Academic Integrity Policy (Effective Starting Fall 2025)

UMass Amherst is strongly committed to academic integrity, which is defined as completing all academic work without cheating, lying, stealing, or receiving unauthorized assistance from any other person, or using any source of information not appropriately authorized or attributed. The UMass community is centered, among other things, onteaching and learning, a complex process in which many stakeholders, including students, instructors (tenure-stream,lecturer, and adjunct professors as well as graduate student TAs and TOs), administrators, and relevant staff, are a part.As a community, we hold each other accountable and support each other’s knowledge and understanding of academic integrity. The following policy defines the responsibilities towards our collective goal.

Academic integrity asks the community to work together. Scholarship depends upon the reliability of information and reference of the work of others. No form of cheating, plagiarism, fabrication, or facilitating of dishonesty, via analogue or digital methods, will be condoned in the University community. Instructors are to be clear about the expectations in their course(s)/assignment(s) of how work should be completed; students are to demonstrate their own learning during examinations and other academic exercises, and appropriately credit other sources of information or knowledge. Instructors may analyze student work, electronically or by other means, for originality ofcontent. Instructors may include student work in databases for the purpose of checking for possible plagiarized content.

UMass Amherst holds academic integrity in the highest regard and as a foundation of our institution. Therefore, the community of students, instructors, and staff are expected to uphold academic integrity. Upon matriculation to UMass Amherst, all students received and acknowledged  a commitment to academic integrity (Appendix A: Commitment to Academic Integrity). Because students are an integral part of the UMass community, they share responsibility for participating in, and upholding, academic integrity.

Academic integrity infractions include but are not limited to:

• Cheating: Intentional or attempted use of trickery, artifice, deception, breach of confidence, fraud, or misrepresentation of one's academic work as well as intentional or attempted use of unauthorized materials, including generative AI tools, assistance, collaboration, information, or study aids in any academic exercise (unless explicitly permitted by instructor).
• Fabrication: Falsification and/or invention of any information or citation in any academic exercise.
• Plagiarism: Knowingly representing the words, ideas, art, and/or creative works of another, includinggenerative AI tools, as one's own work in any academic exercise. This includes submitting without citation, in whole or in part, prewritten term papers, research, art, or other creative works by others, including but not limited to commercial vendors who sell or distribute such materials.
• Lying: Knowingly providing false information, submitting false documents, or misleading anyone in connection with any academic matter.
• Facilitating dishonesty: Knowingly helping or attempting to help another commit an academic integrity infraction, including distributing course materials without permission, manipulating digital technologies with unauthorized course information, substituting for another in an examination, or allowing others to represent as their own one's papers, reports, or academic works.

The above definitions are guidelines and are the foundation for the initiation of either the informal or formal academic integrity process. While there may be cases of genuine misunderstanding, if there is a misunderstanding so egregious that common sense would indicate a different course of action, instructors may choose to pursue academic sanctions within the academic integrity process.

Sanctions may be imposed on any student who has committed or facilitated an academic integrity infraction. In instances where student-staff (for example, student tutors) suspect an academic integrity infraction, they should report their concerns to their supervisor, who should follow up with any needed communication. For this policy, TOsare responsible for administering the academic integrity policy in their classes. Graduate TAs are responsible for reporting to the instructor of record any suspicions of academic dishonesty. Graduate TOs who oversee their ownclasses should communicate their suspicions to their course director, faculty advisor, and/or department chair forsupport during the process.

Upholding academic integrity is centralized in the Academic Integrity Office, which is part of Academic Affairs, and reports to the Provost’s office. All reported cases of academic integrity infractions will go through and be held bythe Academic Integrity Office.

Academic integrity expectations

University policies on academic integrity apply across all courses. Instructors are to provide guidance to students, ideally within the syllabus and/or within specific assignment guidelines and, in turn, students are to adhere to that guidance. Expectations within assignments may vary across courses; instructors should be clear in their guidelines,and students should be familiar with individual course policies. Students are responsible for completing all work within the parameters set forth by instructors, to be familiar with the standards set forth by the University, and to understand the basic parameters of independent work. In cases with genuine misunderstanding of the parameters of an assignment, instructors and students should be in communication with each other to take steps to remedy the coursework. Any violation, drawn from the above definitions, will result in negative consequences that may hinder an individual assignment grade, course grade, academic progress, or university enrollment.

