"Hmm..What is academic integrity?"

January 26 by Bina

I. ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

Academic integrity is a fundamental university value. Through the honest completion of academic work, students sustain the integrity of the university while facilitating the university's imperative for the transmission of knowledge and culture based upon the generation of new and innovative ideas.

Reference to the university Undergraduate Academic Integrity policy (http://undergrad-catalog.buffalo.edu/policies/course/integrity.shtml).

The academic degrees and the research findings produced by our Department are worth no more than the integrity of the process by which they are gained. If we do not maintain reliably high standards of ethics and integrity in our work and our relationships, we have nothing of value to offer one another or to offer the larger community outside this Department, whether potential employers or fellow scholars. For this reason, the principles of Academic Integrity have priority over every other consideration in every aspect of our departmental life, and we will defend these principles vigorously. It is essential that every student be fully aware of these principles, what the procedures are by which possible violations are investigated and adjudicated, and what the punishments for these violations are. Wherever they are suspected, potential violations will be investigated and determinations of fact sought. In short, breaches of Academic Integrity will not be tolerated.

II. DEPARTMENTAL STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC INTEGRITY IN HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS

The following statement further describes the specific application of these general principles to a common context in the CSE Department environment, the production of source code for project and homework assignments. It should be thoroughly understood before undertaking any cooperative activities or using any other sources in such contexts. All academic work must be your own. These are your responsibilities:

• Plagiarism, defined as copying or receiving materials from a source or sources and submitting this material as one's own without acknowledging the particular debts to the source (quotations, paraphrases, basic ideas), or otherwise representing the work of another as one's own, is never allowed.
• Collaboration, usually evidenced by unjustifiable similarity, is never permitted in individual assignments.
• Any submitted academic work may be subject to screening by software programs designed to detect evidence of plagiarism or collaboration.
• It is your responsibility to maintain the security of your computer accounts and your written work.
• Do not share passwords with anyone, nor write your password down where it may be seen by others.
• Do not change permissions to allow others to read your course directories and files.
• Do not walk away from a workstation without logging out.
• In groups that collaborate inappropriately, it may be impossible to determine who has offered work to others in the group, who has received work, and who may have inadvertently made their work available to the others by failure to maintain adequate personal security. In such cases, all will be held equally liable.

These policies and interpretations may be augmented by individual instructors for their courses. Always check the handouts and web pages of your course and section for additional guidelines.

III. DEPARTMENTAL POLICY ON VIOLATIONS OF ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

The CSE Department has a zero-tolerance policy regarding academic integrity (AI) violations. When there is a potential violation of academic integrity in a course, the course director shall first notify the concerned students. This notification begins the review and appeals process defined in the University's Academic Integrity statement: http://catalog.buffalo.edu/policies/course/integrity.html Upon conclusion of the review and appeals process, if the department, school, and university have determined that the student has committed a violation, the following sanctions will be imposed upon the student:

1. Documentation. The department, school, and university will record the student's name in departmental, decanal, and university-level academic integrity violations databases.
2. Penalty Assessment. The standing policy of the Department is that all students involved in an academic integrity violation will receive an F grade for the course. The course director may recommend a lesser penalty for the first instance of academic integrity violation, and the adjudication committees that hear the appeal at the department, decanal and provost level may recommend a lesser or greater penalty.