The Academic Honor Code and Academic Dishonesty

Background

In the spring term of 1999, ��vlog�� approved a new Academic Honor Code that went into effect in the fall term of 2000. The Academic Honor Code itself appears below, and all ��vlog�� students are expected to be familiar with the code and abide by it. For a more extensive discussion of academic dishonesty, refer to The ��vlog�� Academic Honor Code.

The Academic Honor Code

At ��vlog��, we believe honesty and integrity are fundamental in a community dedicated to learning, personal development, and a search for understanding. We revere these values and hold them essential in promoting personal responsibility, moral and intellectual leadership, and pride in ourselves and our University.

As ��vlog�� students, we will represent ourselves truthfully, claim only work that is our own, and engage honestly in all academic assignments.

Since articulated standards and expectations can influence attitudes, and because each of us shares the responsibility for maintaining academic integrity, we are committed to upholding the Academic Honor Code.

Reporting Procedures

Members of the ��vlog�� community who misrepresent themselves or their work through cheating, fabrication, facilitation, or plagiarism, or who suspect another of such misrepresentation are expected to follow the outlined reporting procedures.

Consistent with the basic expectations of the Academic Honor Code, students who believe they may have violated ��vlog��’s standards of academic integrity are expected to acknowledge their concerns to the course instructor or to their academic or administrative dean.

A student who observes what may be academically dishonest behavior on the part of another student is expected to share that concern with the instructor of the course. The instructor will review the elements of the complaint, and if the instructor believes that the Academic Honor Code has been violated, they will contact the University disciplinary officer, who will take appropriate action as outlined in this Student Handbook.

Academic Dishonesty

Briefly stated, ��vlog�� defines academic dishonesty as any attempt to misrepresent one’s performance on any academic exercise submitted for evaluation. Academic departments and programs, at their option, may further clarify this general definition in writing (and distribute this clarification to students taking courses in that department). A violation of the department’s or program’s statement shall be considered a violation of the academic dishonesty policy of the University as a whole. In any situation where a student questions the appropriateness of representing a work as their own, it will be the student’s responsibility to raise the question with the instructor. Ignorance of University policy concerning academic dishonesty shall not be a defense in any conduct board proceeding.

��vlog�� recognizes four forms of academic dishonesty: Cheating, Fabrication (of data or sources), Facilitating Academic Dishonesty, and Plagiarism. The full definitions of these forms of academic dishonesty are listed below. All students are urged to read these definitions carefully to gain a complete understanding of behavior that the University considers academically dishonest. Ignorance of the definitions will not be seen as a defense in University Conduct Board proceedings.

Cheating

Cheating shall be defined as attempting to use prohibited materials, information, or study aids in any academic exercise. To prevent possible claims of cheating, there should be strict adherence to the following guidelines:

Faculty members should state, in advance, their policies and procedures concerning examinations and other academic exercises. Students should request such information if a faculty member neglects to offer it. For questions regarding the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (“AI”), refer to the Baseline Policy on Generative Artificial Intelligence Use in Student Work below.

It is especially important that clear guidelines be established and followed concerning the use of “take-home” examinations.

Students completing an “in-class” or “take-home” examination should assume that any external assistance (e.g., books, notes, calculators, conversations with others) is prohibited unless specifically authorized by the instructor.

Substantial portions of the same academic work may not be submitted for credit or honors more than once without the permission of the instructor(s).

Students must not allow others to conduct research or prepare any work for them without advance authorization from the instructor. This parameter includes, but is not restricted to, commercial term paper companies and files of past papers.

Fabrication

Fabrication shall be defined as the attempt to falsify or invent without authorization any information or citation in an academic exercise. To prevent possible claims of fabrication, there should be strict adherence to the following guidelines:

“Invented” information may not be used in any laboratory experiment or other academic exercise without notice to and authorization from the instructor. It would be improper, for example, to analyze one sample in an experiment and covertly “invent” data based on that single experiment for several more required analyses.
Students should acknowledge the actual source from which they have obtained cited information. For example, a writer should not reproduce a quotation found in a book review and indicate that the quotation was obtained from the book itself.

Facilitating Academic Dishonesty

Facilitating Academic Dishonesty shall be defined as attempting to help another to commit an act of academic dishonesty. For example, if a student gives another student a specific answer to a homework assignment and knows that such assistance was either prohibited or would not be acknowledged, they are facilitating academic dishonesty.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the act of using another person’s work without clearly acknowledging your debt to the original source. This includes the borrowing of words, ideas, images, tables, charts, etc., from books, articles, web pages, interviews, television shows, films, songs, or any other medium.

To avoid plagiarizing, always provide a specific citation to the original source in each instance in which you have borrowed from another’s work. In addition, always use quotation marks or indented block quotations when phrases or sentences are borrowed directly, and put summaries and paraphrases in your own words (because merely rearranging someone else’s words in order to avoid using quotation marks is neither honest nor good scholarship).

Students should always consult with their professor if they have questions about proper scholarly procedures or what might constitute plagiarism on a particular assignment.

��vlog�� expects all students to understand what plagiarism is and to produce work that is honest and meets the high standards expected for scholarly discourse. Ignorance is not an excuse; any failure to acknowledge sources properly constitutes plagiarism. Nevertheless, plagiarism in an assignment may vary in extent — ranging from an isolated instance to being pervasive throughout — and in intent — ranging from some level of disregard for proper scholarly procedures to a clear and obvious intent to deceive.

