Academic Integrity Policy
North Greenville University is committed to the pursuit of Academic Excellence. As one of our core values, academic excellence is a primary way that we seek to prepare transformational leaders for church and society. Rooted in our commitment to truth, integrity, and the development of student flourishing, academic integrity is central to the pursuit of academic excellence. This policy outlines the expectations for students at NGU, emphasizing the importance of honesty, accountability, and creativity of the student work. Students are expected to submit their own work, give proper citation for the work of others (including but not limited to the use of artificial intelligence assisted and/or generated content), and follow any specific guidelines in the course syllabus.
The North Greenville University Academic Integrity Policy addresses instances of academic dishonesty including plagiarism, the use of Artificial Intelligence, cheating, and other forms of academic dishonesty as described below. North Greenville University expects students to maintain academic integrity, and consequences of a violation of the academic integrity policy are addressed below in the penalties portion of the policy.
I. Definitions of Academic Dishonesty
Academic dishonesty is defined as a lack of integrity exhibited through plagiarism, lying, cheating, defrauding, or deceiving. Some examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 1) Possessing and/or distributing course materials that a faculty member did not authorize; this includes both providing and/or accepting such materials, 2) Lying, by any means, on written documents, academic work, university forms, or lying verbally, etc., 3) Copying another student’s work or collaborating on assignments leading to shared work unless expressly instructed by a faculty member for that purpose for their class, 4) Allowing one’s own work to be copied, and 5) Using artificial intelligence as outlined below.
Violations of this policy would include but are not limited to
a. Plagiarism
Plagiarism is using the intellectual property (e.g., creative content, books, articles, artwork, musical compositions, movies, drawings, ideas, photos, assignments, and/or papers) of others, regardless of intent, without proper citation, thereby giving the impression that it is the student’s own work. Examples of plagiarism include but are not limited to
i. Using data, words, thoughts, ideas, outlines, or logic of another source without proper citation, whether in whole, in part, in paraphrase, or in summary.
ii. Revising the source by inserting a few synonyms in sentences and/or reordering phrases without changing words.
iii. Self-plagiarizing, including copy/pasting sections of a student’s previous work without the permission of the instructor. If permission is granted, the student must still cite the previous work.
b. Cheating
Unauthorized aid or assistance or the giving or receiving of unfair advantage on any form of academic work. This includes but is not limited to
i. Copying from another student’s paper or computer screen.
ii. Receiving unauthorized assistance during a quiz or examination, using books, notes, or other devices when these are not authorized.
iii. Improperly obtaining tests or examinations, collaborating on academic work without authorization and/or without truthful disclosure of the extent of that collaboration.
iv. Compensating others to complete your work.
v. Subscribing to or using sources that complete assignments or take online courses on behalf of the student.
c. Falsification/Fabrication (Lying)
Any untrue statement, either spoken or written, regarding any circumstance related to academic work or course enrollment. This includes but is not limited to
i. Falsely making, altering, or imitating objects, statistics, signatures, or documents.
ii. Any untrue statements made about a suspected academic integrity violation.
d. Use of Artificial Intelligence
Definition of Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a tool that can be a valuable resource to aid in the understanding of material in courses. Currently, there are generally two types of AI: Assistive AI and Generative AI. Assistive AI is a tool designed to help users by providing suggestions on grammar, spelling, punctuation, style, and clarity in their writing. Its primary function is to enhance the quality of written communication, making it easier for individuals to express themselves clearly and effectively. Generative AI is a tool that can produce new content, outlines, sections of text, visual images, musical compositions, solve math problems, and answer questions in the form of chatbots, etc. from prompts. Assistive AI generally modifies user submitted content while Generative AI generates native content for the user.
Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence
The use of AI to generate or assist in the completion, in whole or in part, of assessments including assignments, papers, quizzes, tests, presentations, debates, discussions, homework, artwork, musical compositions, or any other form of assigned academic work,
is strictly prohibited unless permitted in writing in the specific course syllabus. Faculty members may allow students to use Assistive AI or Generative AI in their course. The use of such AI tools is limited to the course and assignment(s) that the faculty member has indicated. Furthermore, any faculty-permitted use of AI requires proper citation of the AI tool to avoid breach of this policy. The student is responsible for confirming faculty permission to use AI for assignments.
Using AI as a personal tool to help students study, define concepts, provide examples, and explore the subject more deeply can be beneficial if used in a responsible manner and in a way that does not violate the academic integrity policy. However, it is important to note that the use of AI is not without error. Generative AI may “hallucinate” content (e.g. create incorrect content) or display bias in ways that may not be obvious, so students should critically evaluate the content produced by AI. The user is responsible for verifying the veracity of the content and sources provided by AI.
