The following information is designed to complement University academic integrity policies; in no way does it supersede or replace that information.
“Academic integrity is the pursuit of scholarly activity in an open, honest and responsible manner” which includes “a commitment by all members of the University community not to engage in or tolerate acts of falsification, misrepresentation or deception”
The shared conviction, represented in the procedures that follow, is that academic integrity is best taught and reinforced by educators as an element of the teaching and learning process.
This shared conviction is also reflected in other university policies:
-
Senate policy 43-00 Syllabi requires instructors to distribute a course syllabus including an academic integrity policy for the course. An example statement can be found on the Senate’s Syllabus Requirements webpage. Syllabus language around students’ use of AI, including “intelligent” and “smart” tools/aids, can be found at integrity.psu.edu.
-
Penn State’s General Standards of Professional Ethics says, “As teachers, professors….hold before their students the best scholarly standards of their respective disciplines…They make every reasonable effort to foster honest academic conduct and to assure that their evaluations of students reflect the students' true merit.”
- Penn State’s policy on academic freedom says, “Academic freedom is also inherent in faculty members' roles in the classroom and in related instructional activities. Faculty members are, however, responsible for the maintenance of appropriate standards of scholarship…”
To support and foster a healthy academic integrity culture, both Undergraduate Education and Graduate Education policies require educators to submit an academic integrity claim when they believe there is a preponderance of evidence for an academic integrity violation, even when they believe the violation is minor and/or unintentional. Educators who are able to do so should also consider serving on an academic integrity committee if asked.
Both of these education policies note that educators may not penalize a student in any way (e.g., grade reduction/deduction, require the student to redo work, require new work, removal from an academic opportunity) for an academic integrity concern unless the student is determined to be in violation at the conclusion of the academic integrity process. Then, the educator will apply only the outcomes determined through that process. To initiate the academic integrity process, educators should submit an academic integrity claim. Educators who believe that a student has submitted false documentation should submit that documentation with the claim. Educators submitting a claim for a violation on a course assessment should submit the course syllabus.
If the student dropped or withdrew from an affected course after notification of an academic integrity concern, the Office of the University Registrar will return the student to the course roster. If the course relies on Canvas, the educator should return the student to the Canvas roster in a timely manner and notify the student of their return.
Educators who need to follow Graduate Education policies should see that policy for additional expectations.