Academic Catalog
Appeals & Academic Integrity
Academic Integrity Policy
Academic integrity is fundamental to every facet of the scholarly process and is expected of every student at TUS in all academic undertakings. Integrity involves strict adherence to academic honesty and ethical conduct consistent with values based on standards that respect the intellectual efforts of both students and others.
Ensuring integrity in academic work is a joint enterprise involving both faculty and students. Among the most important goals of higher education are maintaining an environment of academic integrity and instilling in students a lifelong commitment to academic honesty that is fundamental to good scholarship. These goals are best achieved because of effective dialogue between students and teaching faculty regarding academic integrity and by the examples of members of the academic community whose intellectual accomplishments demonstrate sensitivity to the nuances of ethical conduct in scholarly work.
TUS encourages collaborative discussion and solicitation of feedback among students, faculty and outside experts. However, written assignments including the dissertation and applied doctoral project are required to be performed independently. It is expected that students will conduct their own independent research and the writing or calculations that are completed are the original work of the student. If an assignment or essay is permitted for group authorship it will be defined as such.
Violations of academic integrity include whenever a student engages in any action that jeopardizes the integrity of scholarly work. This includes cheating on any examination; plagiarism; misuse or fabrication of data to draw conclusions that may not be warranted by the evidence; omission or concealment of conflicting data for the purpose of misleading other scholars; paraphrasing or
summarizing another’s material in a way to misrepresent the author’s intentions, and the use of privileged material or unpublished work without permission. The unauthorized sharing of coursework, examination information, or research results with another student is also a violation of academic integrity and is punishable in the same manner as plagiarism.
Plagiarism & Using Sources
Plagiarism is the most common form of violation of the standards of academic integrity. For the purposes of academic work submitted as a student of TUS, plagiarism is defined as (intentionally or unintentionally) submitting work, ideas, or writings of someone else without adequately providing credit in the form of a citation. An act of plagiarism is not just limited to direct copying of someone else’s work and submitting it as original work, it also includes using a combination of information from multiple sources, and changing a few words without adequate citation.
Generally, “common knowledge” is the only source material that can be reproduced in essays without citation. If unsure if a source of information is considered to be common knowledge, it is better to err on the side of safety and cite the source. If a students’ writings are significantly influenced by collaboration or class discussions, it is also appropriate to include a footnote in the paper disclosing the source.
For any questions about academic integrity or plagiarism, or when in doubt about whether it is appropriate to collaborate on work for any course, students should always consult with the faculty member for clarification.
Consequences of Violations of Academic Integrity
In some cases, a student may legitimately be unaware that they have committed an act of academic misconduct. If a faculty member suspects that an unintentional violation has occurred, they will be notified in writing and offered corrective action. The student will be given a reasonable opportunity to provide a written explanation of the student’s action. The student will be monitored for future offenses. If a faculty member believes a student has committed an intentional or repeated violation of standards of academic integrity, the current course grade will be suspended and the matter will be referred to the academic review committee (ARC) for investigation. ARC will collect relevant information and review the issue at the earliest possible convenience. A summary will be provided for evaluation and ruling by the program dean and/or the chief academic officer. Violating standards of academic integrity is a serious offense that may result in the failure in a course or dismissal from TUS altogether.
Appeal Process
The student has the right to appeal the decision of the ARC to the president. The president will review all of the evidence available to the ARC. The president may seek any new or additional information from the student. The president will then render a decision. That decision may uphold decision of the ARC, or may nullify the decision of the ARC. If the president chooses to nullify the decision, the president may exonerate the student or impose a lesser or harsher penalty. The decision of the president is final.
If it is determined that the student committed academic dishonesty, the decision will be noted in the student’s academic record.