Academic Dishonesty Manual

Definition of Academic Dishonesty

University Policy and Disciplinary Procedures for Academic Dishonesty

Academic Dishonesty [1]

Introduction

The Industrial Engineering program at ASU is recognized nationally as an outstanding program. The success of this program is based on faculty and students who work very hard to achieve the program's goals of providing the best industrial engineering education available anywhere. An important element of this success is the perception by students, faculty and potential employers that students are evaluated fairly on the basis of their own work completed in accordance with the instructions provided. This perception can only be grounded in a culture of honesty and ethical conduct where there is no tolerance of academic dishonesty. Maintaining such a culture requires acceptance of certain responsibilities by both faculty and students. The purpose of this policy statement is to describe those responsibilities and to clearly define behavior that constitutes academic dishonesty.

It is in all students' interest to avoid committing acts of academic dishonesty and to discourage others from committing such acts. Each dishonest act can harm the quality and reputation of the IE degree and thereby lower the value of the honest work of all other students. In a culture of dishonesty, it is impossible to know whether achievements were honestly earned or accomplished through unethical means. In such a culture, grades are not a valid indicator of achievement, and the final degree is not a valid indicator of a minimum level of knowledge. Were the IE programs at ASU to acquire a reputation for tolerating dishonesty, it would devalue the degrees of all present and future alumni.

Maintaining the quality and integrity of the programs is not the only reason why it is important to emphasize ethical conduct. The IE curriculum prepares students for a profession in which honesty and ethical behavior are highly valued. Thus, it is important for students to develop a strong sense of ethics while still in school and to carry it with them into the workplace. Students who have completed their education in a culture of ethical behavior should easily make the transition to a culture of ethical behavior as employees.

It is impossible to create an environment that is completely free of opportunities and temptations to behave unethically. In order to maintain the reputation and quality of the IE degree, it is the responsibility of each individual to understand the definition of unethical behavior and to resist all temptations to behave unethically. This is easier to do in an atmosphere of honesty, where each student is confident that all other students are also behaving ethically. If all students and faculty fulfill their respective responsibilities as described in this policy statement, the culture of honesty that is so important to the success of the IE programs at ASU will be maintained.

Responsibilities of the Students

The first step in building a culture of honesty is to insure that students have a clear understanding of what is permissible behavior and what is not permissible behavior. Appendix A to this policy statement discusses many examples of academic dishonesty in some detail. Each student has the responsibility to read this appendix carefully, and to make sure that he or she understands what actions constitute academic dishonesty. If anything in this policy statement is not clear, the student has the responsibility to request clarification from the Chair or Associate Chair of the Department.

Course objectives differ, and there will be some variation in permissible behavior from one assignment to another, and from one class to another. In some classes exams may be open book, while in others they will be closed book. For some assignments students will be allowed to collaborate with other students, while for other assignments students will be prohibited from collaborating with other students. It is the responsibility of the student to understand the instructions for each assignment, and to ask the instructor for clarification whenever necessary.

There are two particular sets of circumstances in which assignments may provide opportunities for dishonest behavior that students must be very careful to avoid. Both sets of circumstances are related to out-of-class "projects" that may be assigned in many of the classes.

2) Second, students are usually directed by the instructor of the course to complete these projects on either an individual basis or on a team basis. Collaboration between individuals or teams may be entirely or partially prohibited. If the ethical implications are not considered, some students may seek unauthorized assistance. However, as is also discussed in Appendix A, to either seek or provide such assistance when it is prohibited would also be an act of academic dishonesty.

3) Third, it is sometimes the case that a course examination is similar to an examination used in a previous semester. Different instructors have different policies on whether students are authorized to access previous examinations and their solutions. Such policies should be clarified for each individual course. Unless explicitly authorized, students should not seek or provide old examinations, nor should "test banks" be maintained by formal or informal student organizations.

If each student understands the definition of academic dishonesty and the instructions for each assignment, then he or she should be able to avoid committing acts of academic dishonesty. Ignorance of the definition of academic dishonesty is not an excuse for dishonest behavior. In addition, although assignments in IE classes are frequently very challenging, the difficulty of an assignment is never an excuse to behave dishonestly.

Commission of an act of academic dishonesty by a student is not a victimless offense. All of the other students in the class are victims because their honest efforts cannot be fairly evaluated if work by some students has been unfairly accomplished. All other students in the program, even if they are not in that class, are victims because the integrity of the program has been compromised. As a result, to passively observe dishonest behavior is to condone it and to encourage it. To avoid condoning or encouraging such behavior, students have the responsibility to take action that will prevent dishonest acts from occurring now or in the future.

Appropriate actions include confronting the student who has committed the act and reporting the observed behavior to the instructor. Failure to act allows dishonest students to victimize all of the honest students in the program, and serves to lower the value of the honest students' achievements.

