Academic Integrity:Faculty and Staff Information
How to Prevent Academic Misconduct
The most helpful tip to prevent academic misconduct is proactive communication with your students. Students come from unique and disparate schools and circumstances, and something that may have been acceptable in one location may be considered academic misconduct in another. Consider each definition of academic misconduct, how it applies to your class’s unique circumstances, and how you can communicate your expectations at the beginning of your class and throughout the semester.
- Make your expectations clear on your syllabus
- Consider creating an Academic Integrity module in your course D2L shell
- Make your expectations clear on assignments
- Consider assigned seating during exams
- Invite (or require) your students to sign a document stating they are aware of your definitions of academic misconduct, agree to abide by the standard, and understand the consequences of non-compliance.
- Sometimes, academic misconduct is an unfortunate result of a struggling student who is trying anything and everything to get a passing grade in a class. Encourage students to visit the university resources listed in the Student Information section of this webpage.
Additional Things to Know
Group Work: Students may have come from schools where group work was acceptable for all assignments. As such, they may not see or understand the harm of collaborating/corroborating on coursework or exams. At the start of the semester and throughout the course, make your expectations clear about acceptable forms of groupwork for your course assignments, projects or exams.
Artificial Intelligence (AI): AI is greatly reshaping higher education, and acceptable use of AI in one class may count as cheating in another. Be upfront and clear with your students about acceptable use of AI in your classes and consider how you might differentiate between acceptable use of AI for various projects.
Turnitin.com: East Texas A&M subscribes to Turnitin.com, and you should see information about this function in your course D2L shells. Consider how you might use this tool and encourage students to use it to avoid inaccurate citation of resources and other forms of plagiarism in your classes.
Questions
Do I need to submit a form for each and every suspicion of academic misconduct?
- Yes. This helps the Division of Academic Affairs monitor data on all allegations and confirmed cases of academic misconduct so that we can provide information and adjust resources accordingly.
Do I need to meet with a student before submitting a form?
- Yes. This provides you with more information that you will need to submit the form. It also equips the university with additional needed information if the student decides to appeal the allegation.