Academic Integrity: Making the Contract Explicit^[1]

Donna Bowman

Assistant Professor of Religious Studies

Honors College

University of Central Arkansas

Conway, AR 72035

donnab@mail.uca.edu

Through a lifelong process of self-discovery, an important part of which has taken place here at the Honors College, I have come to understand that the virtue I value above all others is honesty. Academia shares this view. Since the academic institution is simultaneously a factory for the manufacture of ideas and a guildhall lfor the training of idea-makers, and since ideas are much more difficult to tag, label, own, and keep track of than physical property, academia insists on strict standards of honesty to properly assign credit and blame for success and failure at its tasks.

There are plenty of “real world” examples to demonstrate the importance of actually doing the work that one contracts to do in the academic setting. Clearly, none of us would want to be treated by a doctor who didn’t do her coursework. None of us would want to be represented by a lawyer who copied his answers from his neighbor at the bar exam. In the real world, we know, there are no shortcuts to doing the work.

But to many students, we’re not in the real world, and whether or not you get some help on your term paper isn’t going to kill anyone. Honors students are clearly capable of doing everything asked of them at UCA, and of doing it with excellence. To them-- to you -- a shortcut is justifiable because you don’t have time to write or read every word yourself. You could, of course, but there are so many other pressures on your time -- so many classes where there are no available shortcuts. This is one class out of many, and I have no illusions that it’s the most important class in the semester for most of you. So what difference does it make if you violate the principles of academic integrity?

First of all, in this class we are not merely (or even principally) transmitting information to you --information you could tell yourself you’ll get later. We’re practicing the process of producing ideas through reading, thinking, talking, and writing. If we don’t learn to do it here, we won’t do it when we get out of here and enter the world where we will be expected to do it on our own. If we take shortcuts here, we won’t know how not to take shortcuts in the real world. Even more important, the minimal reason we’re going through this exercise is to practice these processes. (That’s “practice” in the sense of “practicing the piano” as well as in the sense of “practicing a craft”; it’s both honing our skills and simply what we do.) Cheating -- not performing the tasks you’re here to practice -- turns the class into something other than practice: a way to get an A to keep your scholarship, a way to impress teachers or parents, three credit hours closer to graduation.

As the creator and administrator of this class, I have the right (within the bounds of academic tradition) to define the purpose and nature of the class. I hereby declare that the class is nothing less than the practicing of these processes. It may be more, to some students; it may be the transmission of important or interesting ideas, or an opportunity for discovery of self or others, or avenue for flexing your intellectual muscles. But it cannot be less; it cannot be merely the pursuit of an A or credit hours or the approval of authorities.

By taking this class, or any class at the university, you are implicitly agreeing to certain expectations of you, and you are signaling to your instructor that you have certain expectations of her. Following through on these expectations is what we mean by “academic integrity.” Let’s enumerate the requirements for each of us in the various areas of the course.

I. Preparation for Class

What academic integrity requires of me in this area:

I must prepare by doing what is necessary to make the class a worthwhile educational experience for you. This requires that I:

· reread the text,

· make new notes or outlines (even if I have taught the material many times before), and

· plan the session so it will make it worth your while to be there.

What academic integrity requires of you in this area:

You have a responsibility to yourself, to me, and to the other students to do what is necessary to be prepared to make fruitful contributions to class discussion. This requires that you:

· read the text,

· clarify anything you’re unsure of (including looking up words you don’t understand)

· make notes or outlines as necessary to help you thoroughly absorb the material, and

· formulate questions to ask in class.

II.In Class

What academic integrity requires of me in this area:

I must take you seriously and treat you with respect. This requires that I:

· show up for all class sessions, unless I’m simply unable to do so,

· come to class on time, and not leave early,

· not waste class time, but use it to fulfill the objectives of the course,

· do my best to answer your questions,

· honestly acknowledge when I don’t have an answer or don’t know something, and suggest a remedy for our mutual ignorance,

· encourage you and give you an equal opportunity to participate in class discussions,

· contain you if your enthusiasm for participating in class discussions makes it difficult for others to participate,

· assume that you are prepared for class and that I won’t embarrass you if I call on you, even if your hand isn’t up,

· respect the views you express and not make fun of you or them,^[2]

· not allow others to ridicule you or your ideas, or you to do the same to them,

· make clear when I am expressing an opinion (which may or may not be my own), and not impose on you my views on controversial issues, and

· correct errors of fact and interpretation that arise in class, as my training and experience allows.