Responsibilities of the Faculty
The faculty also assume certain responsibilities to maintain a culture of scholastic integrity. However, these responsibilities are not a condition that must be met before students are expected to behave honestly. That is, even if a student perceives that a faculty member has not met one of the responsibilities detailed below, this does not justify dishonest behavior. The appropriate response in such instances is to discuss the issue with the faculty member and/or the Chair or Associate Chair.

One of the most important steps to take to reduce accidental academic dishonesty is to communicate clearly to students exactly what behavior is acceptable and what behavior is not. The faculty have agreed that written instructions should be provided for each type of assignment that will be made during the semester. These instructions should either be gathered together in the syllabus for all types of assignments for the course, or should be given on the face of each assignment. In particular, the instructions should clearly indicate with whom, and to what extent, the student may and may not collaborate on out-of-class assignments, and what other resources (books, computers, databases, etc.) may be used on out-of-class assignments.

The faculty has committed to consider the difficulty of the assignment when assigning grades. This does not mean that all students behaving honestly will be able to complete all assignments perfectly. Assignments in classes are frequently designed to provide students with opportunities to work on real-world problems to which there are no clear answers.

Even though the faculty assume that students are behaving honorably, from time to time individual instructors may have evidence that one or more students have committed an act of academic dishonesty. Under these circumstances it is the responsibility of the instructor to initiate the College procedures.

The Industrial Engineering Department has no tolerance for acts of academic dishonesty. The responsibilities of both students and faculty with regard to academic dishonesty are described in detail in the Department's Policy Statement on Academic Dishonesty. By teaching this course, I have agreed to observe all of the faculty responsibilities described in that document. By enrolling in this class, you have agreed to observe all of the student responsibilities described in that document. If the application of that Policy Statement to this class and its assignments is unclear in any way, it is your responsibility to ask me for clarification.

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II. Definition of Academic Dishonesty
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"Academic Dishonesty" includes, but is not limited to, cheating, plagiarism, collusion, falsifying scholastic records, and any act designed to give unfair advantage to the student, or the attempt to commit such an act.

A. Cheating
The following 12 examples do not cover all types of cheating.

1. Copying from another student's test paper - Copying from another student's examination will always be an act of academic dishonesty. In addition, reproducing all or a part of another student's homework, essay, or other written assignment for which a grade was or will be assigned will always be an act of academic dishonesty.

2. Using materials during a test that are not authorized by the person giving the test - Such materials might include programmable calculators, computers, notes, books, handouts, etc. Students should be sure to clearly understand what materials are permitted for each test.

3. Failing to comply with instructions given by the person administering the test -Students should comply with all instructions, including where to sit, when to begin working on the exam, and when to stop working on the exam.

4. Possession during a test of materials which are not authorized by the person giving the test, such as class notes or specifically designed "crib notes." The presence of textbooks constitutes a violation only if they have been specifically prohibited by the person administering the test

5. Not only is use of unauthorized materials during a test an act of academic dishonesty, but possession of such materials is also an act of academic dishonesty. All such materials should be put away out of easy access.

6. Using, buying, stealing, transporting, or soliciting in whole or part the contents of a non-administered test, test key, homework solution, computer program or project. This includes obtaining or providing a solution (prepared either by a student or the instructor) for current semester assignments that are the same as, or similar to, assignments that were used in previous semesters or were otherwise available.

7. Collaborating with or seeking aid from another student during a test or other assignment without authority. In addition to seeking assistance from another student, this includes seeking unauthorized assistance from any non-student, such as a friend or relative. Any assistance from a tutor on a graded assignment is prohibited unless authorized by the instructor in advance.

8. Occasionally a student will inadvertently overhear information that may be beneficial in completing an exam or an assignment. It will constitute academic dishonesty if the student uses that information to his or her advantage without reporting the incident to the instructor.

9. Discussing the contents of an examination with another student who will take the examination

10. Frequently, students in different sections of the same course will take the same or similar exams at different times on the same day. In addition, because of illness or some other reason, students may take an exam before or after it is taken by the rest of the class. In these circumstances, it is academic dishonesty to seek or provide information that may in any way aid a student whom has not yet taken the exam. It is the responsibility of the student who has taken the exam to determine whether another student has already taken the exam before discussing it, and it is the responsibility of the student who has not taken the exam to inform other students of that fact.

11. Divulging the contents of an examination, for the purpose of preserving questions for use by another, when the instructor has designated that the examination is not to be removed from the examination room or not to be returned to the student. At times, an instructor will seek to prevent copies of an exam from circulating generally, so that, for example, the exam may be administered to other students. When the instructor has indicated to the students that this is the case, it is an act of academic dishonesty to provide or receive information about the contents of that exam.

