Academic Integrity at TCNJ

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Academic Integrity at TCNJ

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What Is TCNJs Academic Integrity Policy?

• You will receive a brochure about the colleges
  academic integrity policy and the consequence for
  violating it by e-mail in September. Keep it and
  read it carefully.
• This presentation seeks to explain some of the
  details of the policy.

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Does Academic Integrity Matter?

• Student PerspectiveWhat does all my hard work
  matter if someone else cheats and gets away with
  it?
• Faculty PerspectiveHow can I teach effectively
  if I cant trust my students to do their own
  work?
• Everyones PerspectiveWhat kind of school do
  we want TCNJ to be? A school of cheaters or a
  community of scholars?

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What Is Academic Dishonesty?

• Academic dishonesty is any attempt by the
  student to gain academic advantage through
  dishonest means, to submit, as his/her own, work
  which has not been done by him/her or to give
  improper aid to another student in the completion
  of an assignment.
• From TCNJs Academic Integrity Policy

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Common Violations

• Submitting work that is not your own whether
  through plagiarism (not properly acknowledging
  the words, ideas, data, etc. of others),
  purchase, or using another persons work
• Cheating on an exam
• Collaborating when instructions called for
  independent work
• Submitting an assignment with falsified or
  fabricated data or results
• Submitting the same assignment in multiple
  classes
• Feigning illness or personal circumstances to
  avoid a required academic activity
• Concealing, destroying, or stealing research or
  library materials to deprive others of their use
  or sabotaging someone else's work

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When Is Something Dishonest?

• Bottom lineWould you be willing to
  tellthe professor what you did?

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Why Might a Student Behave Dishonestly?

• Desperation For example, a student has been
  under pressure at school and home. Several
  assignments are due at the same time, and there
  isnt time to complete everything. So, the
  student copies a paper from a web site.
• Shortcuts For example, a student decides to use
  falsified bibliographic entries in a paper for a
  class outside her major under the belief that
  this class isnt as important as those in her
  major.
• Lack of understanding For example, a student
  isnt intending to be dishonest, but doesnt
  realize that copying material from a website and
  pasting it into a paper or presentation without
  citation or attribution is academically
  dishonest.

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How To Avoid Violations

• Ask about professors policies for collaborating,
  use of sources, etc.
• Talk to your professor if you have academic
  problems or need an extension.
• Good planning can prevent many problems from ever
  happening.
• For proper use of sources, get help such as
• Links tutorial on the librarys website
  http//www.tcnj.edu/liblinks
• Help at the tutoring center
• Turnitin, a service that searches Internet and a
  database of over 40 million student papers to
  help you or your professor tell if you are
  relying too heavily a source. Turnitin is
  available on Canvas.

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Case Studies

• Some of these cases may have clear-cut answers
  some may depend upon circumstances in a specific
  class but all of the cases are worth discussing
  to get a better idea about academic integrity
  issues.

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Academic Integrity Case 1

• Jane writes a paper for an Introduction to
  Management course on the topic of Flexible
  Workplace Benefits in a Diverse Workforce. The
  following year, in a class on Benefits and
  Compensation, she submits the same paper. Has
  she behaved dishonestly?

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Academic Integrity Case 2

• Jeff is writing a paper for a political
  science class. He needs to describe the workings
  of the British parliamentary system. He has a
  source that explains the system very concisely
  and well. He cant think of a better way to
  summarize the system, so he uses some of the
  exact phrases of the source interspersed among
  his own words. He cites the source at the end of
  the paragraph. Has he behaved dishonestly?

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Academic Integrity Case 3

• Isaac was working on a group project with
  three other students. Each student was required
  to complete a fair share, 25, of the work. Isaac
  completed about 10 of the total project. Has he
  behaved dishonestly?
• Does the answer change if Isaac doesnt
  contribute anything?

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Academic Integrity Case 4

• Sarah and Peter were lab partners in a
  chemistry class. One week they split the 30
  homework problems (unrelated to their lab) in
  half. Sarah did the odd numbers and Peter did
  the even numbers. They met Sunday night to share
  the answers. On Monday, Sarah and Peter
  individually submitted the completed 30 problems.
  Have they behaved dishonestly?

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Academic Integrity Case 5

• Sylvia is writing a paper for her economics
  class. She finishes the paper a couple days
  before its due date and sends a copy to her
  mother by email. Her mother corrects the paper
  to fix the grammar, spelling, and typos and then
  sends it back to Sylvia by email. Sylvia turns
  in the copy corrected by her mother. Has Sylvia
  behaved dishonestly?

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Academic Integrity Case 6

• Arnold hasnt finished his reading for his
  history class. The professor sometimes asks
  students questions point-blank about the reading,
  and Arnold doesnt want to risk not being able to
  answer something. So, he emails the professor to
  say that hes feeling sick and skips class. Has
  he behaved dishonestly?

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Other Academic Integrity Cases

• What kinds of hard-to-judge cases can you
  imagine?
• Do you have a question about a specific case you
  know about or can imagine?

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What Happens in Academic Integrity Cases?

• Academic integrity cases may be decided by the
  faculty member, an Academic Integrity Officer in
  a School, or the All-College Academic Integrity
  Board
• Result of academic integrity cases may include
• Being cleared of any wrongdoing
• Redoing the assignment in question (with or
  without a penalty)
• Receiving an F for the assignment
• Receiving an F for the course
• Receiving a Disciplinary F (which permanently
  counts in the GPA)
• Being suspended or dismissed from TCNJ.

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Academic Integrity Procedure.

• An instructor will consult with the student about
  a suspected incident of academic dishonesty.
• If the instructor believes it to be intentional,
  s/he will reports it to the appropriate Academic
  Integrity Officer.
• The AIO investigates. The matter may be settled
  by the AIO. The student has a right to a hearing
  before the All-College Academic Integrity Board.
• If the instructor believes the incident to be
  unintentional, s/he may report it or take other
  actions such as giving a grade of zero or
  requiring the work to be redone.