Academic Integrity Policy

Students of Wilmington University are expected to be honest and forthright in their academic pursuits. This policy is designed to promote a sense of honesty and integrity among our students as they are preparing for new ventures in the world of work.

Faculty members are encouraged to discuss the topic of maintaining one’s academic integrity at the beginning of each course. Topics such as citation reference requirements, the acceptable level of collaboration with other students on course requirements, examination procedures, etc., can be explored with students.
In addition, faculty members are given the freedom to discern which level of academic integrity infraction requires formal intervention. For example, students who exhibit minor levels of plagiarism in freshmen courses may benefit more from a personal conference during which the faculty explains the infraction and offers the student an opportunity to redo part or all of an assignment.

Students should be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct as well as the course syllabus regarding information related to academic integrity. Numerous resources for students are available through the University’s web site: http://www.wilmu.edu/library/reflinks.aspx . Other resources include faculty members as well as the Student Success Center. In addition, this document outlines some behaviors students should avoid in order to maintain their academic integrity.

Plagiarism

When a student submits work that includes the words, ideas, or data of another or previously submitted work as his or her own, the source of that information must be acknowledged through complete, accurate, and specific references, and , if verbatim statements are included, through quotation marks as well. Plagiarism covers published and unpublished sources.

PLAGIARISM NEED NOT BE INTENTIONAL. Students are urged to consult with individual faculty members, department heads, or recognized handbooks in their discipline (located at http://www.wilmu.edu/library/reflinks.aspx) if they are in doubt as to whether their work may contain plagiarized material. This should be done before the work is submitted. Utilizing information from the Internet without proper attribution is considered plagiarism.

Fabrication

Fabrication is the intentional use of invented information or the falsification of research or other findings. Falsification includes, by way of illustration but not limited to, the submission of work as your own when it was prepared totally or in part by another (individual or commercial agency), taking an examination for another student, or having another student take an examination for you.

Cheating

Cheating is an act or an attempted act of deception by which the student seeks to misrepresent that he or she has mastered information on an academic exercise. Some examples of cheating include copying from another student’s test paper, allowing another student to copy from your test paper, using unauthorized notes or books during a test, using crib sheets, using notes or books during a closed book exam, collaborating on home assignments or exams without permission by the instructor, buying or selling exams or papers, any use of electronic/online technology such as an iPod, cell phone, or Blackberry or similar device during a test, or unauthorized communication of answers to a test to others.

Grade and Test Tampering

Test tampering is obtaining, distributing, or receiving a test or examination without consent of the instructor. It is also a violation of the Academic Integrity policy if a student takes a test for another student.

Tampering with grades in a grade book or assisting with changing any academic record in the university is prohibited.

Violation of the Code of Conduct –Academic Integrity Policy

First Occurrence:

The faculty member shall confer with the student regarding the violation of the Academic Integrity Policy.
In consultation with the specific Program Chair of the college in which the course is offered, the faculty member is to select one or more of the following sanctions:
- Require that the student repeat any work affected by the violation of the Academic Integrity Policy.
- Assign the student a lower grade for the assignment.
- Assign the student a failing grade for the course (this is not necessarily a grade of (0) zero).
After a sanction is selected, the Program Chair will inform the Dean of the College in which the course in question resides and what action was taken. Objective evidence of the violation must be submitted to the Dean. The Dean shall inform the Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs who will notify the student in writing that his or her continued enrollment at Wilmington University is provisional; the Assistant Vice President may require the student to complete the course ENG 365 (Academic Writing). The Vice President of Student Affairs will receive a copy of the letter.

Second Occurrence:

In the event of a second violation related to academic integrity, the Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs shall inform the Vice President of Student Affairs and submit materials related to any previous offenses. Depending on the nature of the violation, the Vice President of Student Affairs may temporarily suspend the student from university activities and convene a meeting of the Student Discipline Committee.