Academic Integrity

Students enrolled at Fairleigh Dickinson University are expected to maintain the highest standards of academic honesty. Students have the responsibility to make known the existence of academic dishonesty to their course instructor, and then, if necessary, to their school director or department chair, as well as to the academic dean of their college. Course instructors have the added responsibility to state in advance, in their syllabi, any special policies and procedures concerning examinations and other academic exercises specific to their courses. Students should request this information if it is not provided by their course instructor.

Academic dishonesty includes, but is not necessarily limited to, the following:

  1. Cheating—Giving or receiving unauthorized assistance in any academic exercise or examination. Using or attempting to use any unauthorized materials, information or study aids in an examination or academic exercise.

  2. Plagiarism—Representing the ideas or language of others as one’s own. A more complete description is listed below in the section titled “Plagiarism Described.”

  3. Falsification—Falsifying or inventing any information, data or citation in an academic exercise.

  4. Multiple Submission—Submitting substantial portions of any academic exercise more than once for credit without the prior authorization and approval of the current instructor.

  5. Complicity—Facilitating any of the above actions or performing work that another student then presents as his or her assignment(s).

  6. Interference—Interfering with the ability of a student to perform his or her assignment(s).

Plagiarism Described

As defined by the Council of Writing Program Administrators, plagiarism “occurs when a writer deliberately uses someone else’s language, ideas or other original (not common-knowledge) material without acknowledging its source.” (“Defining and Avoiding Plagiarism: The WPA Statement on Best Practices”).

Plagiarism can occur in the following ways:

  • Using text from another source (e.g. websites, books, journals, newspapers, etc.) without documenting the source;

  • Using direct quotation from a text without quotation marks, even if the source has been cited correctly;

  • Paraphrasing or summarizing the ideas or text of another work without documenting the source;

  • Substituting a word or phrase for the original while maintaining the original sentence structure or intent of the passage;

  • Using graphics, visual imagery, video or audio without permission of the author or acknowledgment of the source;

  • Translating text from one language to another without citing the original work;

  • Obtaining packaged information, foreign language translation or a completed paper from an online source and submitting it as one’s own work without acknowledgment of the source; and

  • Presenting the work of another student as one’s own.

Fairleigh Dickinson University students are responsible for authenticating any assignment submitted to a course instructor should the instructor request it. Students must be able to produce proof that the assignment they submit is actually their own work. Therefore, students must engage in a verifiable work process on all assignments:

  • Keeping copies of all drafts of work;

  • Making photocopies of research materials (including downloads from websites);

  • Writing summaries of research materials;

  • Keeping Writing Center receipts;

  • Keeping logs or journals of their work on assignments and papers; and

  • Saving drafts or versions of assignments under individual file names on a computer, external drive or other source.

In addition to requiring students to authenticate their work, Fairleigh Dickinson University course instructors may employ various other means of ascertaining authenticity—such as using search engines to detect plagiarism, using external plagiarism detection services, creating quizzes based on student work, and requiring students to explain their work and/or process orally. The inability to authenticate one’s work is sufficient grounds for a charge of plagiarism.

If subsequent evidence of plagiarism should be found after a grade has already been assigned, course instructors have the right to lower the grade and/or apply one of the sanctions listed below.

Sanctions

Any student violating the University’s academic integrity policy will, for their first offense, receive one or a combination of the following penalties imposed by the course instructor:

  1. No credit (0) or Failure for the academic exercise.

  2. Reduced grade for the course.

  3. Failure in the course.

  4. Recommendation for Academic Probation to the dean of the college in which the student is registered.

The course instructor shall file a notice of the penalty using the University’s Academic Integrity Policy Violation Report, a copy of which will be placed in the student’s file maintained in the campus Office of Enrollment Services and in the Office of the Dean of Students.

In cases of interference and complicity, whether or not the student is registered in the affected course, the incident and penalty shall be recorded in the student’s file maintained in the campus Office of Enrollment Services and in the Office of the Dean of Students.

