Student Academic Integrity Policy
Latest Amendment/Approval Date: March 2021
1. Purpose
1.1.This document states Campion College’s commitment to academic integrity in all assessed and non-assessed scholarly work carried out by its students.
1.2.The purpose of this policy is to provide a transparent process for detecting and handling allegations of academic misconduct by students enrolled in Campion’s courses.
1.3.This mirrors the College’s support for research and scholarship conducted by academic staff that is conducted according to professional community standards of conduct and quality.
2. Definitions
2.1. For the purpose of this policy, the following definitions apply:
Academic Integrity means, as according to the Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2015, ‘the moral code of academia. It involves using, generating and communicating information in an ethical, honest and responsible manner’.
Academic Misconduct means obtaining academic advantage for oneself or for others by dishonest or unfair means. It refers to a breach of academic integrity.
Plagiarism means the use of someone else’s ideas and/or words as if they were one’s own. It is one form of academic misconduct. It may take the minor form of a non-deliberate omission of references or poor paraphrasing. It may also take the major form of a deliberate effort to draw upon unacknowledged sources in such a way as to pass off intellectual content and phrasing as one’s own.
Collusion means conspiring with another student to pass someone else’s work off as one’s own. It refers to students sharing or using assignments; lending assignments to one another for the purpose of copying; acquiring an assignment from someone else in order to plagiarise it; offering to complete another student’s work.
Assessment means the process whereby student competency is determined, feedback is given to students on their progress and grades are awarded. Assessment is an overarching term and includes things such as tests, essays, papers, examinations, reports, exhibitions, performances, presentations, demonstrations and other work whether written or otherwise.
Contract Cheating means, as according to the TEQSA Good Practice Note: Addressing Contract Cheating to Safeguard Academic Integrity (October 2017 ), ‘when students employ or use a third party to undertake their assessed work for them’.
3. Scope
3.1. This policy applies, without exclusion or exemption, to all students enrolled in Campion’s courses.
4. Principles
4.1 These general principles apply to the use of the policy within the College:
a) Campion College is committed to promoting a culture of academic integrity in which students and all staff appreciate and understand the value of research and scholarly activity that enriches the mind and benefits one’s community.
b) Plagiarism, contract cheating, collusion, or any other form of academic dishonesty does not promote such a culture and is therefore not tolerated at Campion College.
c) Acknowledging the work of others is essential in all forms of research and scholarship and is a demonstration of one’s respect for other scholars and writers.
d) Teaching and encouraging acceptable forms of acknowledgement for others’ works is an important part of the objectives of the College.
e) Students are encouraged to study together, share ideas and compare notes, as long as appropriate standards of academic integrity are maintained.
f) Campion College trusts its faculty, due to their experience and expertise, to provide appropriate assessment minimising the potential of academic misconduct, to detect acts of plagiarism and academic misconduct as far as is possible, and to report such cases to the Dean of Studies.
5. Policy
5.1 Fostering Academic Integrity
Promoting a culture in which academic integrity is valued by all staff and students is an essential component of combatting misconduct. Campion College’s approach to the promotion of such a culture is based on the following strategies:
a) Establishing a formal institutional approach through a policy framework in this area available to all students and staff.
b) Setting clear expectations with commencing students during Orientation Week, exam periods and at other peak assessment periods during the semester.
c) Educating commencing students on the value of an ethical approach to scholarship through Study Skills workshops, an Essay Writing Guide and a Referencing Guide, as well as the bridging unit, STU101: Study Skills.
d) Educating and reminding all students of the College’s expectations that written assignments adhere to appropriate methods of referencing and acknowledging one’s sources.
e) Encouraging student leaders and senior mentors to communicate to discuss academic integrity with commencing students.
f) Ensuring that academics design an assessment which encourages independent research and original responses to questions.
g) Reminding academics, through orientation and regular faculty meetings, of their responsibility to carefully monitor student submissions and report any cases of alleged academic misconduct.
5.2 Assessment Tasks
In accordance with Item 5.1.f, the following steps are encouraged among academics when designing assessment tasks:
a) Assessment tasks must be designed in such a way that minimises opportunities for plagiarism or academic misconduct.
b) Assessment tasks may be renewed and changed regularly to prevent plagiarism or collusion among students across year cohorts, and to avoid any students gaining an unfair advantage.
c) Examination questions must not be re-used except where the academic is satisfied that academic integrity will not be jeopardised and no student will have an unfair advantage.
5.3 Detecting and Reporting Plagiarism
5.3.1 It is the duty of academics to be vigilant when assessing written tasks submitted by students. Marking criteria, distributed to all students either in unit outlines or by other means, and adhered to strictly by academics, must ensure (wherever appropriate) that:
a) Well-referenced assignments demonstrating the use of a variety of appropriate sources will be rewarded.
b) Language and structure that is consistent and coherent and clearly original, will be rewarded.
c) Assignments that have previously been submitted will not be given credit.
d) Assignments that show signs of plagiarism, collusion or dishonesty, will not be given credit.
