• Preamble
• Standards of Academic Honesty
• Violations of Standards
• Disciplinary Sanctions
• Committee on Academic Integrity
• Procedures
• Degrees Awarded/Revoked
• Plagiarism Prevention
• Related Policies
• Related Links (Turnitin)

PREAMBLE

The ideal of academic honesty is crucial to the integrity of a university, college or institute; conversely, academic dishonesty undermines the very basis upon which institutions of higher education are organized and function. All students, faculty, and staff at the Fielding Graduate University are expected to meet the highest standards of honesty in the performance of their academic work. Students, faculty and staff are expected to report observed cases of academic dishonesty in others to school leadership. Toward that end, Standards of Academic Honesty and procedures to enforce these standards fairly are hereby adopted.

STANDARDS OF ACADEMIC HONESTY

The Standards of Academic Honesty proscribe (but are not limited to) the giving or receiving of unauthorized help in examinations or other assignments, plagiarism and other unacknowledged or undocumented use of source material, and forgery. Students may not re-use their own work without explicit disclosure regarding the nature of its original use and subsequent permission from the faculty assessor.

VIOLATIONS OF STANDARDS

A student shall be subject to discipline for any violation of the Standards of Academic Honesty. Faculty and staff members shall be subject to reprimand for any violation of the Standards of Academic Honesty.

DISCIPLINARY SANCTIONS

Sanctions available would be those appropriate to the violations and will include, but not be limited to, any one of the following: an official reprimand; a requirement to repeat an assignment, an examination, or a course; a requirement to complete an alternative assignment or examination; a failing grade for an assignment, an examination, or a course; suspension; or expulsion from Fielding. In the case of a faculty or staff member, an official reprimand or dismissal may occur.

COMMITTEE ON ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

1.A Committee on Academic Integrity (CAI) is established.

2.Its primary purposes shall be, in accordance with the procedures outlined below, to receive and evaluate evidence of alleged violations of the Standards of Academic Honesty and to make recommendations for the disposition of cases involving alleged violations. The Committee shall also make recommendations to the Provost of the Fielding Graduate University (hereafter, the Provost) and to the Academic Policy Committee for changes in standards and procedures, as it deems appropriate, and shall report annually to the President.

3.The Academic Policy Committee (APC) is charged with the responsibility of carrying out the duties of the Committee on Academic Integrity. In order to fulfill these duties and responsibilities, the APC must, at the beginning of each academic year, identify one of its members who will serve, along with three students recommended and a designated faculty member appointed by each school dean, as the Committee on Academic Integrity. If the APC or the Deans fails to make a recommendation within a reasonable time, the Provost will appoint students to the CAI.

PROCEDURES

In cases of an alleged student violation, these general procedures will be followed:

1. A faculty member who believes that a student has violated one or more of the Standards of Academic Honesty will promptly so inform the student and present the student with the reasons for this belief. Such an allegation can be in reference to a student's current coursework submitted for review, the student's prior coursework, or both.

2. If, after learning the student's response, the faculty member continues to believe that a violation has occurred, the faculty member shall proceed in one of two ways:

• If the faculty member deems the alleged violation to be minor, the faculty member may attempt to resolve the matter in a manner satisfactory to both the faculty member and the student. If the matter is so resolved, the faculty member shall report the matter and its resolution to the Provost. If the student is not satisfied with the faculty member's proposed disposition of the allegedly minor violation, the student may independently appeal the issue to the CAI.
• If the faculty member deems the alleged violation to be more serious, the faculty member will refer the matter to the CAI, normally within two weeks, giving reasons for the faculty member's belief that a violation has occurred. In that report, the faculty member may recommend a penalty. The faculty should make a reasonable effort to discuss the allegation directly with the student (i.e., give the student two weeks to respond to a message, etc.) before referring the matter to the CAI.

3. If a faculty member refers an alleged violation to the CAI, or if a student dissatisfied with the penalty imposed by a faculty member for an alleged minor violation appeals to the CAI, the CAI will promptly inform the student and the faculty member in writing, and will consult with them as to the necessity for or desirability of a hearing. If a hearing results from this consultation, the CAI will schedule one as soon as possible, normally within three to four weeks.

4. The CAI will establish its own procedures for the conduct of a hearing. No attorneys will be present for either party. The hearing process will continue even if a student elects to self-withdraw from Fielding Graduate University.

5.Following the hearing, or in the absence of one, the CAI will promptly decide whether the alleged violation has or has not occurred and will submit a written report of its findings to the student, the alleging faculty member, the student's Faculty Advisor, and the Provost, normally within three weeks. If it decides that a violation has occurred, the CAI will include in its report its decision of a penalty that it considers appropriate. This penalty may be the one recommended by the alleging faculty member or some other penalty in conformity with the disciplinary sanctions aforementioned. The CAI will also transmit the relevant files to the Provost.

6.If the CAI decides to impose a penalty (of whatever kind), the student, within a reasonable time, may appeal this decision to the Provost.

7.If the student appeals, the Provost may concur with the decision of the CAI, may choose to modify the decision, may dismiss the case, or may decide to remand the case to the CAI for further deliberations. In all actions by the Provost but the last, the case will be considered closed.

DEGREES AWARDED/REVOKED

If evidence arises that an academic degree was earned in violation of the Standards of Academic Honesty, a faculty member may recommend to the Provost that the degree be revoked. The Provost may then refer the matter to the CAI for its recommendation. If the CAI, after an appropriate hearing, recommends to the Provost that the degree be revoked, the Provost will forward his or her own recommendation to the President who, in turn, will forward his or her own recommendation to the Board of Trustees. The Board will have final authority in decisions regarding revocation of a degree.

PLAGIARISM PREVENTION

All academic work submitted to the faculty of Fielding Graduate University is subject to checking through Turnitin.com. The decision whether or not to submit such work for checking is in the discretion of the individual faculty member, and some may elect to not submit such student work. It is recommended for faculty who choose to regularly use this service, that their assessment guidelines and/or syllabi reflect this choice and duly inform students that they must provide electronic copies of their papers.

Any student who objects to such submissions and is subsequently accused of plagiarism based on a hard copy of their work, bears the responsibility for proposing an alternative means of verifying that their work is original work in a manner satisfactory to the faculty concerned/Academic Integrity Committee.

Students may also check their own work prior to submission to the faculty, if they so desire, either through their assessing faculty's account, or through the account of a faculty mentor/faculty advisor.

Related Policies

• Dissertation Research Assistance

Related Links (requires FELIX ID)

• General Information about Turnitin
• Resources for Students
• Resources for Faculty
• Turnitin Support
  
• FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions about Turnitin
  

Policy Revised 07/01/2007