Tony Shurer Assistant Director Office of Student Conduct

Office of Student Conduct Academic Integrity Introduce yourself—Who are you? Introduce yourself, the Student Conduct Board, the Office of Student Conduct, etc. Educate the community about policy, rules, and expectations—both in and out of the classroom. Introduce the topic—What is this presentation about? Introduce the concept of academic honesty, the Code of Student Conduct, the University’s expectations for academic behavior, etc. Developing good, ethical patterns of decision making. Everything you do while in college is preparing you for whatever steps you will be taking when you graduate. Quick Visual: By show of hands—how many of you have personally witnessed acts of cheating in the classroom? … or know of such acts? We know that cheating exists—why do you think people cheat? Office of Student Conduct 300 Clark Hall studentconduct.ncsu.edu

Academic Integrity? WELCOME TO THE NCSU COMMUNITY! Introduce yourself—Who are you? Introduce yourself, the Student Conduct Board, the Office of Student Conduct, etc. Our job on campus is to educate the community about policy, rules, and expectations—both in and out of the classroom. Introduce the topic—What is this presentation about? -- ACADEMIC INTEGRITY This afternoon, we will focus on the rules of the classroom (rules for homework, rules for quizzes, rules for exams, research, and writing papers) We often use the phrase ACADEMIC INTEGRITY to describe this set of rules. You may have talked about academic integrity back home. Your friends may have tried to tell you about it. Your teachers will expect that you know all about academic integrity. This picture represents many words that people use at NC State when they try to talk about academic integrity. This is confusing. It can feel overwhelming, and this may be how you are feeling right now. I’d like to spend the next 10-15 minutes giving you a brief introduction on this topic. We won’t cover everything, but it should help to reduce the confusion, and it should help you understand why NC State takes this seriously.

Academic Integrity: Defined Academic Integrity is the greatest expectation for your behavior. These are two DEFAULT expectations: You must do your own work; Your academic work cannot be misleading or dishonest; no recycling papers, no forging documents, no falsifying data. Use quotation marks and citations. It’s important that we start with a common definition. First, academic integrity is an expectation. This is how your professor expects you to behave when working on homework, taking an exam, or writing a paper. There are two basic expectations—or default expectations. In most classrooms, you will be expected to work individually. You need to ask for permission before you can work with a partner. In all classrooms, your work must be HONEST. What does this mean? You need to ask for permission when using one paper for multiple classes Don’t forge documents Don’t present research data that doesn’t match the experiment. CITATIONS – You must give someone else credit for their work. We do this by using quotation marks and citations. We will come back to this in just a moment.

Why Do Students Cheat? They procrastinate. They panic. They lack confidence. They don’t realize they are cheating. They feel pressure to succeed. They think they can get away with it. They procrastinate They never had to study before They aren’t used to having hard deadlines They aren’t used to the distractions of college life They Panic They feel like it is their only option if they are going to succeed They would rather cheat then get a lower grade They lack confidence They were not well prepared in high school They don’t see themselves as being worthy of a good grade They don’t think they can learn enough to do well on their own [FOCUS] They don’t realize they are cheating – [BLUE HIGHLIGHTING] Everyone else appears to be doing it They were never informed that it was wrong Using the answer guide to do homework problems They feel pressure to succeed Pressure from Self, Family, Coaches. Financial pressure They think they can get away with it They’ve done it before, and they didn’t get caught.

Why Do Students Cheat? Cultural Transitions You may be entering NC State from another academic setting that held you to different behavioral standards. “Where I’m from, homework is not that big of a deal.” WHY DO STUDENTS CHEAT? LET’S FOCUS ON THE 4TH REASON: “THEY DON’T REALIZE THEY ARE CHEATING.” WE are not here because we think all international students are cheaters! We are here because we acknowledge that you are arriving at this University with different ideas about rules of the classroom. For example: “Homework is not that big of a deal.” Some students view homework as “trivial” Do not make this mistake! In the majority of your classes, you will be graded several times throughout the semester. This includes homework, quizzes, class attendance, and online discussions! REMEMBER: Academic Integrity policies apply to all graded assignments/exams/papers, etc. “During my undergraduate classes, we only took one exam at the end of the semester. There are no quizzes, and we weren’t graded on class attendance.”

Academic Misconduct: Plagiarism “Plagiarism is discussed in my home country, but there seems to be more focus on academic integrity at NC State.” What is Plagiarism? The NCSU Code of Student Conduct defines plagiarism as, “Submitting written materials without proper acknowledgment of the source.” You must cite the work of others. Use quotation marks, in-text references, and works-cited pages when appropriate. One of the most significant cultural transitions for our international students has to do with PLAGIARISM. Confusion with Introductions & Common Knowledge – You must let the reader know that you “borrowed” information from another source. This rule applies to the entire paper that you are writing. For example: some international students do not use quotation marks or citations when writing an introduction, because they believe the introduction is “common knowledge.” Do not make this mistake. If you have a question about “common knowledge” please speak with your professor. Confusion based on proficiency with the English Language. For example: for most international students, English is not their primary language. Some students “borrow” language from other sources because they believe they are not able to rephrase it any better. You are still required to use citations.

Academic Misconduct: Cheating Group Work vs. Individual Work Q: Can I work with a partner or a group of friends? A: It depends! Never assume that you have permission to work together. Q: Can I help my friend on this homework problem? A: It depends! Cheating is more than just copying from your neighbor’s exam. Common Pitfalls: Group work. REMEMBER—If you want to work with a partner, you must also ask permission. The default expectation is that you work individually. We meet with many students who give their completed homework to a friend—just because the want to be nice or helpful. These students often get in trouble because the friend steals the work. These students also get in trouble because the friend often shares the original work with other people. Be cautious about sending your work to a friend who asks to see it “just for reference.” Different professors may have different rules and expectations about group work. Remember to read the course syllabus!

Please ask us for help! Other common conversations: The student feels stress from school, outside employment, and from being away from home. The student is not organized. There are overlapping and competing deadlines. The student panics. The student did not read the syllabus. The student does not feel confident. The student steals answers from a roommate, from the internet, or from a solutions manual. Other common conversations: Please ask us for help!

Resources & Guidance Where can I find the rules? Other Resources? Professor/Faculty/Instructor—Course Syllabus Read the rules & follow the rules NCSU CODE OF STUDENT CONDUCT—Section 8 NCSU Office of Student Conduct 300 Clark Hall 919-515-2963 Other Resources? NCSU Counseling Center Undergraduate Tutorial Center: Writing & Speaking Support Graduate Thesis & Dissertation Support Services

Maintaining Your Integrity Know the rules! Plan ahead. Stay organized. Practice—do your homework! ASK QUESTIONS—talk to your professor, OIS, OSC Maintaining Your Integrity Not everyone that cheats is a “bad person.” Sometimes, great people make bad choices out of fear, panic, pressure, etc. Emphasize the point that students should try to avoid these satiations whenever possible. Know yourself! Are you a procrastinator? Panic? Stressed? Confident?