Students' Guide to Academic Integrity

I wrote the following guide in 2014 to help establish our school culture and expectations around academic integrity. 
 

To the Students of John Carroll Catholic High School,

On behalf of the Faculty, I welcome you to a new school year at John Carroll! The work that we do here together is an ambitious undertaking that ranges from the fulfillment of ordinary day-to-day tasks and expectations to our greater mission of making the world better through our shared faith. The following guide addresses the nature and importance of Academic Integrity and how it impacts both the big and small pictures of who we are and why we are here. You will notice that this guide is comprised of some parts definition, philosophy, school policy, and direct advice. I encourage you to read this guide and refer to it often so that you can be familiar with the ideals described here, as well as the personal guidance it offers to you.

You always have my prayers for joy, success, and fulfillment in your journeys through John Carroll.

In Christ,
Mr. Connell
Assistant Principal

John Carroll Catholic High School Statement of Academic Integrity
At John Carroll Catholic High School integrity is essential to our mission. In valuing the whole person of our students in a learning environment that calls its members to be Christ-like, and in striving to deepen our faith and our belief that it can bring about a more just world, truth is fundamental. We act with honesty and incorporate Gospel values when making decisions. We speak the truth, even when it is difficult or uncomfortable. We do not tolerate dishonesty in any of our learning processes. We hold to the highest ethical and moral standards in our personal and professional behavior. We rely on trust between students, teachers, administrators, and parents as we sustain a culture based on these values. To accomplish these goals, we require and insist on the integrity of all learners.

What is integrity, and why is it important?
When we talk about integrity, we are talking about honesty, but not simply in the “tell the truth” sense of the word. Integrity is honesty in the bigger context of you, as a whole person, in what you think, what you say, and what you do. In people who have integrity, thoughts, words, and actions are all very aligned and connected by a deep sense of truth that is often rooted in some sort of belief and value system. That is to say that our beliefs often shape and determine what we think about, which informs what we say and the kinds of decisions that we make each day. If you don’t have integrity, what you think and say and do don’t line up, and people will likely not trust you. On the flip side of the coin, if you have integrity, people will often be interested in what you have to say and be more likely to value your opinions and contributions to situations. No matter your background, your religion, or your length of time at John Carroll, you ought to strive for integrity in everything you do.  

What is “Academic Integrity”?
Academic Integrity is your ability to demonstrate honesty in your personal experiences and practices as a student. This begins even before you enter the building, in your honest approach to engaging with the people around you, with what you’re learning, and in your understanding of why you are here.

So why are you here?
You are here to have a personal experience of learning in a Christ-centered environment. Or in plainer terms, you are here to learn subjects, but also to figure out who you are, what your God-given gifts are, and how you might use them in this world. When it comes to subjects, tradition, and the current look of most schools, it has been determined that education is best accomplished through learning about a lot of different things: Math, English, Science, History, Art, Language, Music, Theology, Technology, etc. This is called a liberal arts curriculum because it’s widely regarded as the foundation for any free person to intelligently function in and contribute to the free world. Functioning and contributing are the goals, but in order to do that you have to first learn things—how to write and speak well, how to solve problems, how and why things work, what happened before you were here, and how every single thing in this world is in some way connected. This is no small task, and John Carroll, “where faith and reason flourish,” has a long history of teaching subjects and our faith with great success. However, teaching is only half of the equation in teaching and learning, and John Carroll would be only half a school without the personal experience of each student here. That’s where you come in—how you engage with the subjects and your teachers is really up to you. You will surely enjoy some subjects more than others, and you will surely find yourself asking the questions, “Why do I have to learn this?” and “What’s the point?” These questions are normal and good, as they mark the start of a critical thinking process that will hopefully help you answer those bigger questions: Who am I? What are my God-given gifts? How will I use them in this world?