For a subsequent violation of academic integrity, a student will be subject to any combination of the above sanctions, and, after due review by the academic dean according to the procedure noted below, one of the following:

  1. Suspension from the University for one year. Readmission will be contingent upon the approval of the academic dean.

  2. Dismissal from the University.

(Note: Dismissal from the University will be identified on the student’s academic transcript as a result of a violation of the Academic Integrity Policy).

Procedure

When a course instructor believes that a student has violated the Academic Integrity Policy, the course instructor shall discuss the incident with the student as soon as possible. If, after the conference, the course instructor determines that an act of academic dishonesty has occurred, the course instructor may impose the appropriate sanctions. Within five days of the course instructor’s action, the course instructor shall complete the Academic Integrity Policy Violation Report, copying his or her school director or department chair and the college dean.

Within five days of completion of the course instructor’s report, the academic school or department shall notify the student via FDU email of the sanctions and the appeals process. Copies of the email shall be sent to the director of the school or chair of the department of the student’s major, to the dean of the college in which the course is offered, and to the campus Office of Enrollment Services and Office of the Dean of Students. The student may appeal the course instructor’s decision as outlined below. Upon completion of the appeals’ process, the school director or department chair shall notify the student of the final disposition of the matter and the sanctions to be imposed, if any, via FDU email, with copies to the course instructor, college dean, campus director of enrollment services, and dean of students.

Appeals Process

A student who is charged with violating the Academic Integrity Policy by a course instructor may appeal in writing, via FDU email, to the director of the school or chair of the department in which the alleged incident took place. The email must state the specific grounds for the appeal. The student must submit a written appeal via FDU email to the school director or department chair within 14 days of receipt of the notification of the imposed sanctions. Failure to make an appeal within this 14-day period shall constitute a waiver of the student’s right to appeal. Within 10 working days of receipt of the student’s appeal, the school director or department chair will review the circumstances of the alleged violation with the student and the course instructor, and recommend upholding, modifying or dismissing the sanctions imposed by the instructor. The school director or department chair, within five working days, shall notify the student in writing (via FDU email) of the outcome, with copies to the course instructor, school director or department chair of the student’s major, academic dean of the college in which the course is offered, campus director of enrollment services, and dean of students. If it is determined that a violation of academic integrity did not occur, the student’s final grade in the course cannot be based on the assumption of such violation. If the differences between the course instructor and the student are not resolved by this review, the student may appeal the outcome to the dean of the college in which the course is offered.

Within 10 working days of the school director or department chair’s notification, the student may submit a written appeal via FDU email to the dean of the college in which the alleged dishonesty took place. The letter must state the specific grounds for the appeal. Upon receipt of the student’s appeal, the dean shall provide the course instructor and his or her school director or department chair with a copy of the student’s appeal. Within 10 working days, the dean shall convene a five-person appeals’ committee consisting of a faculty member at large from the college in which the course is offered, the dean or his or her designee, the campus dean of students or his or her designee, a faculty member from the department or school of the student’s major, and a student selected by the campus dean of students from the college in which the alleged dishonesty took place. The hearing will be chaired by the college dean or his or her designee. The role of the appeals’ committee is to review the record of the matter and determine whether a finding of academic dishonesty is founded, and whether the sanction imposed by the course instructor is consistent with the terms of this policy. The committee shall base its decision upon a review of the record but may meet with the student and the course instructor to secure additional information to help it in making a determination about the merits of the appeal. The committee can uphold, modify or dismiss the sanction imposed by the course instructor. The college dean shall notify the student (and campus director of enrollment services and dean of students) of the committee’s decision within five working days of the hearing. For a second offense of academic dishonesty, the academic dean can ‘suspend or dismiss’ the student as indicated above.

For a sanction of suspension or dismissal imposed by the academic dean, the student may file a written appeal via FDU email to the University Provost/Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs within 10 working days of receiving the notification of the dean’s decision. The University Provost, or his or her designee, shall review the case within 10 working days of the receipt of the appeal. The University Provost shall make the final decision, using any appropriate resources to assist in deciding the appeal. The University Provost shall then notify all parties in writing via FDU email of his or her final decision within five working days of the decision.

Updated November 7, 2024