Paul Cronan, Professor and M. D. Matthews Endowed Chair in Information Systems for Walton College of Business, and Chris Bryson, Executive Director of Academic Initiatives and Integrity, gave a presentation titled “Academic Integrity at UA: Some Faculty Perceptions” for the TFSC New Faculty Lunch Discussion. This presentation discussed the results of a survey of University of Arkansas faculty regarding their perceptions of general academic integrity concepts, student understanding of academic integrity, and their perceptions regarding UA’s academic integrity policy. A summary of academic integrity violations were also included.
| National surveys continue to indicate that 60% – 65% of university students admit to cheating. However, at the U of A the Academic Integrity policy has faculty and student buy-in, reports have gone up, and there are even instances of our students self-reporting academic dishonesty. Most instances at the U of A are plagiarism or facilitating/aiding another when this was not acceptable. While we may think that freshman are the main culprits of academic integrity violations, it is pretty evenly mixed across all levels. |
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While there are no federal policies that outline how universities ought to handle these cases, one of the benefits of relying on the U of A academic integrity policy is that you have the weight of the university behind you. You are not responsible for the outcome, it is a policy that represents all faculty. It distances you from the process in a way that protects you. Our policy has even been used by other universities as a model. |
| The process is set up so that there are appeals processes every step of the way and such appeals are not seen as a negative against anyone. There is open communication and both students and faculty are encouraged to communicate frequently with the Academic Integrity Monitors (AIM). The sanctions policy seems to work and there is a very low instance of recidivism. For details on faculty perceptions, view the pdf presentation below. |
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This content was developed from a presentation by which was sponsored by the The Wally Cordes Teaching and Faculty Support Center (TFSC) at the University of Arkansas.
The presentation can be downloaded and viewed as a PDF:Paul Cronan and Chris Bryson -UA Faculty Buy In presentation
Further Resources:
- Academic Initiative and Integrity
- Academic Integrity Policy
- Academic Integrity Allegation Evidence Form.
- Sanction Rubric
Library Resources:
- Cheating Lessons: Learning from Academic Dishonesty by James M. Lang. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2013.
- Teaching to Avoid Plagiarism: How to Promote Good Source Use by Diane Pecorari. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill Education, 2013.
- “Ten Years in the Academic Integrity Trenches: Experiences and Issues” by Doug Atkinson, S. Zaung Nau, and Christine Symons in Journal of Information Systems Education, 27(3), 2016.
- “Who Teaches Academic Integrity and How Do They Teach It?” by Erika Lofstrom, Tiffany Trotman, Mary Furnari, and Kerry Shephard in Higher Education, 69(3), 2016.