Academic Integrity

Attendance Fraud

The University strives to provide curricular and spiritual opportunities for students to develop and mature. In this process it is essential for the student to be in attendance and to report that attendance honestly. Attendance fraud is misrepresentation of one’s attendance at a required campus event. Specifically, attendance fraud includes, but is not limited to, the following:

1. Writing another student’s name on an attendance sheet;
2. Asking or permitting another student to write one’s own name on an attendance sheet;
3. Writing one’s own name on an attendance sheet and leaving the activity before it is formally dismissed;
4. Making a false or misleading statement to an instructor as an excuse for missing class;
5. Altering or forging a document submitted to an instructor from a physician, nurse, or University official as an excuse for missing class; or
6. Providing false information about the amount of time worked on a time record.

Cheating

Cheating is the representation of someone else’s work as one’s own. In each course, the student is responsible for asking the faculty member which activities are authorized and permitted. Policies must be stated in the course syllabus. Cheating includes, but is not limited to, the following:

1. Unauthorized entry to a faculty or secretarial office in search for examination-related materials;
2. Unauthorized use of materials from a faculty or secretarial office to prepare for an examination;
3. Unauthorized use of a previously given examination to prepare for a present exam;
4. Discussing any part of an exam that has not yet been completed with any person who has already completed the exam;
5. Presenting a fraudulent excuse to seek permission to take an exam at a different time than the scheduled time, or to submit work at a different time than due;
6. Unauthorized possession of a copy of an exam;
7. Giving assistance to or receiving assistance from another student during an exam;
8. Looking at or attempting to look at another student’s paper or computer screen during an exam;
9. Unauthorized use of published materials, notes, or "cheat sheets" during an exam;
10. Unauthorized use of computing devices during an exam;
11. Unauthorized use of tape recorders or other electronic devices during an exam;
12. Unauthorized storage of information on an electronic calculator, computer, or other media for use during an exam;
13. Unauthorized use of pre-programmed computers or calculators during an exam;
14. Unauthorized collaborating with or consulting of another person to complete a project or homework assignment;
15. Accessing an instructor's edition of a textbook or a test bank; or
16. The use of any electronic communication during an examination.

Plagiarism

In the academic community, there is variation in how often and to what degree the sources of ideas need to be cited. Faculty members can provide guidelines within academic disciplines. When the work depends upon the contributions of others, students are expected to acknowledge their indebtedness to them.

Plagiarism is a special form of academic dishonesty that involves the failure to acknowledge the source of ideas or portray someone else's work as one's own. Academic integrity requires that a student acknowledge ideas and expressions borrowed from others. Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to, the following:

1. Looking at or copying another student’s work on an assignment (e.g., written work, term paper, workbook);
2. Unauthorized accessing and/or copying another person’s computer file(s);
3. Submitting written work obtained from commercial sources (e.g., on-line term papers) or submitting work based upon information from such sources;
4. Submitting work prepared by another person whether for money or favor;
5. Unacknowledged quotation of a published work; or
6. Using any Artificial Intelligence (AI) language processing tool(s) to create coursework, unless clearly permitted in assignment guidelines. The MVNU-authorized AI detection tool will be used to detect coursework that is AI generated.

Laboratory Fraud

Students who misrepresent their own work on laboratory projects commit laboratory fraud. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Submitting one’s laboratory project to an outside laboratory for analysis;
2. Submitting one’s laboratory project to another student for analysis;
3. Submitting a laboratory report of an experiment performed by other persons;
4. Misrepresenting the date or amount of time spent on an experiment or other laboratory activities;
5. Submitting a copy of another person’s computer program or project as one’s own work; or
6. Submitting a copy of a commercially available computer program as one’s own work.

Fabrication

Students who commit academic fraud fabricate fictitious data for experiments and report them as real. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Submitting a report on an experiment or project that was not actually performed;
2. Listing works that were not actually consulted in a bibliography; or
3. Listing fictitious works in a bibliography.

