Teaching Policies & Procedures: Classroom Policies
Academic Fraud: Definitions and Procedures
Plagiarism
All students suffer when academic misconduct takes place. Academic fraud disturbs the mutual respect that should exist between instructors and students and among students and can poison the atmosphere of a classroom. Perhaps most seriously, those who commit academic fraud are robbed of the educational experiences that are the primary purpose of course work in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences considers all instances of academic fraud as serious academic misconduct.
All forms of plagiarism and any other activities that result in a student presenting work that is not really his or her own are considered academic fraud. Academic fraud includes these and other misrepresentations:
- Presentation of ideas from any sources not credited;
- Use of direct quotations without quotation marks and/or without credit to the source;
- Paraphrasing information and ideas from sources without credit to the source;
- Failure to provide adequate citations for material obtained through electronic research
- Downloading and submitting work from electronic databases without citation;
- Participation in a group project which presents plagiarized materials;
- Taking credit as part of a group without participating as required in the work of the group;
- Submitting material created/written by someone else as one's own, including purchased term/research papers.
Cheating
All forms of cheating on examinations and other work also interferes with a student's own education as well as the education of others in the class. Academic cheating includes all of the following and any other activities that give a student an unfair advantage in course work:
- Copying from someone else's exam, homework, or laboratory work;
- Allowing someone to copy or submit your work as his/her own;
- Accepting credit for a group project without doing a fair share;
- Submitting the same paper in more than one course without the knowledge and approval of the instructors involved;
- Using notes, text messaging, cell phone calls, pre-programmed formulae in calculators, or other such technologies or materials during a test or exam without authorization;
- Not following the guidelines specified by the instructor for a "take home" test or exam.
Forgery
The Code of Student Life prohibits forgery of University records, documents, or student identification cards. Staff members in the Registration Center routinely examine registration documents to verify the authenticity of advisers', instructors', and deans' signatures. If forgery is suspected, the questionable document is photocopied and sent directly to the person whose signature is in doubt.
If the signature is a forgery, the advisor or instructor informs the CLAS Academic Programs & Services office, providing relevant information and an explanation of extenuating or unusual circumstances. Staff members in the office interview students suspected of forgery and take disciplinary action based on the interview and verification provided by the advisor, instructor, or dean.
Disciplinary action includes, as the offense may warrant: (1) disciplinary warning for one calendar year or until graduation, usually for a first offense; (2) the reversal of the action requested by the forged document, usually for a second offense; or (3) more significant penalties for a third offense. If students believe that the penalties imposed by CLAS Academic Programs & Services are unjust, they may request a review of the action by sending a written request to the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs and Curriculum. If the student is not satisfied with the results of the associate dean’s review, the student may request a further review by writing to the Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education. This process is outlined more fully in the Student Academic Handbook.
Resources for Instructors
Instructors should be aware that there is a growing problem of students misusing electronic data sources; there is also a large and growing number of free and for-profit sites that offer term papers and techniques for cheating.
The Center for Teaching (335-6048) and the Information, Research, and Instructional Services area of the Main Library (335-5489) can advise on ways to construct assignments that limit opportunities for the misuse of electronic data. The Department of English's General Education Literature Program has developed some materials specific to plagiarism and share them with the College, here. Finally, the University is also licensed to use the Turn-It-In plagiarism-detection service. ITS provides support for use of this program.
Procedures and Policies
Revised by the Educational Policy Committee, Fall 2006.
Overview
The procedures and polices below are designed to help instructors and departments take effective action against academic fraud and to clarify the role of CLAS in this process.
At times, these steps might happen simultaneously or more than once. Occasionally, reasonable exceptions that do not undermine the spirit of the policy will be made.
Throughout the process, it is important for all instructors to seek guidance as needed from their DEO or DEO designate and from Academic Programs and Services.
Only an instructor and a department are in a position to define fraud and the scope of that fraud, and therefore must be the ones to choose specific, appropriate consequences at the departmental level for academic fraud.
All instances of academic fraud should receive consequences appropriate to the scope of the fraud and to the perceived intention of the person committing the fraud.
Likewise, instructors and departments are responsible for treating students consistently. This is crucial in sections of the same course or in the same course taught by different instructors.
Academic fraud must be reported in writing to the instructor’s DEO; the DEO will forward reports of academic fraud to CLAS.
Procedures and Policies
1. The instructor (or supervisor if the instructor is a teaching assistant) will inform the suspected student of the concern in an email at the uiowa.edu account, asking the student to discuss the situation. (When reporting an incident of academic fraud committed by more than one student, please be sensitive to the issue of student privacy and confidentiality. Do not mention the names of the other involved students in the email. Please send an individualized email to each student.) Whenever possible, discuss the situation in person. Please follow the complete guidelines for this email.
2. In considering the appropriate consequence for academic fraud, the instructor should take into consideration the scope of the fraud, the student’s perceived intent, the nature of the course, the assignment, and the academic discipline.
3. The instructor will inform the DEO and the student in writing of the academic fraud committed and the action taken. Documentation to support the claim must be included in the copy of the report to the DEO. Please follow the complete guidelines for the report.
4. The DEO should review the report and take appropriate internal action.
5. The DEO must forward all adequately supported reports of academic fraud to CLAS through the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs and Curriculum, 120 Schaeffer Hall.
6. The department must keep reports of academic fraud on file from the date of the instructor’s report until the student graduates or for five years, whichever is sooner.
7. CLAS will review all reports and will discuss any patterns of fraud or other questions concerning the fraud with the appropriate DEO and/or with the instructor.
8. If CLAS finds that the academic fraud is minor in nature or questionably intentional, a student will receive a letter of disciplinary warning and the report will be filed until the student graduates or for five years, whichever is sooner. If a second or third report of minor fraud is placed in the student’s file, CLAS will treat the fraud according to the guidelines for intentional academic fraud, below.
9. If CLAS finds evidence of intentional academic fraud, CLAS will enforce the following consequences:
- For a first offense: The student will be placed on disciplinary probation until graduation or until a period of five years from the period of the probation. A notation will not appear on the student's permanent record/transcript for the first offense.
- For a second offense: The student will be suspended for a calendar year or longer from the College and will not be allowed to register during that time at the University. The offense will be recorded on the student's permanent record/transcript during the period of suspension as follows: Not permitted to Register: Academic Misconduct.
- For a third offense: The Dean of the College will recommend to the University president that the student be expelled from The University of Iowa. Once expulsion occurs, the offense will be recorded on the student's permanent record/transcript as follows: Not permitted to Register: Academic Misconduct.
10. CLAS will report the action taken to the student, to the academic advisor, to the instructor finding the fraud, and to the appropriate DEO. If the student placed on disciplinary probation is planning to receive a degree from a UI college other than CLAS, that college also will be notified of the action taken.
11. CLAS internal records concerning first and second offenses are destroyed when the student graduates or after five years. Internal reports for a third offense become part of the permanent student record kept in the Office of the Dean of Students.
Student Appeals
If a student believes that the finding of academic fraud or cheating is in error or the penalty unjust, the student will be encouraged to arrange a meeting with the instructor and the departmental or program administration to present a response.
If the student is dissatisfied with the result of this meeting, he or she may request a hearing by writing to the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs and Curriculum, who may refer the matter to a subcommittee of the College's Student Academic Standards Committee.
If the student is not satisfied with the results of the hearing, he or she may request a review by the Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education.