A cornerstone of academia is a commitment to academic integrity. In a scholarly community, the importance of having respect for one’s own work and the work of others is essential; building a sense of trust among members of such a community is crucial as individuals create, share, and apply scholarly work. The importance of academic integrity is heightened within a Christian community of scholars in that we are also accountable to God for any behaviors of a dishonest nature. In consultation with administrators, faculty and students, Eastern Nazarene College has set forth basic standards of academic integrity.
While it is not prudent or practical to attempt to specify an exhaustive list of unacceptable behaviors related to academic integrity, examples of unacceptable behavior include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Cheating (e.g., using any unauthorized materials, sources, or technologies to complete a submission, allowing other students to submit your work under their name, changing responses on an exam after it has been graded, etc.).
- Plagiarism, which is presenting the work of others (including generative artificial intelligence or other technologies) as your own, either directly or by implication (e.g., not giving credit to the original source for any thoughts, ideas, quotations, charts, etc. included in one’s own work, etc.).
- Falsifying information (e.g., reporting of undocumented data, fabricating a set of data, fabricating volunteer hours required for a course, etc.).
- Stealing and/or distributing exams which have not been authorized for release or otherwise taking advantage of dishonest behavior for the purpose of gaining an unfair academic advantage.
Policy:
- At Eastern Nazarene College, integrity and honesty are expected and required in all activities associated in any way with academic course work.
- The basic standards of academic integrity are to be presented during new student orientation, included in syllabi, and discussed at the beginning of each course.
- Faculty who identify serious instances of academic dishonesty are required to report them to the Registrar immediately, but no later than two weeks after the due-date for grades to be submitted. (Serious instances are defined as cases where the faculty member concludes that the student’s grade will be negatively impacted by their assessment of dishonesty.)
- The Registrar will indicate to the faculty member if this is a first offense, which means that the consequence is in the hands of the professor and will not exceed an F in the course.
- If this is not the first offense, the report will be evaluated by the Academic Standing Committee in conversation with the faculty member. Consequences can extend to expulsion from the College.
- Students can appeal this decision in writing to the Provost and Dean of the College no later than two weeks after being informed of the consequences of the offense by the faculty member or Academic Standing Committee. The Provost and Dean of the College will make a final decision in consultation with the faculty member and/or Academic Standing Committee no later than two weeks after receiving the student’s appeal.
