Question

It's time to examine research, citation, and informationliteracy and how they fit into the broader concept of academicintegrity. In order to prepare for this discussion, review theAcademic Integrity Policy found in the course syllabus.

Introduction
As an institution of higher learning, Rasmussen College iscommitted to preparing students to be active, productive andsuccessful contributors to a global community. In pursuit of thiscommitment, students, faculty and staff of Rasmussen College areexpected to uphold the very highest business and personal ethics.Students of Rasmussen College commit to holding themselves andtheir peers to the foremost level of academic integrity, and acceptresponsibility should behaviors and actions fall short of theCollege's expectations.

Definitions

Academic Misconduct is the violation of theAcademic Integrity Policy, including all forms of academic cheatingincluding but not limited to acts listed below and any other actperpetrated to give unfair advantage to the student.

Cheating: Distributing or receiving answers orinformation by any means other than those expressly permitted by aninstructor for any academic exercise. Examples include:

Copying answers, data, or information for any academic exercisefrom another student in which the student is not expresslypermitted to work jointly with others.

Impersonation: Assuming another student'sidentity or allowing another person to complete an academicexercise on one's own behalf.

Using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, texts,devices, notes, information or study aids in any academic exercise(i.e., assignments, discussions, tests, quizzes, papers, labs).

Collusion: Knowingly assisting, attempting toassist, or receiving assistance from another student or students tocommit academic misconduct, or conspiring with any other person inor outside of the College to commit misconduct.

Destruction, Theft, Obstruction, Interference:Seeking to gain unfair academic advantage by destroying, damaging,or stealing equipment or products of any academic exercise; orobstructing or interfering with an instructor's materials oranother student's academic work.

Fabrication, Falsification, Forgery:Deliberately falsifying, altering, or inventing student records,information or citations. Forgery is the act of imitating orcounterfeiting documents, signatures, and the like.

Plagiarism is the act of representing anindividual's or organization's words, thoughts, or ideas as one'sown. Examples include:

Using information (a paraphrase or quotation, in whole or inpart) from a source without attempting to give credit to the authorof that source.

Using charts, illustrations, images, figures, equations, etc.,without citing the source.

Using an academic exercise (in whole or in part) purchased orcopied from a ghostwriter or paper/essay mill.

Copyright infringement or piracy, including the use, alteration,or duplication of media, software, code, or information whenexpressly prohibited or where copyright exists or is implied.

Submitting work previously graded in another course withoutprior approval by the course instructor; or, submitting the samework in two or more concurrent courses without prior approval byall course instructors.

Violations
A student who violates the Academic Integrity policy faces severepenalty from the College. Violations may occur in one or morecourses in one or more quarters and accumulate for all quarters inwhich the student is enrolled. Upon conclusion by the student'sinstructor and the student's Dean that the student has committedAcademic Misconduct, the following penalties will be applied:

First Offense. The student will receive nocredit on the assignment in question and will not be allowed toredo the work.

Second Offense. The student will be expelledfrom the course, and the final grade assigned for the course willbe an ‘F/FA'. The student may re-take the course, but the ‘F/FA'will remain on the transcript even if the student retakes thecourse and earns a passing grade.

The College reserves the right todismiss a student from the College if there are more than twooffenses. A student dismissed from the College because of AcademicMisconduct may not reenroll.
Students who commit Academic Misconduct also run the risk ofharming future educational and employment opportunities. Referenceforms sent by prospective employers and other educationalinstitutions often ask for judgment and comment on a student'sethical behavior. As the form is sent at the behest of the student,the student waives any rights he or she may have under the FamilyEducational Rights and Privacy Act to keep Academic Integrityviolations confidential.

Concurrent Offenses: A concurrent offense is aninstance of Academic Misconduct that occurs at the same time asanother instance (i.e., two or more assignments submitted at thesame time in the same or different courses), or instances ofmisconduct that occur prior to the student receiving notice of theimmediate prior offense. Concurrent offenses will be treated as asingle offense, and the appropriate penalty will be applied for allconcurrent violations.

Appeal: A student who disagrees with a rulingof Academic Misconduct has one week to appeal the ruling to his orher Dean. All appeals are reviewed by the Academic IntegrityCommittee, which has one week from the time that they receive theappeal to thoroughly investigate and rule on the appeal. If theissue remains unresolved, the student may submit a writtenstatement of appeal to the Assistant Vice President of AcademicAffairs thereafter. Response will be given within 30 days.

Share in your own words the meaning of the policy and why youthink it is important. How do the concepts of research, citation,and information literacy relate to academic integrity?