Electronic Media Fraud

Computers and other electronic information technologies function as instruments to facilitate student learning. They can also be employed as means to bypass the discipline of personal learning and mastery, as well as allowing opportunities for other non-academic improprieties. Examples of electronic media fraud include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Use of digital cameras, cell phones, or similar devices to capture, store, and transmit partial or whole examinations;
2. Capturing another person's login and password information to gain unauthorized access;
3. Unauthorized access to and altering of student grade information stored on the University's learning management system (Moodle), servers, and/or computers;
4. Unauthorized capture and distribution (e.g., peer-to-peer file sharing) of copyrighted materials, including music, videos, publisher text banks, and/or electronic textbooks, without permission of the publisher.
5. Sending and/or accessing electronic messages or digital images of course-related materials during examinations;
6. Malicious attacks on the University's computer system and/or network;
7. Unauthorized or illegal data mining of University-owned records.
8. Using electronic technology to misrepresent one's identity to others (i.e., electronic aliases); or
9. Circumventing University network security systems to gain unauthorized access (i.e. hacking) to information records and/or websites.

Policies

MVNU endeavors to communicate clearly and to educate members of the community regarding academic integrity expectations. Additionally, MVNU strives to handle academic integrity violations in a fair and consistent manner and to use restorative educational practices. To that end, faculty are required to report all violations of this Academic Integrity Policy as outlined below.

First Offense: The faculty member, in consultation with the department chair, makes a judgement concerning the nature of the offense and the appropriate action to be taken. The action taken by the faculty member may range from allowing the student to redo the assignment to a zero on the assignment. The faculty member must submit the offense to the AVP for Student Success and Retention (AVPSSR). In most cases the AVPSSR will only make a note of the first offense. The student will receive a letter of first offense (via the student's MVNU email address), including:

• The right to appeal (as noted below).
• Possible consequences should there be a second offense.

Repeated Offenses: In the case of a second offense, the Academic Integrity Committee will initiate the appropriate investigation (including a discussion with the student, faculty member, and all other relevant parties). The Academic Integrity Committee determines the disciplinary action consistent with the circumstances and the nature of the offense. A second offense will typically result in not only a zero on the assignment, but also an F and immediate withdrawal from the course and possible suspension or dismissal.

A student's third offense and beyond typically results in a recommendation to the Vice President for Academic Affairs for suspension, dismissal, or expulsion.

In cases involving repeated offenses:

• The student will receive written notification (via the student's MVNU email address) of the disciplinary action.
• The right to appeal (as noted below).
• The faculty member and all relevant parties will be appraised of actions taken.

Proposed Procedures for Faculty

• A faculty member who believes a student has violated academic integrity must communicate with the student and should have an in-person discussion whenever possible. For online courses, the discussion can take place through a virtual meeting (preferred) or email.
• If the determination is made that there has been an academic integrity violation, the faculty member will:
  •  Contact the AVPSSR to determine if it is the student's first offense.
  • Notify the student of the procedures and possible consequences.
  • Submit the Academic Integrity Incident Report and all relevant correspondence and documentation to the AVPSSR.
  • In the case of a first offense, issue the course-related penalty (following the policy above). In the case of a repeated offense, wait to hear the consequences as determined by the Academic Integrity Committee.
• The process outlined above should be completed within 10 business days* of discovery of the incident.

Proposed Procedures for Student

• A student who believes they are falsely accused of violating the academic integrity policy should:
  • Attempt to resolve the situation with the faculty member.
  • If the matter remains unresolved, the student should discuss the situation with the faculty member's department chair.
  • If the matter remains unresolved, request a meeting with the Academic Integrity Committee by emailing the Center for Student Success. This must be done within 10 business days* of being informed of the incident by a faculty member. The Academic Integrity Committee will hear the case and determine the validity of the violation.
  • The student may appeal the Academic Integrity Committee's decision only on procedural grounds. This means that a student can appeal only if the policy and procedures stated above were not followed. The appeal must occur within five business days* of notification from the Academic Integrity Committee.
  • A student cannot appeal he academic consequence for a first offense but may appeal the violation itself.

*Business days refer to days the University is open.

The Academic Integrity Committee will consist of the AVP for Student Success and Retention (ex officio Chair) and at least three faculty members. The faculty members will be selected by the AVPSSR from a list of preassigned representatives. There will be two representatives from each school appointed by the deans of those schools. The dean should make every effort to select two members from different areas of their school (i.e., different departments/disciplines). These appointed representatives will serve for two-year renewable terms. For each hearing, the AVPSSR will convene a committee appropriate to the case under review. Faculty selected for the hearing should be outside of the academic discipline of the course where the offense occurred, and if possible, should be outside of the discipline of the student whose case is being heard.