Campus & Community

Revisions Approved to Academic Integrity Policy

Tuesday, December 13, 2016, By Carol Boll

Proposed revisions to the University’s Academic Integrity Policy have been approved by the Chancellor’s Executive Team with the support of the University Senate. The changes will go into effect Jan. 1.

Based on the recommendations of an advisory committee comprising faculty, students and staff from across the University, the revisions are designed to increase the fairness, effectiveness, consistency and efficiency of the policy.

“The new Academic Integrity Policy sets clearer expectations for students and faculty and creates better options for responding to suspected violations, both large and small,” says Ramesh Raina, biology professor in the College of Arts and Sciences and co-chair of the Academic Integrity Policy Review Advisory Committee.

Proposed revisions were drafted last summer by the Academic Integrity Office in collaboration with members of the University Senate Committee on Instruction. Information on the proposed revisions was sent to the entire campus community in September via an e-mail that also solicited feedback via a link to an online survey.

The approved revisions to the policy:

  • Create a single charge of “Violation of the Academic Integrity Policy”
  • Classify three levels of violation, as outlined in the Violation and Sanction Classification Rubric, with corresponding levels of school and college non-grade 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 more expeditiously and more resources may be devoted to complex cases
  • Locate appeals processes and final decisions with the schools and colleges

The full Academic Integrity Policy—as well as an FAQ explaining how cases will be reported, reviewed and decided under the new policy—can be read in full by going to the Academic Integrity Office website at  http://academicintegrity.syr.edu.