Best Practices in the Promotion of Academic Integrity

BY FACULTY

Academic integrity is the responsibility of all members of the Touro University System. As educators, faculty are obligated to demonstrate by word and action the importance of this core value. As members of the Touro University System, faculty members are committed to the ethical pursuit of truth and advancement of knowledge, tasks that can be realized only in an environment fully supportive of academic integrity. Faculty members are therefore expected to participate fully in establishing an academic environment in which the principles of integrity are understood and practiced by themselves and their students.

Faculty members are expected to promote academic integrity in the following ways in their classes:

• Describe academic integrity policies on the first day of class, and refer, in class, to the policy of the Touro University System, including appeal processes.
• Include a clear statement in the class syllabus with a reference to the Touro University System’s academic integrity policy (including the website where the policy may be found).
• Require that all writing assignments be submitted electronically, preferably through Canvas, and notify students that the submitted material will be checked for plagiarism.
• Professors may choose to add an honor pledge at the start of each written assignment and exam for students to sign.
• Faculty can engage in meaningful collective conversations with students about the importance of academic integrity not only in their educational endeavors, but as a key development for their future work as professionals in their respective fields. Some guiding questions for these conversations can include: does plagiarism help learning at all? What is the point of pursuing an academic degree if students don’t develop their own thinking and writing skills?