.

(2) The student’s appeal must be reviewed within fifteen (15) days of receipt. Note that an appeal to the Dean may result in a stricter penalty than that applied by the School Designee. The student must be notified in writing of the appeal decision within five (5) days. A copy of the decision must be sent to the faculty member who brought the initial allegations, the Office of the Assistant Vice President for Student and Campus Life, and other offices as appropriate. The Dean’s decision is final and not subject to further appeal, except in cases where the decision is either to suspend or expel.

Appeal to the Provost

(3) A student who has been ordered suspended or expelled from the University because of a violation of this policy may appeal to the Provost or his/her designee (hereinafter “Provost”). The appeal must be made in writing within five (5) days of receipt of the Dean’s decision.

(4) If the Provost decides to consider the appeal, such a review will be limited to: (a) whether the adjudication procedures outlined in this policy were properly followed; and (b) whether the sanction imposed is appropriate given the nature of the violation and is consistent with sanctions imposed across the University in the past for similar violations. Note that an appeal to the Provost may result in a stricter penalty than that applied by the Dean; i.e., an appeal of a Dean’s decision of suspension could result in the Provost’s decision of expulsion. The Provost will make a determination within ten (10) days of receipt of the request. The Provost’s decision is final.