OTHER POLICIES

Code of Academic Integrity
(Revised by Faculty - Academic Year December, 2002-2003)

PREFACE

Wittenberg University is dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge and truth. At the heart of our search for knowledge is personal honesty, an honesty that makes possible an open and vibrant exchange of ideas. True community and academic excellence thrive at Wittenberg through honesty, trust, and mutual respect. It is the aim of this Code of Academic Integrity to foster an atmosphere in which each individual can reach their fullest potential as students and teachers, and ultimately as human beings.

HONOR STATEMENT

All academic work submitted at Wittenberg will carry the honor statement. “I affirm that my work upholds the highest standards of honesty and academic integrity at Wittenberg, and that I have neither given nor received any unauthorized assistance.”

DEFINITIONS OF ACADEMIC DISHONESTY

Academic dishonesty is a serious violation of community standards. It undermines the bonds between members of the community and defrauds those who may eventually depend upon our knowledge and integrity. Such dishonesty includes:

Cheating - Using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information, study aids, or assistance in any academic exercise.
Fabrication - Falsification or invention of any information or citation in an academic exercise.
Facilitating academic dishonesty - Helping or attempting to help another to violate any provision of this code. Facilitating academic dishonesty includes failing to act on knowledge of academic dishonesty.
Plagiarism - Representing the words of idea of another as one’s own in any academic exercise, either knowingly or through negligence.

STUDENT AND FACULTY RESPONSIBILITIES

To achieve the aims of this code of academic integrity, every student, faculty member, and administrator is responsible for upholding the highest standards of personal integrity. In this spirit it is expected that every member of the Wittenberg community will refuse to tolerate academic dishonesty.

It is the responsibility of the instructor to provide students with clear guidelines for what constitutes “authorized” and “unauthorized” assistance, and the responsibility of every student to seek clarification if in doubt about those guidelines. In cases of collaborative work, the Honor Statement refers only to the contributions of each individual student within the collaborative group.

HONOR COUNCIL

There will be an honor council composed of six (6) faculty, two (2) administrators and ten (10) students. Every year the faculty will elect two of its members to serve three year terms. The Provost and the Dean of Students will each appoint an administrator. At least one student from each class will be a member of the council. The Honor Council will strive to be representative of the diverse nature of the Wittenberg community. Once selected, student members will serve until they graduate. The students will be selected by a committee consisting of the chair and vice chair of the Honor Council, two additional volunteer members of the Honor Council, and three students appointed by Student Senate.

The Honor Council will elect a chair and vice chair from its membership. The chair will be a student with at least one year’s service on the council. The vice chair will be a faculty member with at least one year’s service on the council.

The Honor Council has the following responsibilities and authority:

to maintain and enforce standards of academic integrity.
to create and conduct educational programming designed to promote academic integrity.
to advise and consult with the student body, faculty members, and administrative officers on matters pertaining to academic integrity.
to designate from its members, students and faculty to serve on honor boards.
to issue an annual report to students, faculty and staff, which would typically include a summary of cases, and a description of the council’s activities.
to review policies and procedures of the Code of Academic Integrity and the Honor Council at least on a bi-annual basis and to recommend changes to the faculty and students.

The Honor Council will be advised by a faculty member appointed by the Provost, in consultation with the Faculty Executive Board, who will be known as the Honor Council Faculty Adviser. The adviser will be responsible, in cooperation with the Dean of Students, for the oversight of the Honor Council and it processes.