Comment Sought on Proposed Revisions to the Academic Integrity Policy

Last spring, an advisory committee of faculty, students and staff representing all of the schools and colleges developed a set of consensus recommendations designed to increase the fairness, effectiveness, flexibility and efficiency of the University’s Academic Integrity Policy. Proposed revisions to the policy were drafted this summer by the Academic Integrity Office in collaboration with members of the University Senate Committee on Instruction and are now available for public comment.

All members of the University community are invited to comment on changes to the Academic Integrity policy

“Syracuse University strives to be a student-focused research university known for its integrity,” says Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Professor John F. Dannenhoffer III, a member of the Senate Committee on Instruction, who helped draft the proposed revised policy. “This new policy is designed to give everyone at the University the tools needed to foster such a culture by fairly and efficiently dealing with small problems before they become big problems.”

In summary, the proposed revisions:

• create a single charge of “Violation of the Academic Integrity Policy;”
• classify three levels of violation with corresponding levels of sanctions;
• increase faculty authority over grade-related sanctions;
• establish standing school and college academic integrity panels to oversee academic integrity matters within and among the schools and colleges;
• expand options for case resolution so that straightforward charges may be resolved expeditiously and more resources may be devoted to complex cases; and
• locate appeals processes and final decisions within the schools and colleges.

“Last year we worked to promote aware of the key proposed changes,” says Biology Professor Ramesh Raina, co-chair of the Academic Integrity Policy Review Advisory Committee. “Now, we are eager for input from the University community on the draft of the revised policy.”

The proposed policy revision is available now on the Academic Integrity Office website, along with an FAQ and background information. All members of the University Community were sent an email on Thursday, Sept. 1, with information about the proposed revisions and a link to a Qualtrics survey requesting comment. Any member of the SU community who didn’t receive the link is encouraged to email the Academic Integrity Office at aio@syr.edu to request one.

“We are eager to hear from faculty, students and staff about the proposed revisions,” says Academic Integrity Office Director Margaret L. Usdansky.