12. Substituting for another person, or permitting another person to substitute for one's self, to take a test. In IE classes this is unlikely to occur with in-class exams because all of the students are generally known to the instructor. However, this standard of conduct also applies to all out-of-class assignments for which collaboration is prohibited or constrained. This, of course also applies to all Web-based courses.

13. Paying or offering money or other valuable thing to, or coercing another person to obtain a non-administered test, test key, homework solution, or computer program, or information about a non-administered test, test key, homework solution, or computer program. This includes obtaining or providing solutions to current semester assignments or examinations that are the same as, or similar to, assignments or examinations that were used in previous semesters.

14. Falsifying research data, laboratory reports, and/or other academic work offered for credit. This includes fabricating events or accomplishments related to outside projects.

15. Misrepresenting facts, including providing false grades or resumes, for the purpose of obtaining an academic or financial benefit or injuring another student academically or financially. In general, any misrepresentation of facts to gain an unfair advantage will constitute academic dishonesty. For example, a student who misleads his or her instructor about the reasons for not taking an examination or for turning in an assignment after the deadline has committed an act of academic dishonesty. Similarly, it will be considered an act of academic dishonesty for a student to report false information on a resume.

B. Plagiarism
"Plagiarism" includes, but is not limited to, the appropriation, buying, receiving as a gift, or obtaining by any means another's work and the submission of it as one's own academic work offered for credit. Submitting downloaded Web material as your own is an example.

Plagiarism can usually be avoided by clearly citing the work of others when it appears in your own work. This means that the full extent of the reliance on the other work is clearly indicated. Whatever is being quoted should either appear in quotation marks (if it is relatively brief) or be indented (if it is more than a sentence or two). If a summary of facts or an argument is presented that is a paraphrase of another's work, that should be clearly indicated even if the material is not directly quoted.

Plagiarism is not restricted to copying from a published source. Copying without acknowledgment from an unpublished manuscript that was, for example, written by another student would also constitute plagiarism.

Finally, a student could commit plagiarism by copying his or her own work without referencing it adequately. For example, if a student completes an assignment, and then uses all or a portion of that assignment as full or partial completion of another assignment, in the same class or in a different class, without disclosing the source of the material for the second assignment, the student has committed plagiarism. In general, substantially the same work product should not be turned in for credit in more than one class without the permission of all involved instructors.

C. Collusion
"Collusion" includes, but is not limited to, the unauthorized collaboration with another person in preparing academic assignments offered for credit or collaboration with another person to commit a violation of any section of the rules on academic dishonesty.

"Collusion" is an important issue in many classes. On the one hand, the faculty want to encourage students to interact outside of class with others. Often this type of interaction facilitates the learning process for everyone. However, the faculty wish to reserve the right to give students assignments that are to be completed either individually or in small teams outside of class without consulting with others. Such assignments often cannot be completed in class because they require too much time, or because they require library or computer resources not available in the classroom.

It is the responsibility of the instructor to provide clear instructions on the extent of collaboration that is acceptable, and it is the responsibility of the student to understand and to conform to those instructions. The student has the responsibility to clarify any ambiguity by consulting the instructor. Here is a partial list of the types of collaboration instructions that may be given for individual and team assignments:

Collaboration with other students in the class on individual assignments, or with other teams in the class for team assignments.

Collaboration with other students (teams) in the class prior to producing the final work product such as an essay or report. The writing of the essay or report is to be done strictly on an individual student (team) basis.

No collaboration is permitted with other students (teams) at all. All aspects of the assignment are to be completed on a strictly individual student (group) basis.

As a general rule, collaboration with anyone who is not a student in that class will always be prohibited. This includes other IE students who are not enrolled in the class, other faculty members, and friends and relatives.

D. Falsifying Academic Records
"Falsifying Academic Records" includes, but is not limited to, the altering of grades or other falsification of academic records such as applications for admission, the award of a degree, grade reports, test papers, registration materials, and reporting forms used by the Office of the Registrar.

In the context of a particular course, the most important example of "falsifying academic records" would be changing an answer on a test or other assignment after it has been graded, and then submitting it to be re-graded as though it had not been changed. This would be a clear case of academic dishonesty.

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University Policy and Disciplinary Procedures for Academic Dishonesty

The following procedures for handling cases involving academic dishonesty have been set forth by the University and will be administered and strictly adhered to by the College of Engineering and the Industrial Engineering Department.

This document can be found on the web at http://www.asu.edu/studentlife/judicial/integrity.html and the University Student Code of Conduct is found at http://www.asu.edu/aad/manuals/sta/sta104-01.html .

Other forms of misconduct are governed by the student Code of Conduct, which is administered by the Asst. Dean of Judicial Affairs of Student Life - http://www.asu.edu/studentlife/judicial/

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[1] The material in this document is a combination from several sources, including material from the University, the College, the Department faculty and material concerning academic dishonesty from various university sources on the Web.

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