Academic Integrity

Academic integrity lies at the foundation of the academic process and the Core Values of the Iliff School of Theology. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, acts of fraud and deception on an examination or class assignment, acts of forgery or unauthorized alteration of any official academic record or document, and attempts to gain credit for work that one has plagiarized from the work of another person.

DEFINITIONS:

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the act of appropriating or imitating the language, ideas, or thoughts of another and presenting them as one's own or without proper acknowledgment. This includes submitting a paper or part of a paper written by another person as one's own, whether that material was officially published in another format, stolen, purchased, or shared freely. It also includes submitting a paper containing insufficient citation or misuse of source material.

False Citation

Listing an author, title, or page reference as the source for obtained material, when the material actually came from another source or from another location within that source, is a breach of academic integrity. This includes attributing fabricated material to a real or fictitious source.

Duplicate Submission

Submitting one work in identical or similar form to fulfill more than one requirement without prior approval of the relevant faculty members is a breach of academic integrity. This includes using a paper for more than one course or submitting material previously used to meet another requirement.

Cheating on Examinations

Cheating on examinations by copying material from another person or source or by gaining any advance knowledge of the content or topic of an examination without the permission of the instructor is another breach of academic integrity. In the case of take-home examinations, the guidelines under collaboration (below) apply; failure to follow those guidelines constitutes academic dishonesty.

Group Work and Collaboration

Collaboration on a paper, test, lab, homework, or any other assignment is only allowed with the express permission of the instructor. Violations involving multiple students and group work include: Copying any part of an assignment, including answers, graphs, figures, and data; sharing a paper or assignment with another student without the instructor’s permission; and getting credit for a project when they did not contribute to the work.

Text Generating AI Technology:
Using text written by a computer generation system as one's own, for instance, entering a prompt into an artificial intelligence tool and submitting any portion of the output in a written assignment.

Unintentional Plagiarism

Unintentional plagiarism is also a breach of academic integrity. Unintentional plagiarism, also known as patch writing, frequently occurs when students depend too heavily on textual material to make a point rather than making the point themselves and using the text to support it. In such cases, students cite the sources they have used, but do not correctly paraphrase the source material. They often also fail to indicate where paraphrased source material begins and ends. Unintentional plagiarism can also result from excessive collaboration when students fail to give adequate credit to others with whom they have worked. In all cases, unintentional plagiarism leaves the reader unsure of whose ideas are being presented, or leads them to assume that the words and ideas of others are those of the author. See the Writing Lab pages on Academic Dishonesty for more information and guidelines to proper citation.

Other Examples of Academic Dishonesty

•           Providing false information to an instructor (e.g. falsely claiming sickness or a family

death)

•           Forging a signature on an academic document
•           Falsifying a transcript or other university document
•           Intentionally sabotaging the academic work of another student
•           Intentionally disrupting the conduct of an exam to gain or provide an academic 

advantage

•           Intentionally preventing other students from accessing resources for an assignment
•           Offering a professor a bribe for a higher grade

PROCEDURE:

If a charge of academic dishonesty or plagiarism is to be made, the faculty or staff member must report the incident in writing to the Academic Vice-President/Dean. Adequate evidence should be provided to support the charge. Such evidence may include but is not limited to a report from the Turnitin software; copy of a forged or altered document; a published work from which the student copied; or compelling evidence that the work represented as that of the student does not fit his/her/their usual writing and thinking style.

First Report

If an instructor believes that academic dishonesty or plagiarism has been committed, they must report the incident in writing to the Academic Vice-President/Dean.

• Adequate evidence must be provided to support the charge. Such evidence may include a report from the Turnitin software; copy of a forged or altered document; a published work from which the student copied; or compelling evidence that the work represented as that of the student does not fit his/her/their usual writing and thinking style.
• The instructor must notify the student of the problem by email, providing evidence of the problem, and call a meeting with the student to review the material.
•  Depending on the severity, the student’s advisor and/or the academic dean may be invited to join the review meeting at the discretion of the instructor. The instructor will consider different options for the consequence of plagiarism that may include failing the student on the course. A range of options available to the instructor include:
• Reducing the grade of the student on the assignment in which the plagiarism occurs, with the opportunity to rewrite;
• Reducing the grade of the student on the assignment in which the plagiarism occurs, without the opportunity to rewrite;
• Failing the student on the assignment in which the plagiarism occurs, with the opportunity to rewrite;
• Failing the student on the assignment in which the plagiarism occurs, without the opportunity to rewrite;
• Reducing the student’s grade for the course;
• Failing the student for the course.

The instructor may also require the student to work with the Writing Center for the remaining written assignments of the course.

• The instructor must notify the Dean in writing about the result of the review meeting.  This letter will be kept in the Dean’s Office. The Dean will communicate in writing the results of the review meeting and the consequences of future incident(s) with the student and the Registrar.

 Second Report

 If the Dean discovers that it is the second report of plagiarism, s/he/they will take the following steps:

•  The Dean will make the charge known in writing to the student within five (5) business days of the initial report. 
•  The Dean will also call a meeting to review the charge within five business days from when the student was notified. The meeting will be held with the student, the faculty member reporting the case, the student's academic advisor, and if necessary, the appropriate program director. When any member of the Committee believes that they should not hear a case because of a possible conflict of interest, that member should recuse themselves. The Dean will then appoint another appropriate person.
•  After the review meeting the Dean makes the decision of guilt or innocence based on a preponderance of the evidence in the case.
•  If the charge of academic dishonesty or plagiarism is sustained by the Dean, the student will receive a grade of F on the course, and the student is put on academic probation.  This F grade will be calculated into the student’s final GPA, even if the student repeats the course and receives a higher grade. An official written reprimand from the Dean will be put in the student’s permanent file with the Registrar. 
•  Depending on the severity of the case, the student may be dismissed from Iliff. In case of dismissal from Iliff, the student will not be allowed to re-apply to Iliff for the minimum of one year. If the student re-applies after one year, all documentation regarding instances of plagiarism and the Dean’s sanctions will be included in the admissions file for review.

Third Report

A third determination of documented academic dishonesty or plagiarism will result in the student’s automatic dismissal from Iliff. A written report including the charge, supporting documentation, and the Dean’s decision will be filed with the Registrar in the student’s permanent file. The dismissal will be entered on the student's permanent record. The student will not be given an opportunity for re-admission to Iliff.