What academic integrity requires of you in this area:

You must take both me and your fellow students seriously and treat us with respect. This requires that you:

· show up for all class sessions, unless you are simply unable to do so,

· come to class on time and not leave early,

· make good use of class time by being engaged in what’s going on,

· ask questions about anything you don’t understand,

· contribute your thinking to the shared effort to develop understanding and insight (remembering that even a thought that’s offbase can stimulate an idea in another student),

· monitor your own participation so as to allow for and encourage the participation of others,

· respect the other students by not making fun of them or their ideas, and by not holding side-conversations that distract them (and me) from the class discussion.

III. With Regard to Group Projects

What academic integrity requires of me in this area:

I must create opportunities for you to develop your collaborative skills within the objectives of the course. This requires that I:

· assign tasks that give you the chance to work with fellow students on meaningful projects,

· whether groups are chosen by you or assigned by me, provide the proper incentives so that all group members will pull their weight,

· intervene in group conflicts only when asked to do so by a group member, and only when my intervention is necessary,

· provide appropriate help in identifying resources for your research or direction for your presentation, when asked, and

· when you are leading the class, make sure other students give you the same attention and respect that I require for myself.

What academic integrity requires of you in this area:

· contribute your share of the work,

· manage the group’s time so that you can complete your work by the due date,

· meet regularly as needed outside of class time, via e-mail, or in any other way necessary to complete the project,

· come to me with problems in the group when they prove intractable, but before it would be too late for my intervention to keep the project on track,

· plan your presentation thoroughly ahead of time,

· use appropriate props and teaching aids,

· present your research so that you teach the other students something (this requires organization and practice), and

· evaluate yourself and the other group members honestly.

IV. With Regard to Written Assignments

What academic integrity requires of me in this area:

I must:

· devise meaningful assignments that grow out of and further the work done in the classroom,

· provide you with a clear description of the assignment so that you know what is expected of you and what I’ll be looking for when I grade it,

· give due and careful consideration to your paper when evaluating it and assigning and grade, and

· confront you if I suspect you have plagiarized or in other ways not handed in work that is entirely your own.

What academic integrity requires of you in this area:

You must:

· start your research and writing early enough to ensure that you have the time you need to do your best work,

· hand in a paper which you yourself have written specifically for this course and not borrowed from someone else or recycled from an earlier course,

· not be satisfied with a paper that is less than your best work,

· seek only appropriate help from others (such as proofreading or discussing your ideas with others to gain clarity in your thinking), and

· give full and proper credit to your sources.

This last point applies to both of us, and it deserves a further explanation, since it is one of the most troublesome and misunderstood elements of academic integrity.

By its very nature, education and the accumulation of knowledge is a shared enterprise. None of us has the time, let alone the background knowledge that would be required, to learn everything on our own, from scratch. Virtually everything we know has come to us because someone else has taken the time to think about something, research it, and then share what he’s learned with us in a class lecture, or, more likely, in an article or book. This is every bit as true for me as a teacher as it is for you as students. I’d have very little to teach if all I could talk about is what I’ve learned solely on my own.

In a class lecture it would be too disruptive if I stopped to cite all my sources (although some professors do make an effort to provide a bibliography for lectures), but I know, and you need to know, that I am sharing with you the things I’ve learned from hundreds of different authors and dozens of teachers and colleagues. What I contribute is the way I bring their ideas together into a coherent whole so that it makes sense to you.

If this is true for me, it’s even more true for you. I have many more years of education and reading behind me than you do. I don’t expect you to do original research. Instead, I expect you to read about the research of others, and to bring together their ideas in a way that makes sense to you and will make sense to me. Therefore, it’s essential for you to cite your sources in any research paper you write. The academic reasons for doing so are to give credit to those who have done their original research and written the articles and books you used, and to allow me to look at them if I need to find out whether you have properly understood what the author was trying to say.

But at a practical level, citing your sources is a way to show that you’ve done the assignment. If your paper contains no citations, the implication is that you have done a piece of original research. That wasn’t the assignment. Citations (along with a bibliography) show that you have consulted a variety of resources as the assignment required. They’re also an acknowledgement of your indebtedness to those authors.