5.3.2 Where academics become aware of a potential case of academic misconduct, they must investigate the matter further through a web search and/or search of relevant books and journals.
5.3.3 Where academics are confident that there has been a breach of academic integrity, they must report the allegation, with evidence, to the Dean of Studies for further assessment. A subsequent consultation with the student is carried out prior to reaching a resolution (See CCA Student Misconduct Procedures)
5.4 Breaches of Academic Integrity
There are two levels of academic misconduct. The following accounts for the seriousness of the breach and the possible corresponding penalties. All determinations relating to the seriousness of the breach are made by the Dean of Studies in consultation with the Associate Dean of Studies and the investigating officer, if one was appointed, and in accordance with the process set out in the CCA Student Misconduct Procedures.
5.4.1 Level One Academic Integrity Breach
a) Breaches of academic integrity at this level are at a low level. Examples are:
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- Inadequate referencing
- Poor acknowledgement of sources
- Poor paraphrasing
b) Such cases, while minor, must be dealt with formally to ensure that the student understands the seriousness of the issue.
c) Such cases are likely to occur among commencing students, unaccustomed to academic expectations, even if they have been educated about the College’s culture of academic integrity. For such first-time offenders, one or more of the following penalties may be applied:
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- formal written reprimand and warning
- resubmission
- attendance at the Learning Centre to conduct remedial work on referencing
- attendance at a workshop on academic integrity
- reduction in marks in the assessment item
d) Breaches at this level by a senior student (second or third year of undergraduate study) will be viewed more seriously and may incur a significant deduction of marks.
e) Breaches at this level do not include misconduct in examinations.
5.4.2 Level Two Academic Misconduct (Serious Misconduct)
a) Breaches of academic integrity at this level are considered serious. Examples are:
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- Deliberate Plagiarism: quoting directly from another source without acknowledgement.
- Collusion.
- Contract cheating
- Cheating of any type in exams, such as copying from another student, talking or exchanging information during an exam, using impermissible materials during an exam, attempting to acquire information through any means during exam toilet breaks.
- Repeated Level One breaches.
b) For such cases, one or more of the following penalties may be applied:
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- formal reprimand and warning
- reduction in marks in the assessment item
- a fail grade for the unit to which the breach relates
- suspension from the College for a period not exceeding two weeks (ten working days)
- attendance at the Learning Centre to conduct remedial work on referencing
- attendance at a workshop on academic integrity
c) Repeated Level Two breaches may result in further application of the above penalties and Exclusion.
d) In cases where a student is in breach of academic integrity due to acts involving or resembling criminal activity, such a student will receive a fail grade for the unit and may be excluded from the College for a period of up to 24 months. Examples of such activity include falsification or forgery of College documents, theft of examination papers, bribery, sabotaging another students’ work.
6. Roles and Responsibilities
6.1. All students have the following responsibilities:
a) To declare that their written assessment items are their own by signing such a declaration on the cover sheets of their submitted works;
b) To ensure that their work is correctly referenced prior to submission;
c) To report any cases of misconduct of which they may become aware.
6.2 All staff (academic and professional) have the following responsibility: When made aware of alleged academic misconduct, all staff are obliged to report such cases to the Dean of Studies.
6.3 All academic staff have the following responsibilities:
a) To implement teaching strategies which support development of Academic Integrity.
b) To check for cases of academic misconduct and reporting cases to the Dean of Studies.
c) To reward students for appropriate referencing and acknowledgement of sources.
d) To investigate cases of alleged academic misconduct, if requested by the Dean of Studies to be an Investigating Officer in such circumstances (as according to the CCA Student Misconduct Procedures).
6.4 The Dean of Studies has the following responsibilities:
a) To develop and support academic integrity amongst the staff and students;
b) To monitor the implementation of this policy;
c) To appoint an Investigating Officer, if required, for cases of alleged misconduct;
d) To consult the Associate Dean of Studies and relevant academics when assessing an allegation of misconduct;
e) To report, at the end of the academic year, all misconduct investigations to the Academic Board.
7. References
7.1 This policy has been benchmarked against:
a) Avondale College Academic Integrity Policy for its concision and directness
b) The University of Sydney Academic Honesty in Coursework Policy for its comprehensiveness
c) The University of Notre Dame Student Academic Integrity Policy for its focus on teaching and learning, which matches the purpose of Campion’s policy.
7.2 TEQSA Good Practice Note: Addressing Contract Cheating to Safeguard Academic Integrity, October 2017
7.3 TEQSA Guidance Note: Academic Integrity ver1.2, 28 March 2019
7.4 TEQSA, Protecting Academic Integrity, 2021. URL:https://www.teqsa.gov.au/protectingacademic-integrity