Academic Integrity: Your Reputation, Your Responsibility

The College of Engineering takes academic integrity very seriously as integrity is one of the key values of our University. As a member of the College of Engineering community, you’re not just earning a degree, you’re joining a tradition of scholars who learn from and inspire one another. Protecting your academic reputation means committing to fairness, honesty, and responsibility in every class and situation.

It's important that you understand your obligation to maintain your personal academic integrity and report violations of the University's academic integrity policy when you see them.

Academic integrity is “the pursuit of scholarly activity in an open, honest and responsible manner” which includes “a commitment by all members of the University community not to engage in or tolerate acts of falsification, misrepresentation or deception.” (see Senate policy 49-20).

Senate Policy 43-00 requires course instructors to provide students with a course syllabus that includes the academic integrity policy for the course and provides a recommended syllabus statement. Educators can find customizable language around student’s use of AI in the ‘Faculty Resources’ section of the University’s Academic Integrity Resources page, and both students and educators can find helpful academic integrity resources, including FAQS, on this webpage.

When an educator believes, for reasons beyond mere suspicion, that a student has attempted to violate or has violated a course academic integrity policy or assessment instruction in a way that (would have) affected the quality of the academic work, then they should submit an academic integrity claim. Educators are strongly encouraged to make reasonable attempts to discuss the situation with the student before they submit.

Because academic integrity information may become part of a student's academic record and conduct record, educators should strive to keep such information confidential. Those with questions or educators seeking consultation may consult with their Academic Integrity Contact Person (follow the ‘Contacts’ link located near the top left corner of the page). Educators seeking consultation from administrators or colleagues should take care to protect the identities of those who are allegedly involved.

Graduate Student Academic Integrity Cases

For information about the academic integrity process for graduate students and for graduate classes, including the composition of the Graduate Academic Integrity Committee, policies, procedures, and sanctioning guidelines, see GCAC-805 Academic Integrity.

Undergraduate Student Academic Integrity Cases

For information about the academic integrity process for undergraduate students outside of graduate classes, see policy G-9 Academic Integrity and the Undergraduate Sanctioning Guidelines for Academic Integrity Violations. Schreyer honors students should also consult the Schreyer Honors College Student Handbook.

The descriptions below describe how the undergraduate academic integrity committee and associated cases are handled in the College of Engineering at University Park:

College Academic Integrity Committee Composition

The College of Engineering Academic Integrity Committee is composed of faculty member representatives from most of the engineering departments, staff who serve in a facilitator role as well as several undergraduate student representatives. Department heads help to nominate representatives from their departments. A staff member acts as the academic integrity administrator and may also serve as the facilitator and the Assistant Dean for Academic Support and Global Programs oversees the process for the college. The committee also has two co-Chairs (who each have significant experience on the committee) who address outcomes for students found responsible for multiple violations as well as cases which involve an XF.

An adjudication committee is convened as needed to review contested cases throughout the year by the academic integrity administrator. This adjudication committee is composed of:

A faculty chair of the committee (with many previous experiences serving as an academic integrity committee member) who is a voting member
At least one voting faculty representative
At least one voting undergraduate student representative
A facilitator (non-voting) to help with procedural questions
Additional non-voting attendees may include faculty or students who are training to join the committee and/or the Assistant Dean.

It is not the committee’s job to investigate cases. If the committee believes they have a clear indication of both sides of the situation from the documentation provided, they will proceed with the review and decision based only on the written statements and documentation.

Details on the undergraduate academic integrity claim review process undertaken by this committee can be found in the Procedures section of the G9 Policy.

Who to Contact if You Have Questions

Additional Penn State academic integrity resources including Frequently Asked Questions can be found at integrity.psu.edu/academic-integrity.

For questions or more information about academic integrity in the College of Engineering you can reach out to the administrator and Assistant Dean via email: academic-integrity@engr.psu.edu or 814-865-6674.

Additional Information

The following information is designed to complement university academic integrity policies; in no way does it supersede or replace that information.

For Students

An academic integrity violation is an intentional, unintentional, or attempted violation of course or assessment policies to gain an academic advantage or to advantage or disadvantage another student academically (policy G-9 Academic Integrity). It is a violation when the failure to follow course or assessment policies taints the instructor’s abilities to assign a grade on the merit of the work. This can be, for example, use of a prohibited aid, misrepresentation of one’s work, submission of false information, misuse of instructional content or even reuse of one’s own academic work. What qualifies as a violation, particularly as it relates to use of various tools such as artificial intelligence, depends on an instructor's course and assessment policies defined in the syllabus, which is required to have a statement regarding the instructor's course policy for academic integrity.

If you are unsure about what may or may not be construed as an academic integrity violation in a course, you should reach out to the instructor for clarity and you can also review the University’s Academic Integrity Orientation.

You are encouraged to review the procedures and sanctions related to the University's academic integrity policy - and work to maintain the highest level of integrity and expect the same from others.

For Faculty

Faculty are required to state their expectations for academic honesty as part of the grading policy in every course. Therefore, consistent with University policy, all course syllabi will be required to contain a statement on this topic (Senate Policy 43-00).

Faculty are also encouraged to list details on acceptable use or restrictions of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the course policies section of the syllabus. This Getting Started with AI website provides several resources for faculty regarding AI use in their courses. There are also AI icons which indicate what level of AI use is permitted on a particular assignment, ranging from “Allowed”, “Limited” to “Not Permitted” which can be used in Canvas.

If an instructor is unsure of what constitutes a violation of academic integrity, they can review the University’s Academic Integrity Orientation, which most students now complete during orientation. There is also a brief online class on “Academic Integrity at Penn State: Instructor” available through LRN. If there are still questions, you can reach out to academic-integrity@engr.psu.edu or 814-865-6674.

Instructors who suspect an academic integrity violation has occurred, must file a claim in the Digital Academic Integrity System (DAISY).