Honors students fall victim to two extreme problems with citations. On the one hand, they want to be original, and feel that a paper peppered with citations diminishes their contribution. On the other hand, they fear their own ideas being criticized, and want to hide behind the statements of published authorities to avoid saying anything that could be disputed. Finding your way between these extremes is part of learning to be a scholar.

V. With Regard to Your Final Grade

What academic integrity requires of me in this area:

I must carefully weigh all of your work during the course, as well as the other factors that affect the final grade as spelled out in the syllabus, before assigning a final grade.

What academic integrity requires of you in this area:

If you feel I’ve made a mistake in computing your grade, you have a responsibility to come to me as soon as possible prepared to show why you think I’ve made a mistake.

VI. Failure to Live Up to Our Responsibilities

In all of the areas listed above, I will do my best to live up to my responsibilities. If you feel I’ve failed to do so, you have every right to call me on it. If you do, I have a responsibility to give you respectful consideration. If you feel that I do not do these things, you have the right (and I would say the responsibility) to bring this to the attention of the Director of the Honors College.

At the same time, I have a right to expect that you will live up to your responsibilities. If I feel that you are not doing so, I consider it a matter of my academic integrity that I call you on it.

Indeed, in certain circumstances (such as cheating or plagiarism), I may be required to charge you with a violation of the code of conduct found in the Student Handbook. The University is committed to academic integrity, too, just as I am, and just as the Honors College is.

You should familiarize yourself with the definition of academic misconduct and procedures related to charges of academic misconduct found on page 27 and following of the Student Handbook. Be sure to notice that there are procedures in place to protect your rights. But those procedures might also result in one or another sanction being imposed on you if you’re found guilty of violating the code.

Which brings me to the most difficult question with regard to academic integrity: what if you become aware of a fellow classmate who is not living up to these principles, but you don’t think I’m aware of it? What should you do? I’ll give you an answer, but I acknowledge up front that it’s not an easy answer. I hope that you would at least consider it and grapple with it if this situation ever confronts you (and it’s not unlikely). The answer is that you should say something to the student, and, in the worst case scenario, you should tell me.

Why? If you’ve read this document carefully, you will have noticed that academic integrity reflects a situation of mutual dependence -- students upon teachers, teachers upon students, students upon each other. The success of our individual efforts in this course depend on all of us conscientiously exercising our rights and living up to our responsibilities. And the failure of any of us – even just one of us -- to do what is required will diminish, however slightly, the opportunity for the rest of us to achieve our goals. I’m sure you’ve been in classes that proved this point. The abdication of rights and responsibilities by students or teachers -- anyone acting like they have not, in fact, entered into this contract I’ve described -- subtly poisons the atmosphere of the class and diminishes the meaning of adhering to the contract for everyone else.

That’s why it is essential for all of us in this class to practice academic integrity, in both senses of the word “practice.” Practice (in the sense of regularized training of skills) today will lay a solid foundation for practice (in the sense of daily employment of acquired skills) tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that, so that through daily practice integrity will come to be woven throughout the fabric of our lives, and thus through at least our portion of the fabric of society.

Note: Permission is granted to use any or all of the material in this letter in any way that is consistent with its purpose of promoting academic integrity. Please give primary credit to:

William M. Taylor

Oakton Community College

Des Plaines, IL 60016

btaylor@oakton.edu

Please give secondary credit (for modifications) to:

Donna Bowman

Honors College

University of Central Arkansas

Conway, AR 72035-5000

donnab@mail.uca.edu

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[1] Many ideas, and much of the language, in thisdocument are derived from ÒIntegrity: Academic and Political: A Letter to MyStudents,Ó by Bill Taylor, Oakton Community College, linked on the Center forAcademic Integrity website (http://www.academicintegrity.org/resources_inst.asp). In particular, the lists of requirements and the explanation ofplagiarism are based on TaylorÕs enumerations, though I have modified themslightly.

[2] You will find that my teaching style sometimesverges on confrontational; I will often engaged in spirited discussion withstudents, and openly challenge their ideas. If you ever feel that I have gone beyond the boundaries ofpassionate exchange and have treated you with disrespect, please tell me inwhatever way will let us proceed in comfort, whether that be personally, bye-mail, anonymously, through a friend, or however you like.