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Academic Misconduct

One of the most important things we can do as a scholarly community is to be clear about our expectations around academic integrity in the classes we teach. We have researched best practices on syllabi language and faculty practices, and recommend the following be included in the syllabus:

• A personal statement on the significance and meaning of the importance of honesty in the classroom. Such a statement might refer to students’ future work in a job in the respective discipline, personal observations on the importance of integrity, etc.

• Depending on the discipline, a general statement of the academic guidelines (e.g., APA, Chicago Manual of Style) that students must utilize in their academic work.

• A statement on if, when, and how students may collaborate with one another on assignments, projects, examination preparation or examinations.

• A referral to the new website on academic integrity and other resources that students may utilize in the particular class.

• A reference to Chapter 5 (Academic Integrity) of the Student Handbook for the definitions of and penalties for academic misconduct. This content appears on the Academic Integrity web page (http://www.MUOHIO.edu/integrity) as well as in the Student Handbook (http://www.MUOHIO.edu/student_handbook).

In a university-wide survey administered in 2005-06, students told us that faculty who discussed their syllabi statements on academic dishonesty during the first classes of the semester and who reviewed these expectations before the first test or written assignment were particularly helpful.

If you discover academic misconduct by a student:

Faculty members who believe a student has engaged in academic conduct must report that action to the department chair for that course. It is important that faculty do not try to handle these cases informally or individually, because otherwise a pattern of misconduct may go undetected through a student’s academic career and undermine the university’s efforts to emphasize the importance of this standard.

Your report should be structured as follows:

January 25, 2009
To: Jane Smith, Chair, Department of Physics
From: John Jones, Course Instructor, PHY 252
RE: Alleged act of academic dishonesty by David Doe

On January 15, 2009, I observed David Doe looking at the test of Joan Butler before recording his answers during an in-class examination that I administered at 10 a.m. as part of PHY 252. I watched Mr. Doe for several minutes and observed Mr. Doe look at Ms. Butler’s test several times. Ms. Butler did not seem to be aware of his actions. I then asked Mr. Doe to speak to me in the hall outside the classroom, told him what I had observed and too his test form him. I later made a copy of Ms. Butler’s paper and have marked on Mr. Doe’s test the answers that are similar. I have noted in particular the answers Ms. Butler and Mr. Doe both had wrong.

Attachments
Copies of test completed by David Doe and Jane Butler.

The department chair will take it from there. A hearing will be scheduled that you, the chair, and the student will attend to discuss the allegations.