Academic integrity at Winona State University is based on honesty. The university community requires that work produced by students represents their personal efforts and requires that they properly acknowledge the intellectual contributions of others.

WSU students are required to adhere to the University’s standards of academic integrity. The following are examples, not intended to be all inclusive, of types of behavior that are unacceptable and will be viewed as violations of the Academic Integrity Policy.

Examples of Policy Violations

Cheating: Using or attempting to use unauthorized materials in any academic exercise or having someone else to do work for you.   Examples of cheating include looking at another student’s paper during a test, bringing a "crib sheet" to a test, obtaining a copy of a test prior to the test date, or submitting homework borrowed from another student.

Deception and misrepresentation: Lying about or misrepresenting your work, academic records, or credentials. Examples of deception and misrepresentation include forging signatures, falsifying application credentials, and misrepresenting group participation.

Enabling academic dishonesty: Helping someone else to commit an act of academic dishonesty. This would include giving someone else an academic assignment with the intent of allowing that person to copy it or allowing someone else to cheat from your test paper.

Fabrication: Inventing or falsifying information. Examples of fabrication include "drylabbing" (inventing data for an experiment you did not do or did not do correctly) or making references to sources you did not use in academic assignments.

Multiple submission: Submitting work you have done in previous classes as if it were new and original work. Although faculty may be willing to let you use previous work as the basis of new work, they expect you to do new work for the class. Students seeking to submit a piece of work to more than one class should seek the permission of both instructors.

Plagiarism: Using the words of ideas of another writer without proper acknowledgement, so that they seem as if they are your own. Plagiarism includes behavior such as copying someone else’s work word for word, rewriting someone else’s work with only minor word changes, and/or summarizing someone else’s work without acknowledging the source.

Due Process Rights:

Due process refers to the concept of fair treatment. In cases where minimal due process rights apply (academic course dishonesty processed by a faculty member), due process rights of accused students are as follows:

1. Oral or written notice of the charges.
2. An explanation of the evidence against them.
3. An opportunity to present their side of the story.
4. Notice of sanction (s) imposed (such as lowering a grade, failing the course, dismissal from a program, etc.).
5. An opportunity to appeal the sanction(s).

Students accused of academic dishonesty have the right to appeal a faculty member’s decision to the Grade Appeal Committee. The Grade Appeal Committee will make a recommendation only in cases involving accusation of academic dishonesty to the appropriate academic dean. The academic dean’s (or designee’s) decision is final.

The appeal process for academic sanctions must be received in writing within five class days or, in the case of break periods, within five class days after returning from a break. A time extension may be granted upon request to the Grade Appeal Committee. Failure to submit a timely appeal, or request for extension, constitutes a waiver of any right to request an appeal. The written appeal must be based on one or more of the following reasons:

1. The evidence at the hearing does not support the outcome.
2. There is new or newly discovered facts not brought out in the original hearing which may substantially affect the outcome.
3. There was a procedural error, which could have substantially affected the outcome of the hearing.
4. The sanction was excessively severe.

There may be circumstances when it may be appropriate for a more severe sanction(s) other than the academic sanction.  The dean of the college(s) (or designee) where the alleged violation(s) occurred, in collaboration with the WSU Conduct Officer (or designee), will make the decision as to whether the case will be heard as a behavior discipline and be referred to the Student Life & Development Office to be processed under the guidelines of the WSU Student Conduct Policy.  Students found responsible for violation(s) processed under the WSU Student Conduct Policy face disciplinary sanctions (such as probation, suspension, etc.).

Information pertaining to the WSU Student Conduct Policy can be obtained in the Student Life & Development Office (Kryzsko Commons,  Room 129 or website (www.winona.edu/studentaffairs).