Academic Integrity

The purpose of education is to advance students’ intellectual skills and knowledge and to demonstrate the outcomes of these efforts. An essential and shared value in higher education is presenting students’ own work and properly acknowledging that of others. Violations of academic integrity include, but are not limited to, the following:

Plagiarism – Submitting all or part of another’s work as students’ own in an academic exercise, such as an examination, computer file, or written assignment. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Submitting papers written by someone else, such as a family member or friend.
- Downloading parts of or entire term papers from the Internet and then submitting them as students’ own work.
- Using an artificial intelligence application, such as ChatGTP to generate an answer to an assignment.
- Use of another’s words as students’ own, be that paraphrasing or direct quotation, without proper citation.
Cheating – Using or attempting to use unauthorized materials on an examination or assignment, such as using unauthorized texts or notes or improperly obtaining, or attempting to obtain, copies of an examination or answers to an examination. This also includes sharing or receiving content from exams or quizzes by way of another student.
Facilitating academic integrity violation – Helping another to commit an academic integrity violation, such as substitution for an examination, completing an assignment for someone else, or sharing of computer files.
Fabrication – Altering or transmitting, without authorization, academic information or records.
Multiple submissions – Submitting the same paper/project for credit in multiple classes, without permission of the instructors involved.

Violations of Academic Integrity

When a faculty/staff member or other instructor believes that an incident of plagiarism or other violation of academic integrity has occurred, they should:

Notify the student of concern related to academic integrity and schedule time within five (5) business days to discuss with the student the reasons for this concern, providing the student with an opportunity to prepare a response.
Complete the Academic Integrity Reporting Form and forward to the Program Director.

Upon receipt of the Academic Integrity Reporting Form, the Program Director will:

Schedule a time to meet and discuss possible outcomes with the student in person or via phone within five (5) business days to ensure the student understands the process.
Provide the student with an opportunity to respond in writing within five (5) business days.
Consult with the Office of Academic Affairs to determine whether any previous academic integrity allegations or violations are on file.
Issue a sanction if a violation has occurred.

Sanctions for Violations of Academic Integrity

During a student’s academic career at Mercy College, each academic integrity violation will be reported using the Academic Integrity Reporting Form to the appropriate Program Director.

The sanctions for academic integrity violations are as follows:

First incident may include requiring the work to be redone; assigning a failing grade for the assignment; or assigning a failing grade for the course.
Second incident in the same course will result in a failing grade for the course. Second incident in another course during the same semester will result in a failing grade for that course. A second incident in a subsequent semester will also result in a failing grade for that course.
Third and final incident of academic integrity violation will result in dismissal from the program/College. The Division Dean may notify the Office of Student Records to enter the notation “dismissed for academic integrity violation” on the student’s transcript.

All records of violations of academic integrity and sanctions will be kept by the Office of Academic Affairs in a secure file.

Academic Integrity Violation Appeal

Students disputing academic integrity sanctions may appeal according to the following procedure:

Students must submit the following to the appropriate Division Dean:

An Academic Integrity Appeal Form within five (5) business days of the signed Program Director’s decision
A copy of the Program Director’s decision
A written statement of why the student disagrees with the academic integrity violation or proposed sanctions, and
Any evidence or material supporting the reasons for disagreement.

The Division Dean will review all submitted materials and communicate as necessary with the parties involved. Then the Division Dean will issue a final written decision (electronic and U.S. mail) based on all submitted evidence or material to the student within five (5) business days from receipt of the appeal.