Academic integrity process

Once an instructor suspects an academic integrity infraction, they are responsible for contacting the student(s) within 10 business days with a request to meet to discuss the work (this timeline may be extended during periods ofinstructor/student non-responsibility, such as during semester breaks; an initial attempt at outreach must be made during periods of responsibility). Students are to respond within 5 business days of instructor outreach. Instructors andstudents should communicate (digitally or in person) to discuss the suspected dishonesty (See Appendix D: Guidelines for communication when dishonesty is suspected). If the communication results in a mutually agreed uponincident of an academic integrity infraction and subsequent resolution, it will trigger the informal review process, of which the bulk of the process will be handled between the instructor and the student(s). Students are responsiblefor engaging in communication with their instructor to address the issue; ignoring or otherwise avoidinginstructor outreach will not result in a suspension of the process (If the suspected academic integrity infraction fallsclose to the end of the semester/grading period and the proposed sanction may have larger implications, such as academic probation, financial aid, residence, or graduation, please see Appendix C: Guidelines for managingacademic integrity infractions timeline close to the end of the semester). If an informal resolution is agreed upon,there may be assignment/course grade implications. This resolution and any corresponding documentation mustbe filed with the Academic Integrity Office.

The following are two routes instructors may choose from:

• Active communication: If the instructor and the student come to a mutual agreement that the work meets the definitions of an academic integrity infraction, the instructor may assign a grade penalty commensurate with the infraction (See Appendix B: Infraction/Consequences Suggestions). The student(s) and the instructor(s)will both sign the informal resolution form. Instructors will submit the informal resolution form (see Appendix E: Forms) to the Academic Integrity Office. Instructors will complete the informal agreement within 10 business days of the agreement; students will sign the informal agreement within 5 business days of the instructor’s signature. Students can request additional time to access resources before signing if necessary; itis up to the instructor to approve the additional time. The informal agreement will be submitted to the Academic Integrity Office and no more than 2 weeks after both signatures are obtained.
• No proactive communication: If, after the initial 5 days, 5 additional business days (for a total of 10 business days) pass without the student actively communicating with the instructor, the instructor may assign a grade/course penalty without consultation (See Appendix B: Infraction/Consequences Suggestions). Any additional time for communication beyond 10 business days is up to the instructor; any student who wants tocontest the timing beyond the 5 additional business days may start the formal process. If a grade/course penalty is assigned without student consultation, the instructor must maintain communication outreach documents that demonstrate non-responsiveness from the student and submit these, and the Non- Communication Form (see Appendix E: Forms), to the Academic Integrity Office.

The Academic Integrity Office will keep all forms on file. If two forms per student are filed, the Academic Integrity Office will connect with the student for further discussion; if three or more forms per student are filed, the Academic Integrity Office will connect with the student and the Dean of Students Office (undergraduate) or theGraduate School (graduate students) for further disciplinary action.

If no agreement can be made via an informal resolution, this will trigger a formal resolution. The instructor will submit a form documenting the suspected violation, including evidence of attempts at communication with the student, details of the conversation where the informal resolution could not be reached, and the specific sanction they impose on the student following the infraction. This form will be submitted to the Academic Integrity Office and willtrigger the appeal process. The Academic Integrity Office has 5 days to notify the student(s) of the alleged violation; students have 10 business days to respond to the complaint. If the student(s) does not appeal, the instructor’s sanction will stand. If the student(s) appeal, this triggers a hearing. If the hearing finds the student(s) were academically dishonest, there will be both course sanctions as well as a notification on the student(s) official academic record.

Instructor expectations

• Will provide clear guidelines in syllabus and/or individual course assignments on expectations of how work isto be completed (Examples include, but are not limited to: Individually, in collaboration/groups, restriction of outside sources and appropriate citation format, permission/restriction of generative AI tools).
• Will make a good-faith effort to communicate proactively with student(s) when an academic integrity infraction is suspected.
• Will not assign a grade on the basis of suspicion.

Students’ rights

When facing concerns of academic integrity infractions, students have the right to:

• A conversation with their instructor about what occurred within a prescribed time frame.
• A conversation with the instructor prior to signing anything that may unduly harm academic progress.
• Clarity on resources for support in understanding the process, including academic advisors, the Ombudsoffice, SGA student conduct advisors, the college point-person, and student legal services.
• The opportunity to reject the informal process; if the student feels they have completed the work withacademic integrity, they may initiate a formal hearing.
• The opportunity to request more time for the processes if they want/need to consult with additional resources.Any additional time granted is at the discretion of the instructor.
• Grieve a grade sanction imposed that did not follow the process outlined in the Academic Integrity Process.
• Stay in class and continue to submit work during the informal/ formal Academic Integrity process.

If formal charges are pursued, students have the right to:

• A conversation with a disinterested party prior to the hearing to ensure their full comprehension of the charges.

Please see the Academic Integrity Procedures and the Appendices for detailed information andsupport on proceeding with academic integrity action.