Academic Integrity

Academic intregity information and resources for faculty

Academic Integrity Decision Letter Template for Faculty

This page includes various Educational Resources on Academic Integrity as well as information on how to adjudicate cases of plagiarism, cheating and fabrication you may be faced with.

The Office of Community Standards would like to share with you information and resources that may help you in your classroom with Academic Integrity.

Faculty have begun to share their writing resources with students to help with research and citing correctly. See listing titled "Writing Courses" If you have resources you would like to share with your colleagues and are willing to have them listed on this page please call our office at (207) 780-5242.

If you need further assistance please feel free to call us at 207-780-5242 or email me at snelson@usm.maine.edu with any questions.

Thank you,

Stephen M. Nelson
Director
Office of Community Standards

Instructions for Adjudicating Academic Integrity Violations

Flowchart of Academic Integrity Volations

Academic Integrity Instructions for Responding to a Violation

Letter to be sent to student after a violation

1. Faculty member gathers all of the necessary documentation that outlines that an act of academic misconduct may have occurred.

Some of the information that would be needed for the various types of misconduct is listed below.

For Cheating on an Exam

Signed statements from witnesses stating what they know about the cheating.
Suspected notes used to cheat from or other evidence of cheating.

For Plagiarism in an Assignment

A copy of the student’s assignment with plagiarized sections noted or if most/all of the assignment is plagiarized those section not plagiarized noted.
A copy of paper, article, passage of the book that was used for the plagiarism with the sections used by the student highlighted or noted.
Note: If it will take some time to locate the original source that was used for the plagiarism, then faculty member may proceed with meeting with the student. The original source will only be needed, if the student appeals the faculty member’s decision.

For Fabrication in an Assignment

A copy of the student’s assignment with the fabricated sections noted
Written statement from the faculty member citing what information he/she has that supports the charge of fabrication.

2. Once the faculty member has documented the violation he or she should meet with the student in private to discuss the misconduct and afford the student opportunity to explain what happened, if the student chooses to do so.

If the faculty member accepts the explanation that no academic misconduct occurred, then the matter is dropped.

If the faculty member chooses to continue the complaint with or without an explanation from the student, then following steps 3 - 11.

3. Faculty member calls Office of Community Standards to find out if the student involved in the alleged academic misconduct has already been sanctioned for a previous violation of academic misconduct.

If this is a first offense, then the faculty member continues on with steps 4 – 11.

If this is not a first offense of academic misconduct, then the faculty member sends all documentation to the Office of Community Standards. The Academic Integrity Board will then handle the case. The faculty member will then be contacted about attending the board hearing.

4. Prior to taking action against the student the faculty member may choose to consult with Stephen Nelson, Assistant to the Vice President for Community Standards (X5242) or the Chair of the department in which the course was taught on options available to the faculty member.

Some options include:

Giving an F for the assignment.

Giving an F for the course.

Requiring the student to rewrite a paper or retake an exam.

Note: If the student does the work over the faculty member should consider giving the student at least one letter grade lower than what the assignment is worth, to acknowledge that a violation of academic misconduct occurred.

5. The faculty member must have approval of the chair of the department on any sanction to be imposed and the college or school dean must have been consulted.

6. After the chair of the department has approved the decision, the faculty member will write a letter to the student informing the student of the faculty member’s decision. The letter must include the following information:

A paragraph briefly explaining what violation occurred (cheating, plagiarism, etc.) and what facts the faculty member has to support the charge.

A paragraph explaining what sanction is being imposed, see the options above.

The following text should be inserted as a last paragraph in the letter informing the student of his/her right to appeal.

“You have the right to file a written appeal with the Academic Integrity Board regarding the decision imposed. Your letter of appeal must provide a detailed rationale for why you are appealing. Your letter of appeal must be received in the Office of Community Standards within seven calendar days of the date you receive this letter. For further information and to have any questions answered about the appeals process, please contact Stephen Nelson in the Office of Community Standards, 125 Upton Hall, 780-5242.”

7. The letter should include cc to the chair of the department and Stephen Nelson, Assistant to the Vice President for Community Standards.

8. The letter should then be either:

Mailed to the student through the US mail certified with a return receipt requested. The address on the back of the return receipt card should read: Office of Community Standards, USM, 125 Upton Hall, Gorham, ME 04038.
-Or-

b. Hand delivered to the student. If hand delivered, then the person delivering is asked to write or type a short note indicating that they personally delivered the letter to the student. The note should be signed and dated.

