Definition of Egregious Academic Integrity Violation
Any of the following may be considered an egregious violation if it:
• Has been purchased (e.g., www.Brainmass.com)
• Includes false references (e.g., student cites work as coming from Stephen Ambrose’s Citizen Soldiers but material really comes from www.wikipedia.com/military.)
• Is another student’s assignment (from AIU or any other institution)
– In the entirety, it would be egregious and responded to by Academic Services
– In part, it would be egregious with apparent paraphrasing/wordsmithing and with the same sources (i.e. though it is possible students use the same sources the students’ writing style and mechanics should differ)
• Uses unauthorized notes during an examination as prompts or cues to improve one’s score
• Uses unauthorized electronic devices during an examination
• Is an exam, paper, or project completed by someone other than the student
• Copies from another student’s examination
• Is an original sketches, artwork, project, costumes, etc. that were designed, prepared or completed by someone else
The University takes all violations very seriously. As such, any occurrence that is found and is not covered by the above stated policy will be reviewed by Academic Services. All violations are cumulative across campuses. After three (3) violations at the undergraduate level, a student’s case will be presented to the Code of Conduct Committee and the student may be withdrawn from the University. After two (2) violations at the graduate level, a student may be withdrawn from the University. Violations do not carry over from the undergraduate level to the graduate level. In the event that a blended learner or campus transfer is found in violation of the Academic Integrity Policy, the home campus Academic and Student Affairs departments would be made aware of all infractions of the Academic Integrity Policy. The home campus will determine the enrollment status and penalty level. The home campus is defined as the campus of the student’s current, active enrollment.
For the Online Campus only: Each facilitator should include a rubric of writing and citation criteria as part of the class expectations posted to the course. Assessments of writing and citation should be based on the posted rubric. Please note that exclusive use of similarity scores as criteria for identifying possible violations of academic integrity is inappropriate. Students are to be assessed based on content and contextual use of sources.