Violations of the NGU Academic Integrity Policy Through Use of AI
NGU values originality and expects students to submit their own work. Using Assistive or Generative AI to produce student work undermines the academic processes of creative thinking, resource synthesis and analysis, and critical thinking. If a student violates the Academic Integrity Policy by inappropriately using AI in their work, they will be subject to the appropriate consequence as outlined in the penalty section below. The results of AI detectors should not be determinative for a violation of this policy.
e. Violation Attempts
Regardless of whether a student succeeds, attempting any act, which if completed would constitute a violation of this policy, is a violation of this policy. In other words, it does not matter if a student succeeds in carrying out any of the above violations – the fact that a violation was attempted is itself a violation of academic integrity.
f. Violation Assistance
Knowingly helping or attempting to help someone else in an act that constitutes an academic integrity violation is also a violation of this policy. Examples of this include knowingly allowing another to copy answers during an examination or quiz, distributing test questions or examination material without permission from the faculty member teaching the course, or collaborating on academic work without authorization and/or without truthful disclosure of the extent of that collaboration.
II. Procedure for Determining Violations of this Policy
For all suspected violations, the faculty member will conduct an investigation and notify the student accordingly. If the faculty member determines the student violated this policy, they will notify their department chair/associate dean.
The department chair/associate dean will contact the Office of Academic Administration (OAA) to determine prior student violations of this policy. After notification from the OAA, the faculty member and department chair/associate dean will complete an Academic Dishonesty Notice, which includes the assignment of a penalty commensurate with the offense. The department chair/associate dean then documents the penalties by emailing the Academic Dishonesty Notice to the student and the OAA. The Dean, Associate Provosts, and Provost should not be included in this email.
If the offense also constitutes a violation of the NGU Student Handbook, the department chair/associate dean will send the Academic Dishonesty Notice to Campus Ministries and Student Engagement (CMSE, VP of Student Flourishing). If the student is a student-athlete, the department chair/associate dean will send the Academic Dishonesty Notice to Athletics (Associate Athletic Director).
III. Penalties for Violations of the Academic Integrity Policy
For violations of the academic integrity policy as defined above, the faculty member will assign a penalty commensurate with the offense. Students should expect increasingly severe penalties for repeated violations of this policy.
a. Penalties include, but are not limited to
• Assigning a percentage reduction for the assignment.
• Assigning the grade of a zero for the assignment.
• Requiring the student to resubmit the assignment with or without penalty.
• Requiring the student to complete the plagiarism workshop course.
-If the plagiarism instance occurs during the middle of the semester, the plagiarism workshop must be successfully completed by the student within 5 business days, or a penalty grade of F will be administered for the course.
-If the plagiarism instance occurs at the end of the semester, such as on the final exam or final paper, the plagiarism workshop option should not be used as a penalty.
• Assigning an F for the course (Normally, this should not be assigned to undergraduate students in their first year at NGU for their initial violation of this policy).
b. Repeated Violations of This Policy
i. If a student has three violations of this policy, spanning at least two semesters, in addition to the penalty assessed as outlined on the Academic Dishonesty Notice for the third policy violation, the OAA will place the student on academic probation. The change in student status will be shared with CMSE and the Office of Student Success.
ii. Any subsequent violation of the above policy (fourth violation) will result in the assignment of an F for the course. In addition, as determined by the OAA, the student will be placed on immediate suspension for the remainder of the current semester, with the possibility of a suspension for the subsequent semester. Following the period of suspension, the student may apply for readmission. The change in student status will be shared with CMSE and the Office of Student Success.
iii. If the student is readmitted and another violation occurs (fifth violation), the student will be immediately expelled from the university with no opportunity for readmission.
iv. A student may not appeal the penalty for repeated violations of the University Academic Integrity policy assigned by the OAA, which includes probation, suspension, and expulsion.
IV. Student Appeal of Determination
A student may appeal only (1) the original decision that a violation of this policy has taken place or (2) the appropriateness of the penalty issued by the faculty and department chair/associate dean. Appeals may not be filed based on disagreement with the original decision or dissatisfaction with the penalty imposed other than the following:
a. Procedural Irregularity: A deviation from the outlined processes of the Academic Integrity Policy that could have substantially affected the fairness of the outcome.
b. Factual or Evidential Inaccuracy: New information becomes available since the original decision of the faculty member and chair/associate dean which demonstrably proves that initial facts or evidence used in determining the violation were inaccurate or unreliable.
Procedure for Appeal
i. The student must submit a written appeal using the Appeal for Academic Dishonesty Form and email it to the College Dean within five business days of receiving the original sanction. The appeal must clearly demonstrate either the existence of a substantial procedural irregularity that affected the fairness of the outcome or that a factual or evidential inaccuracy took place in determining the violation.
ii. All appeals must be sent together with the original Academic Dishonesty Notice to the College Dean.
iii. The College Dean will review the appeal together with any evidence or documentation provided to determine if there is a prima facie case for either procedural irregularity or factual inaccuracy. If neither is sufficiently demonstrated, the appeal will be dismissed, and the student will be informed in writing. This decision will focus on the presence of procedural irregularity or factual inaccuracies that could have materially affected the outcome of the original decision. The Dean's decision on these issues is final and will be articulated on the Appeal for Academic Dishonesty Form which will be emailed to the student and the faculty and department chair/associate dean. A copy of the Appeal for Academic Dishonesty Form should be emailed to the Office of Academic Administration after the appeal process is complete.