Academic Integrity Policy
Violations of academic integrity are among the most serious offenses that students can commit; any violation may result in consequences at both the course and institutional levels. Procedures, findings, and consequences for violations of academic integrity may depend on specific circumstances, such as the student’s grade level, educational background, and prior violation of academic integrity, attempts made to cite or acknowledge sources, and the amount and type of work at issue.
Questions regarding the Academic Integrity Policy and Procedures can be directed to Molly Newton, Senior Associate Dean of Students by email at mnewton@bates.edu or by phone at 207-786-6215.
Statement on Academic Integrity
Bates College is an academic community deeply engaged in inquiry and intellectual exchange and committed to core principles of academic freedom, academic integrity, and rigorous, creative thought. We recognize that intellectual and artistic exchange depend on a mutual respect for independent inquiry, reflection, and expression. Faculty, staff, and students alike are therefore dedicated to fostering an environment that upholds the highest standards of fairness, integrity, and respect in all their academic endeavors.
As contributors to an ongoing scholarly and creative conversation that depends upon thoughtful and fair acknowledgment and treatment of the inquiries, reflections, and expressions of others, each member of the Bates community is expected to use and represent the work of others fairly and honestly; to acknowledge the work of others fully and accurately through proper attribution and citation; and to produce their own work unless collaboration is allowed. Faculty and staff members are expected to meet these standards in all their work as described in the employee and faculty handbooks; students are subject to the policies and procedures described below.
In educating students in the values, dispositions, and responsibilities of independent thinkers and scholars, the Bates faculty recognizes that certain scholarly practices reflect complex tasks that require instruction and practice. Faculty are committed to teaching these critical practices. Students in turn are responsible for learning these scholarly practices and demonstrating them in all their work; they are not only a means of showing learning but of developing genuine understanding, not only the mark of an independent scholar but the way to become one.
This policy statement outlines these principles and practices, roles and responsibilities.
Violations of Academic Integrity
Violations of principles and practices of academic integrity fall into two subcategories: (1) plagiarism and misuse of sources and (2) cheating.
1. Plagiarism and Misuse of Sources
Plagiarism is the use without proper attribution of someone else’s words, ideas, or other work as if it were one’s own. Failure to properly indicate and acknowledge the work of others can lead a reader, listener, or viewer to think that information, research, ideas, words, images, data, artistic and creative elements, or other work are the student’s own efforts, when they are not. Plagiarism significantly departs from accepted standards in the academic community and misleads others into thinking the work is the student’s own.
Misuse of sources, like plagiarism, reflects failure to properly credit the work of others but involves errors, mistakes, incomplete or inadequate attempts and other errors in citation, quotation, and attribution that would not seriously mislead others into thinking the work is the student’s own.
Plagiarism and misuse of sources carry different consequences as described in Bates College Academic Integrity Procedures.
The responsibility to give credit for material that would not qualify as common knowledge applies to almost all types of assignments and situations, not just papers, and not only to finished work but also submitted drafts. Work in which students must acknowledge sources and the contributions of others includes but is not limited to draft and final versions of the following:
- talks and other oral presentations
- visual aids, presentation slides, or other media tools
- websites, web pages, webcasts, and other multimedia work
- artistic, musical, and other creative work
- lab reports
- problem sets
- thesis chapters, papers, proposals, literature reviews, abstracts, annotated bibliographies, and other writing
- exams, including in-class and take-home exams.
2. Cheating
Cheating involves violating recognized norms for academic inquiry or specific norms established by faculty for particular assignments or using other methods, including technology, to gain unearned academic advantage. Examples of cheating include but are not limited to the following:
- unauthorized collaboration
- using materials not permitted during an exam, when writing a paper, or in completing other assignments
- receiving assistance beyond what is permitted
- manufacturing or falsifying data
- submitting the same work to satisfy the requirements of two different courses without getting permission from the instructor of the second course or permission from both instructors if the same work is submitted in two courses during a single semester
- knowingly providing assistance of any kind to another person who is attempting to cheat or plagiarize.
Academic Misconduct Procedures
Instances of academic misconduct can have independent consequences at two levels. The instructor may impose consequences at the course level through assignment and course grades, including failing grades for either or both. In addition, there may be an institutional response involving the Office of Community Standards or the Student Conduct Committee, with findings and consequences different from or in addition to those imposed by the course instructor
Institutional Response & Community Standards
Because the Bates community is deeply committed to academic integrity, faculty are expected to report to the Office of Community Standards all instances of suspected plagiarism and cheating. For instances of misuse of sources, the instructor may choose to work with the student directly or contact the Office of Community Standards for guidance. In all cases, the instructor may also require the student to meet with Student Academic Support Center staff or other support staff for additional instruction.
After faculty report a student for a suspected violation, the Office of Community Standards investigates. If there is sufficient evidence of academic misconduct, the Office of Community Standards will require a meeting with a college judicial officer where the sanctions may include: a warning, referral to academic support resources, probation, or a referral to the Student Conduct Committee where penalties of suspension and expulsion are considered.
Course Level & Grades
Independent of the actions and findings of the Office of Community Standards or the Student Conduct Committee, the instructor may determine the consequences that the academic misconduct will have at the course level, including on the assignment grade and/or the course grade. The instructor’s options include assigning lower or failing grades to the assignment or course, requiring work to be redone and resubmitted, and/or requiring students to meet with Student Academic Support Center staff or other support staff for additional instruction.