��vlog��’s procedures for handling cases of plagiarism and sanctions depend upon the nature of the offense. Instances of plagiarism that are less serious are normally handled directly by the faculty member for the course with a penalty, such as a grade reduction on the particular assignment, as determined by the faculty member. In such cases, the faculty member must turn in a resolution of plagiarism form, signed by the student, that will remain on file in the Office of the Dean of the College through the student’s career at ��vlog�� and will be used to inform decisions on any later complaints of academic dishonesty against the student. Students who are dissatisfied with the resolution proposed by the faculty member may choose to exercise their right to a conduct board hearing. Students may only have one resolution of plagiarism form on file; subsequent allegations will be referred to the University Student Conduct Board.

Cases where plagiarism in an assignment is egregious or where it seems likely that the student’s work provides evidence of academic dishonesty — in particular, an intent to deceive — are referred to the processes outlined in the Procedures of the System of University Standards and Student Conduct. The usual standard is that if a student makes no obvious attempt to provide a citation or source for any significant borrowed material, then there is a presumption that the student has committed an act of academic dishonesty. If the board determines that the nature of the plagiarism in the assignment and the evidence presented in the hearing warrant a finding of academic dishonesty, then the minimum penalty will be failure in the course and probation through tenure. If the board determines that plagiarism has occurred but that the plagiarism does not constitute academic dishonesty, the board will refer the case back to the faculty member to complete the resolution of plagiarism form. In the event that the conduct board finds the student not responsible, i.e., that plagiarism has not occurred, then the faculty member will grade the assignment without imposing any penalty.

��vlog�� Baseline Policy on Generative Artificial Intelligence Use in Student Work

��vlog�� expects that all student work — whether it involves brainstorming, outlining, drafting, or final submission — will be generated by students themselves, working individually or in groups, as directed by the course instructor, syllabus, or assignment prompt instructions.

Generative Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) refers to any technologies that can autonomously produce text, images, code, media, translations, or other content. Examples include but are not limited to Grammarly, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, DALL·E, GitHub Copilot, and Slidesgo. This policy does not consider basic spelling and grammar correction tools (e.g., those embedded in standard word processors) to be AI, although individual faculty may prohibit the use of these tools as well.

Unless explicitly permitted by the instructor, the use of AI tools for any part of any academic exercise submitted for evaluation constitutes Academic Dishonesty (cheating).

This includes, but is not limited to:

Using AI to generate ideas, outlines, titles, or drafts;
Using AI to summarize course readings addressed in the assignment;
Submitting AI-generated text or media as one’s own;
Using AI to complete problem sets, coding tasks, or data analysis;
Having AI edit or revise written work.

Any instance in which a student allows another person or entity — including an AI system — to assist with their work, without authorization, is treated as academic dishonesty (and in the case of knowingly using AI when prohibited, it is cheating). This includes purchasing work, hiring others, or outsourcing any part of the academic process to AI tools.

Faculty Discretion and Course-Level Policies

Individual faculty members may choose to be more restrictive than above; for example, limiting use of spell and grammar checking (e.g., in language courses).

Individual faculty members may choose to permit the use of generative AI tools for specific assignments or purposes. Such permissions:

Must be clearly stated in the course syllabus or on the assignment prompt;
Must define the extent and nature of permitted use (e.g., brainstorming only, coding assistance, citation help);
May differ from one assignment to another within the same course.
In the absence of a clear statement granting permission, the default assumption is that AI is not permitted.

Students should not assume that permission to use AI on one assignment implies blanket permission for the course.

Citation and Attribution

When the use of generative AI is explicitly allowed, students must:

Clearly cite and attribute the AI tool used;
Describe the nature of its use (e.g., “used ChatGPT to generate initial outline”);
Follow any course-specific citation guidelines or use an accepted academic citation format (e.g., APA, MLA).

Failure to properly attribute AI use — even when permitted — constitutes a breach of academic honesty. When permitted but improperly cited, AI use may, depending on the circumstances, constitute plagiarism, fabrication, or cheating. When not permitted, it is cheating (and depending upon circumstances, may include fabrication as well).

Avoiding Academic Dishonesty

At ��vlog��, academic honesty is assumed to be the norm, and there is no evidence that acts of academic dishonesty are commonplace. Nevertheless, in recognition of the importance the Academic Honor Code places on academic integrity, sanctions for infractions are significant. The community has high standards in this area, and students must be careful to avoid all forms of academic dishonesty. Acts of academic dishonesty can be avoided by: (a) Knowing the definitions of the forms of academic dishonesty recognized and (b) Avoiding these dishonest behaviors scrupulously. Any party’s questions concerning the standards or requirements in a course should be referred to the professor to whom the work will be submitted. Careful planning and skillful time management will also help a student avoid instances of academic dishonesty; experience has shown that most acts of plagiarism, cheating, etc., occur when a student runs out of time to properly prepare an assignment or study for an examination or quiz. In some cases, extensions (with or without a grade penalty) may be arranged, but in all cases, it is better to fail an assignment rather than risk the serious consequences of an academic dishonesty infraction. When time has run out, and a student does not believe they will be able to meet an academic deadline, a meeting with the course instructor and/or the administrative dean to consider viable options is in order.

If a student is found responsible for academic dishonesty, the sanctions shall be:

For first offenses:
1. Failure in the course and probation through tenure; or
2. Failure in the course and suspension for one or more semesters.
For second offenses: Failure in the course and suspension for one or more semesters or expulsion.

Students returning from a disciplinary suspension are placed on disciplinary probation through tenure.

When a course is repeated after an administrative F has been assigned as a result of an Academic Honor Code violation, both the original F and the subsequent grade will be calculated into the cumulative GPA. For information regarding additional academic policies and requirements, please consult the .

����vlog����