If the faculty member would prefer to have the Office of Community Standards mail the letter, the staff would be glad to do so.

9. The last task is to forward the following to the Office of Community Standards:

Copy of letter the faculty member sent the student.
All documents the support the finding of academic misconduct.
If hand delivered, the signed note from the person delivering the letter.

10. If the student, files an appeal of the faculty member’s decision, the Office of Community Standards will contact the faculty member by:

Calling the faculty member to schedule the date for the faculty member to attend the Academic Integrity Board hearing.
Then sending a letter to the faculty member confirming the date of the hearing and enclosing a copy of the student’s written appeal.

11. Stephen Nelson is available to advise the student, faculty member, and the Academic Integrity Board throughout the appeals process.

Resources on Classroom Disruption and helping Students in Distress

Common Disruptive Classroom Behaviors

While certain disruptive behaviors have occurred in classrooms for many years (ex: sleeping in class and excessive lateness) newer disruptive behaviors are arising and with more frequency (ex: cell phone and pagers going off and verbal or written threats directly or indirectly towards faculty). This list includes the most common behaviors that are disruptive to the teaching and learning environment. Faculty member are encouraged to inform students at the beginning of the course of the expectations the faculty member has for many of the behavior in the list. It is advisable for this information to be included as part of the syllabus for the course.

Grandstanding- students who use a classroom discussion as a chance to speak about their favorite subjects despite the irrelevancy their comments may have in regard to the discussion of the class as a whole. Other students use the classroom as a place to communicate to their peers, tales of their personal lives, which is also not appropriate to the setting. Some students attempt to soak up the attention that they receive from their peers even though it may be annoying to other students in the class.

Sleeping in Class- this may not seem to be disruptive to a class, but in fact, is disruptive in two ways: the student who is snoozing is not interested and not participating in the classroom discussion. If a professor does nothing about it, it sends a message to the other students that involvement in the class is not of much importance to the professor. This may make the students feel like they shouldn’t have to participate either. Secondly, sleeping in class is considered to be disrespectful to the teacher and the other students.

Prolonged Chattering- students who carry on private conversations among themselves in the classroom are disruptive to other students because their frivolous chatter does not pertain to the classroom discussion what so ever. This is rude and inappropriate and should not be tolerated.

Excessive Lateness- tardiness is tolerated by many professors, because students have legitimate reasons for being late. However, professors don’t like it when students are late because it disrupts the classroom and other students are focused on the late student instead of on the professors’ lecture. Professors’ need to state to the students the importance of arriving in a timely manner.

Overt Inattentiveness- some students find it difficult to mentally pay attention for the full length a class. They read a book, newspaper, or doodle on paper. This is also considered disrespectful to the professor and other students in the class.

Eating, Drinking, Gum Chewing, Smoking, Carrying Pagers & Cell Phones, and Passing Notes- all of these are considered disruptive in a class room setting and should not be tolerated.

Unexcused Exits from Class- these exits from class are disruptive and should be discouraged unless the student has a legitimate reason and/or has spoke to the professor before hand.

Verbal or Physical Threats, to Students or Faculty- cases of threat to students and faculty has risen dramatically in recent years. These are definitely considered unacceptable.

Disputing the Instructor’s Authority or Expertise- students who have received substandard grades or evaluations from their instructors sometimes try to devalue the professor’s authority, judgment, and expertise.

The above list has been adapted from Amada, G. (1999) Coping with Misconduct in the College Classroom Asheville, NC: College Administration Publications, Inc. Pages 1-8.

Student Conduct Code: List of Violations

Violations regarding Academic Dishonesty

1. Plagiarism--the submission of another's work as one's own, without adequate attribution.
2. Cheating—the act or attempted act of deception by which a student seeks to misrepresent that he/she has mastered information on an academic exercise that he/she has not mastered
3. Fabrication—the use of invented information or the falsification of research or other findings in an academic exercise.

Sanctions for Academic Violations

A. Failing an assignment and a required rewrite with merged grade between both.

B. Failing an assignment.

C. Failing the course.

D. Suspension from University of Maine System.

E. Dismissal from University of Maine System.

Online Plagiarism Links

Thanks to Natalie Hutchinson, USM Libraries, and The Center for Teaching Workshop: WEB of Deceit: Plagiarism in the Online Age

Online Paper Mills (free or fee-based)

A1 Term Papers
Cheater.Com
FastPapers.Com
No Cheaters.Com
Research Papers Online A+

School Paper.Com

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