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.

According to Penn State University Faculty Senate Policy 49-20:

Academic integrity is the pursuit of scholarly activity in an open, honest and responsible manner. Academic integrity is a basic guiding principle for all academic activity at The Pennsylvania State University, and all members of the University community are expected to act in accordance with this principle. Consistent with this expectation, the University’s Code of Conduct states that all students should act with personal integrity, respect other students’ dignity, rights and property, and help create and maintain an environment in which all can succeed through the fruits of their efforts.

Moments of Temptation

It is natural to feel pressure, especially when an exam is coming up and you don’t feel prepared, or you’re exhausted while writing and forget where a source came from, or perhaps someone else’s words just seem to fit your needs and you aren’t sure how to make them your own. However, sharing answers during an exam or borrowing ideas without proper credit may seem like shortcuts, but they undermine your credibility and put your academic standing at risk.  Integrity isn’t just about following the rules, it’s about building trust, respect, and confidence in your work.

Academic Integrity Violation

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. 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 use of a prohibited aid, misrepresentation of one’s work, submission of false information, misuse of instructional content or even reuse of one’s 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, 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.

Academic Integrity Violation Process

The following is the typical process for review of an academic integrity case in the College of Engineering. 

• The instructor believes they have evidence that an academic integrity violation has occurred. 
• The student is notified of the allegation. This may initially be through direct communication with the instructor (email, or in person) or via the email generated through the University Academic Integrity Portal.  There are other implications, such as the student not being able to late drop or withdraw the course if there is an active claim, so the claim may be filed right away or if there is no response from the student. These are important outcomes to be aware of throughout this process.
  • If a student receives an academic sanction, they cannot drop or withdraw from the course at any time—any such action will be reversed. If the student drops the course after being informed of the allegation but before the process begins, they will be re-enrolled, and the process will continue.
  • Grade forgiveness cannot be applied to a course in which a student was found responsible for an academic integrity violation.
  • If a student is found responsible for an academic integrity violation, they are not eligible for Dean's list for that semester.
• Once the claim is filed, the student has 5 business days to respond.
  • The student can either accept or contest the claim as well as the proposed sanction.  If no action is taken by the student, the claim will be automatically accepted.
    • If the student contests, they will have the opportunity to provide their response and evidence towards the claim in the University Academic Integrity Portal.  The instructor is then given the opportunity to provide additional detail to support the claim, and the student will then have a final opportunity to respond.  Both the student and the faculty member have access to any information provided in the process. The case then goes on to the College Academic Integrity Committee which meets in a closed session and consists of a faculty member chair, another faculty member, at least one student, and a non-voting facilitator for review. It is not the committee’s job to investigate. 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.
      • The committee must make a determination based on the information provided to them in the University Academic Integrity Portal. The decision of the committee is final.
        • If the committee does not find the student responsible for the violation, the claim is withdrawn and the student and faculty member are notified of the outcome. The sanction will not be applied in this case and there is no permanent record of the claim.
        • If the committee finds the student responsible for the violation, and it is the student’s first violation, the student and faculty member are notified, and the sanction will be applied. The case is also filed with the Office of Student Accountability and Conduct Response (OSACR).
    • If the student accepts or doesn’t respond to the claim, and it is the student’s first violation, the student and faculty member are notified, and the sanction will be applied. The case is also filed with the Office of Student Accountability and Conduct Response.
  • If the student has a prior violation, the case goes on to a co-Chair review in the College of Engineering and additional sanctions/disciplinary outcomes (such as completing an AI module or being put on warning, probation, suspension, or dismissal from the program) will be recommended, depending on the severity of the past and current violation(s), before being filed with OSACR.

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

For more information about academic integrity in the College of Engineering, contact the Office of Academic Support at academic-integrity@engr.psu.edu or 814-865-6674.