Promoting expectations
Ensuring fairness and consistency
Academic Integrity Committee
Academic integrity is “the pursuit of scholarly activity in an open, honest and responsible manner,” which includes “a commitment by all members of the University community not to engage in or tolerate acts of falsification, misrepresentation or deception.” (see University Faculty Senate policy 49-20).
Faculty senate policy 43-00 requires course instructors to provide students with a course syllabus that includes the academic integrity policy for the course and provides a recommended syllabus statement. Educators can find customizable language around student use of AI in the “Faculty Resources” section of the University’s “Academic Integrity Resources” page. This web page provides both students and educators with many helpful academic integrity resources, including FAQS.
When an educator believes, for reasons beyond mere suspicion, that a student has attempted to violate or has violated a course academic integrity policy or assessment instruction in a way that (would have) affected the quality of the academic work, they should submit an academic integrity claim. Educators are strongly encouraged to make reasonable attempts to discuss the situation with the student before they submit a claim.
Because academic integrity information may become part of a student's academic record and conduct record, educators should strive to keep such information confidential. Educators with questions may contact the chair of the Academic Integrity Committee for the Eberly College of Science, Kevin Luhman, kll207@psu.edu. Educators seeking consultation from administrators or colleagues should take care to protect the identities of students who are allegedly involved.
For information about the academic integrity process for graduate students and for graduate classes, including the composition of the Graduate Academic Integrity Committee, policies, procedures, and sanctioning guidelines, see GCAC-805 Academic Integrity.
For information about the academic integrity process for undergraduate students, see policy G-9 Academic Integrity and the “Sanctioning Guidelines for Violations of Academic Integrity” web page. Schreyer honors students should also consult the Schreyer Honors College Student Handbook.
The Academic Integrity Committee in the Eberly College of Science consists of faculty members and undergraduate students from the college. The dean’s office selects the faculty representatives in consultation with the departments in the college while the committee chair selects the student representatives.
When an instructor files a claim of an academic integrity violation, the student is given the opportunity to (1) accept or contest the allegation, and (2) accept or contest the proposed outcome. If the student contests either the allegation or the proposed outcome, they can submit an explanation for why they are doing so through the academic integrity claims system. The instructor can submit a response, and the student may then submit a final response. A subset of the college's Academic Integrity Committee (the chair, three faculty, one student) will review the claim and the written responses from the student and the instructor to determine whether the student is responsible for an academic integrity violation (if the allegation was contested) and, if so, whether the proposed outcome is appropriate. If the committee concludes that additional information is needed beyond that contained in the claim and written responses, the committee will schedule a hearing with the instructor and the student.
Penn State students and faculty may contact the Eberly College of Science Academic Integrity Committee for information about academic integrity and the College and University policies and procedures.
To contact the committee send an email to: ecosai@psu.edu
Submit a claim for an academic integrity violation
Penn State Policy and Procedures on Academic Integrity
University Academic Integrity Resources
Resources related to artificial intelligence
Videos describing Penn State's academic integrity policies and claims processing
"Preventing Academic Dishonesty" (Chapter from Tools for Teaching by Barbara Gross Davis; Jossey-Bass Publishers: San Francisco, 1993) Excellent resource on general strategies for encouraging honesty on exams, papers, and avoiding plagiarism.
"Anti-Plagiarism Strategies for Research Papers" By Robert Harris. Focuses on encouraging students "to value the assignment and to do their own work".