Academic Honesty Policy and Procedures

The Academic Honesty Policy was established to ensure that the learning environment at the university is honest and fair. The policy is designed to provide faculty and students with options for handling incidents. Academic dishonesty includes but is not limited to:

  • Cheating - intentional use or attempted use of trickery or deception in one's academic work
  • Fabrication - intentional falsification and/or invention of any information or citation
  • Plagiarism - knowingly representing the words or ideas of another as one's own work
  • Facilitating dishonesty - knowingly helping or attempting to help another commit an act of academic dishonesty

Formal definitions of academic dishonesty, examples of various forms of dishonesty, and the procedures which faculty must follow to penalize dishonesty are contained in the Academic Honesty Policy. There are two main pathways for resolving cases where dishonesty is suspected: the informal resolution and the formal charge. Both these paths require that the instructor first inform the student of the concern and offer a meeting (see the Guide for Initiating Conversations and the Guide for Instructors).

Informal resolutions are a fast-track way of handling dishonesty cases. In an informal resolution, the instructor and the student agree to a penalty, complete and sign an informal resolution form describing the incident. Once the instructor and student sign the DocuSign form, a completed copy is automatically sent to the Academic Honesty Office. The record is kept confidential by the honesty office unless the student receives three academic honesty charges (formal or informal), in which case the student will face official disciplinary action.

Formal charges may be filed with the Academic Honesty Office through the formal charge form if there is no agreement on an informal resolution. The student has the right to appeal the formal charge, in which case a hearing is held and a determination is made by the Academic Honesty Board. If upheld, a formal charge will result in a sanction and an entry in the student's discipline file.

Formal charge appeals must be filed in writing with the Academic Honesty Board within ten days of notification of a formal charge. Information on the appeals process is contained in the Academic Honesty Policy.

More detailed descriptions of the University's policy and procedures are in the documents linked on the right and at the Faculty Senate's Academic Honesty page.