Academic Standards and Expectations of Educational Integrity

Honesty and academic integrity are essential to Bethany College’s purpose and vital intellectual pursuits. Therefore, academic integrity is expected, required, and demanded of all Bethany College students. A student’s academic work and conduct should always represent the student’s private and personal best efforts and thus should be above reproach. Breaches of academic honesty at Bethany College constitute a violation of the Student Code of Conduct and include acts such as:

Cheating: using unauthorized materials, taking another’s work and using it as one’s own, providing work to another student to copy or adapt, allowing another to do one’s work and submitting it as one’s own, obtaining inappropriate assistance from another or from other sources during a quiz or test, sharing work via technological means with others without authorized permission, unauthorized collaboration on an assignment, or doing anything that would allow anyone to gain an unfair advantage over another’s academic success;

Collusion: an agreement or cooperation between two or more people for a fraudulent or deceitful purpose, or the approval or knowledge of another’s fraudulent or deceitful purpose;

Plagiarism: taking another’s work and presenting it as one’s own without citing or failing to document appropriate sources;

Fabrication: unauthorized creation or invention of any data, information, or citation;

Falsification: misrepresenting, altering, or lying to gain unfair advantage .

Procedure for Dealing with Violations of Academic Integrity

Consequences resulting from violations of academic integrity in a class may range from failure for the particular assignment to failure for the course in accordance with the policies articulated in the course syllabus . Additionally, all breaches of academic integrity must be reported to the Office of the Provost and Dean of Faculty. Instructors must:

  • Fill out and turn in the “Violation of Academic Integrity Form” to the Office of the Provost and Dean of Faculty. See below for a description.
  • Provide clear documentation that a violation of academic integrity has occurred. In cases where a group of students or an entire class is accused, the instructor must provide documentation that clearly incriminates each student he or she turns in.
  • Agree, along with his or her student, to follow through with the penalty prescribed or, in cases where student and instructor disagree on either the violation or prescribed penalty, agree to follow through with the decision of the Academic Standards Committee. The penalty must be in line with the range of disciplinary actions set out in the instructor’s syllabus.
  • Inform the student of his or her intentions to turn in the form.
  • Request, in cases where the instructor believes a particular violation of academic integrity merits a penalty more severe than failure of the course, a hearing with the Academic Standards Committee. In cases such as these the instructor writes a letter detailing the case, attaches appropriate copies of evidence, and requests a hearing (see section 7.6.3 of the Bethany College Policy Manual, Vol. VII, Student Life and Development Policies). The Academic Standards Committee reviews the merits of the case and decides whether or not it will hold a formal hearing.

Violation of Academic Integrity Form

In cases where a violation of academic integrity has been clearly identified, instructor and student must fill out the Violation of Academic Integrity Form. If the student admits to the violation and agrees with the penalty, which the instructor prescribes, the instructor fills out the form and attaches the necessary documentation and both parties sign it. The sanctions imposed will be those specified in the instructor’s course syllabus. The instructor then provides the form to the Office of the Provost, to be placed in a file under the student’s name.

If there is no appeal by the student, no additional action will be taken, unless this specific accusation is proven true and represents the student’s second or a compounded instance of academic dishonesty. Further penalties may result from actions of the Academic Standards Committee. Appeals of the Academic Standards Committee decisions must be directed to the Vice President on Academic Affairs or his/her designee.

If the student refuses or is unavailable to meet with the instructor, the instructor fills out the form on his or her own and documents attempts at written contact with the student concerning the violation. The student is required to sign the form within five working days from the date this form was sent to the student. The five working days will be calculated from the email- sending date or the US Postal Service postmark (in which case the student must provide the postmarked envelope), whichever date is later. If the requirement is not met, it will be understood the student admits to the violation as described on the form.

In all cases, the instructor delivers the Violation of Academic Integrity Form to the Office of the Provost and Dean of Faculty. The form is copied for the student’s file and forwarded to the Academic Standards Committee (see section 7.6.3 of the Bethany College Policy Manual VII, Student Life and Development Policies for procedures).

Compounded Violations of Academic Integrity

Forms recording first-time violation of academic integrity are filed in the Office of the Provost and Dean of Faculty and result in no further discussion or repercussion so long as the student and instructor follow through with the prescribed penalty and the student accumulates no further violations of academic integrity. In cases where the Academic Standards Committee finds reason to clear the student of charges, the student may request to have the form removed from his or her file.

Second-time violations of academic integrity are noted when a second form is filed. Second-time violations result in both instructor-mandated penalties and a mandatory meeting with the Provost and Dean of Faculty. Failures to attend such meetings are referred to the Academic Standards Committee.

Third-time violations of academic integrity are noted when a third form is filed. Third-time violations are referred by the Provost and Dean of Faculty to the Academic Standards Committee and may result in a recommendation of expulsion, suspension, or other appropriate action.