AA/47/AS/24/UEPC - Academic Integrity Policy

Effective June 11, 2024

Academic Integrity Policy

RESOLVED: In the determination of cheating or plagiarism, instructors should handle the situation as part of their regular classroom duties. In exceptional or difficult cases, instructors should consult with their department chairs, who may (in consultation with the faculty member) consult with the Student Conduct Office for an appropriate plan of action.

RESOLVED: Per EO 1098¹, instructors shall report cheating and plagiarism cases to the Vice President of Student affairs (or their designee) and to the Student Conduct Office; and be it further

RESOLVED: The institution will provide resources for students and faculty to learn how to avoid academic dishonesty and help students gain skills that will reduce the instances of academic dishonesty, and be it further

RESOLVED: Faculty will provide this policy (or a link to it) and specifications relevant to their course to help students avoid academic dishonesty actions in their class; and be it further

RESOLVED: Students have a right to appeal their grade. A student may appeal their grade following normal procedures for capricious grading.

RATIONALE: The maintenance of academic integrity and quality education is the responsibility of each student within this University and the CSU system. Cheating or plagiarism in connection with an academic program at a CSU campus is listed in Section 41301, Title 5, California Code of Regulations¹ as an offense for which a student may be expelled, suspended or given a less severe disciplinary sanction. Executive Order 1098 recognizes academic dishonesty but leaves the process of addressing it to each campus. Academic dishonesty is an especially serious offense and diminishes the quality of scholarship and defrauds those who depend on the integrity of the University’s programs, and each department at Stan State should be given autonomy to determine the method of dealing with academic dishonesty by students in their classes.

Any issue between student and faculty should be resolved at the lowest level. This may be a meeting between the instructor and student or may involve the department chair. If action is necessary beyond that point, the matter should be referred to the Student Conduct Office.

Academic dishonesty is defined in Section 41301, Title 5, California Code of Regulations and includes cheating, plagiarism, or other forms of academic dishonesty intended to gain unfair academic advantage.

Cheating

Intentionally using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information or study aids in any academic exercise.

Comments and examples:

Faculty members are encouraged to state in advance their policies and procedures concerning examinations and other academic exercises, as well as the use before examinations of shared study aids, examination files and other related materials and forms of assistance.

Students completing any examination should assume that external assistance (e.g., books, notes, calculators, cell phones/cameras, other electronic devices, conversation with others) is prohibited unless specifically authorized by the instructor.

Students must not allow others to conduct research or prepare any work for them without advance authorization from the instructor. This includes but is not limited to the payment to a business or individual or the use of generative AI (Artificial Intelligence) models to produce work assigned as part of the course

Substantial portions of the same academic work may not be submitted for credit in more than one 
course without authorization.

A writer should not use generative AI models to generate information, sentences, paragraphs, papers, figures, computer code, pictures or syntax without properly attributing the source.

Fabrication

Intentional falsification or invention of any information or citation in an academic exercise. 

Comments and examples:

“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, Also, generative AI models can generate information that may not be factual or accurate.

One should acknowledge reliance upon the actual source from which cited information was obtained. For example, a writer should not reproduce a quotation from a book review and indicate that the quotation was obtained from the book itself.

Students who attempt to alter and resubmit returned academic work with intent to defraud the faculty member will be in violation of this section. For example, a student may not change an answer on a returned exam and then claim that they deserve additional credit.

Facilitating Academic Dishonesty

Intentionally or knowingly helping or attempting to help another student to commit an act of academic dishonesty.

Comments and examples:

For example, one who knowingly allowed another to copy from his or her paper during an examination would be in violation of this section.

Uploading materials to websites such as Course Hero is also considered to be facilitating academic dishonesty, through the unauthorized sharing of student work and the intellectual property of instructors, and therefore falls under this policy.

Plagiarism

Intentionally or knowingly representing the words, ideas or work of another person or from a generative AI model as one’s own work in any academic exercise.

Comments and examples:

Direct Quotation: Every direct quotation must be identified by quotation marks, by appropriate indentation or by other means of identification and must be promptly cited.

Paraphrase: Prompt acknowledgment is required when material from another source is paraphrased or summarized in whole or in part in your own words. To acknowledge a paraphrase properly, one might state: “to paraphrase Locke’s comment …” and conclude with a citation identifying the exact 
reference. A citation acknowledging only a directly quoted statement does not suffice to notify the reader of any preceding or succeeding paraphrased material.

Borrowed Facts or Information: Information obtained from one’s reading or research that is not common knowledge among students in the course must be acknowledged and cited. Examples of common knowledge might include the names of leaders of prominent nations, basic scientific laws, etc.

Information organized and synthesized by generative AI models must be properly attributed.

Student Appeal

The department should consult the California State University, Stanislaus’ grade appeal process. 

¹With regard to cases involving academic dishonesty, Executive Order 1098 states, “Academic dishonesty cases that occur in the classroom shall be handled by faculty members according to applicable Campus procedures. After action has been taken in any such case, the faculty member shall promptly notify the Vice President for Student Affairs (or designee) and the Student Conduct Administrator of the matter so that the circumstances of the misconduct can be considered in their totality. A department’s procedure for responding to cases of academic dishonesty is, by its nature, limited to the instance presented in a particular class. The Student Conduct Code process provides the Campus with an opportunity to consider the student’s entire circumstances, including whether the reported instance is part of a larger pattern 
of misconduct.
 

Related Policies and Procedures: EO 1098 Student Conduct Process

Review History: Approved by the Academic Senate on May 14, 2024; Approved by Interim President Susan E. Borrego on June 11, 2024

Academic Affairs Division has the primary responsibility for this policy.

Attachment(s): AA/47/AS/24/UEPC Academic Integrity Policy  

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