Honor Code and Academic Integrity

PURPOSE  

This Honor Code is UGHE’s statement on academic integrity. It articulates University expectations of students in establishing and maintaining the highest standards of academic work. 

Disregarding the Honor Code violates a student’s ethical integrity and reputation, as well as that of UGHE and the broader academic community. 

SCOPE 

The Honor Code applies to both on campus and off campus activities, for the whole UGHE community for the duration of the student’s studies or as long as they are enrolled in programs at UGHE.  

PROCEDURE 

Honor Code 

As members of the UGHE academic community, we are tenacious and resolute in our drive to attain social justice. We operate with honesty and humility as we uphold academic integrity and intellectual curiosity.  

We, individually and collectively, will not receive or give aid in examinations, class work, preparation of reports, or in any other work that will affect the grading; will also actively ensure others uphold the Honor Code. 

The University also expects that all students will be honest and forthcoming in their dealings with the University and with members of the UGHE community. Furthermore, the University expects that students will answer truthfully questions put to them by a properly identified staff member of the University.   

All students are required to respect private and public ownership. Theft, misappropriation, or unauthorized use of or damage to property or materials not one’s own are prohibited.  

Failure to follow any part of the honor code may/will result in disciplinary action, including expulsion or the requirement to withdraw from the University. 

Academic Integrity and Plagiarism 

Academic integrity is highly valued by UGHE and the larger higher education community. UGHE expects students to display a similar commitment by committing to a high standard of academic integrity in all academic contributions throughout the program. 

Some specific definitions of violations of academic integrity are, but are not limited to: 

  • Cheating 
    • Using, or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information, people, or study aids on any academic assignment, examination, or project; or providing to, or receiving from another person, any kind of unauthorized assistance on any examination or assignment. 
  • Fabricating academic material 
    • Reproduction, falsification, lack of citation or invention of any information or citations in an academic exercise 
  • Offering bribes, favors or treats with the intention of affecting a grade or evaluation 
  • Examination by proxy 
    • Taking an exam for someone else 
  • Grade tampering 
    • Any change or attempt to change a grade or mark that has been assigned without permission 
  • Submitting non-original work or using the same work for two courses without permission 
  • Collaboration with others without permission 
  • A project or assignment is assumed to be individual work unless explicitly stated otherwise 
  • Fabrication of research or data 
    • This can include creation or invention of data for use in a research paper/assignment or in a practicum project 
  • Having an unfair advantage, such as having notes, exams or assignments ahead of time 
  • Aiding peers in academically dishonest activities and not coming forth with violations of peers 
  • Falsification of records and documents 
  • Information technology violations 
    • Unauthorized access of UGHE computer systems 
    • This can include computer hacking, unauthorized access to computer resources or unauthorized use of any university computer systems. 
  • Plagiarism 

Plagiarism is one of the most prominent forms of academic dishonesty. Some more specific examples of plagiarism include: 

  • Copying directly from a book, article, website or other form of media without quotation and citation 
  • Downloading or copying and pasting documents or information from the Internet without quotation and citation 
  • Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) programs (for example ChatGPT) to generate content for academic assignments or other work  
  • Taking ideas from another person’s oral presentation without giving him/her credit 
  • Paraphrasing or restating someone else’s facts, analysis and/or conclusions without citing the source or using quotations for direct phrasing 
  • Copying the work of classmates or unauthorized group collaboration 
  • Failing to properly cite the source of any information or idea, even if paraphrased properly 

The UGHE faculty and staff prioritize training students on standard citation practices. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that all citations are thoroughly and accurately included in all aspects of their work. UGHE uses the American Psychological Association (APA) referencing-style format. 

All assignments, projects, written work, examinations, and any other work submitted for academic credit must be the student’s own. Students must distinguish their own ideas and knowledge from information derived from other sources. 

The term “sources” includes any primary and secondary material published in print or found online, and information and opinions gained directly from other people. Quotations must be placed properly within quotation marks and must be cited fully. In addition, all paraphrased material must be acknowledged completely. Whenever ideas or content are derived from a student’s research or writing, the sources must be indicated. 

When collaboration is permitted within a course, students must acknowledge any collaboration and its extent in all submitted work. However, students need not acknowledge discussion with others of general approaches to the assignment or assistance with proofreading. If a policy on collaboration has not been made explicit, students must assume that collaboration on the completion of assignments is not permitted.  

UGHE provides students with plagiarism checking software, Turnitin, to check all Similarity Reports for any given assignment. Turnitin gives each submission a percentage score which identifies potentially plagiarised material. A score of 15% or lower is generally indicative that plagiarism has not occured. A score of between 15% and 25% is indicative that plagiarism has occurred to some extent. A score of 25% or higher is indicative that a paper has a high amount of plagiarised material. In cases in which a student receives a similarity score of 25% or higher, the paper will be given a 0 and the case will be taken to the Academic Council.  

Consequence of Violation  

Disciplinary action will be taken under the guidance of the Student Conduct and Discipline policy. 

RESPONSIBILITY 

Intellectual honesty is vital to maintaining the integrity of the UGHE intellectual community and is the responsibility of all students. All faculty, UGHE staff members, and students are obligated to report any suspected violation of the Honor Code or academic dishonesty to the Academic Commission for investigation.