Graduate Academic 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; examples of collusion are sharing answers during an exam, working together on an individual assignment, etc.
• 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.
• Artificial Intelligence: using AI to generate all or part of an assignment.

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 Chief Academic Officer. Instructors must:

• Fill out and turn in the “Violation of Academic Integrity Form” to the Chief Academic Officer. See below for 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 Graduate Council. 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 Graduate Council. 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 Policies). The Graduate Council 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, theinstructor and student must fill out the Violation of Academic Integrity Form. This form is to be used for recording violations of academic integrity and the sanctions as specified by the individual instructor’s course syllabus. 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 compounded instance of academic dishonesty. Further penalties may result from the actions of the Graduate Council. Appeals of the Graduate Council decisions must be directed to the Chief Academic Officer or his/her designee.

The student is required to sign this form within five working days from the date this form was sent to the student. If the requirement is not met, it will be understood the student admits to the violation as described on the form.

Compounded Violations of Academic Integrity

Forms recording first-time violations of academic integrity are filed in the Chief Academic Officer and result in no further discussion or repercussion so long as the student and instructor follow through with the prescribed penalties and the student accumulates no further violations of academic integrity. In cases where Part B of the Academic Integrity Violation Form is used and the Graduate Council finds reason to clear the student of charges, the student may request to have the form removed from his or her file.