Why is Academic Integrity vital to your educational experience at John Carroll? As you go about your work as a student, you develop a relationship with subjects and the people around you. Academic Integrity allows for healthy relationships in both of these areas. On a scholarly level, your integrity is the starting point that allows you to engage with, understand, question, investigate, develop theories about, and argue with course material. Through this process you develop understanding of subjects, yourself, and others. This, over time, makes you smarter, which will help make you a better citizen in our complex society. A lack of Academic Integrity stunts your learning process and your discovery of self. It can sever your relationships with course material, your teachers, and peers. It devalues the academic ideals of John Carroll and deprives you of thinking independently and truly learning things that you will carry with you after you graduate from high school.

On a spiritual level, your integrity allows you to be a whole person in the eyes of others and God. Aligning what you say and do with the expectations of our school allows you to deepen with virtue your relationship with teachers, classmates, subjects, and God. A lack of Academic Integrity creates spiritual distractions within, and you may end up spending valuable time and energy covering your tracks, building on lies, and playing the system. This kind of student-lifestyle removes you from your deeper purpose here and distances you from God and others.

Some Common Examples of Academic Dishonesty and How to Avoid Them
There are different types and causes of academic dishonesty and various circumstances that may lead to lying, cheating, copying, or plagiarizing. Some of these constitute blatant attempts to deceive, while others may reflect momentary lapses in judgment or lack of understanding on the part of students. Whatever the case, you should always avoid these behaviors or any actions that would cause your integrity to be called into question by teachers, administrators, and fellow students. This section seeks to identify and understand the most common examples of Academic Dishonesty so that you can achieve this purpose and maintain your integrity as a student at John Carroll.

1. Cheating During a Quiz/Test: this category includes classic examples of classroom cheating (and modern variations thereof):

• Using a cheat sheet or other source material during a quiz/test;
• Leaving the classroom to consult a text, notes, or online resource outside of the testing environment (i.e., at your locker, rest room, stairwell, or other hiding spot where you think God or others can’t see you).
• Using a cell phone, smart watch, or other electronic device to view material during a quiz/test;
• Talking during a quiz/test in order to share answers;
• Allowing another student to look at your quiz/test for answers
• Looking on another student’s quiz/test for answers;

2. Other Testing Irregularities: examples in this category include dishonest ways to undermine the value of a quiz/test outside of the testing environment:  

• Getting access to a test and sharing it with others (i.e., taking the test ahead of time and explicitly telling others what is on it; making a copy or taking a picture of a test and sharing it with others; inadvertently seeing a copy of a test and not reporting that to the teacher);
• Seeking/receiving specific information about a test from someone who has already taken it.

3. Collaboration on independent work: unless teachers explicitly tell you that you may work on graded assignments with others, you should assume that the work you hand in is expected to be yours and yours only. Such assignments include homework that affects your grade; extra credit assignments; homework packets being turned in for a grade or used for further evaluation; any other non-test/quiz that will affect your grade. Examples of unfair collaboration include:

• Splitting a homework assignment into sections among friends and then sharing/copying the different sections to save time;
• Copying someone else’s homework or allowing someone else to copy your homework;
• Borrowing someone else’s homework and attempting to pass it off as your own;
• Sending or receiving pictures of assignments or answers to assignments to/from others.

4. Digital Dishonesty: examples in this category include using technology to cheat. This can be very easy to do, and can get out of hand quickly. Remember that once you send something to someone else, you have no control over where it goes from there.

• Sending or receiving a picture of testing material, personal work, or answers to an assignment to/from others via cell phone/social media
• Stealing someone else’s work from their laptop, computer, flash drive, or electronic device;
• Emailing documents to others with the purpose of supplying them with answers or unfair advantage in completing assignments;
• Using an electronic device to access material at a prohibited time.

5. Plagiarism: according to the Council of Writing Program Administrators, “In an instructional setting, plagiarism occurs when a writer deliberately uses someone else’s language, ideas, or other original (not common knowledge) material without acknowledging its source” (www.wpacouncil.org). Plagiarism typically involves buying, stealing, or borrowing parts or the entirety of a paper, and can include blatant theft, such as:

• Copying a paper from the Internet;
• Using someone else’s paper as your own;
• Hiring someone to write a paper for you;
• Copying sections of an essay/article and pasting them into your work without citation.

Less obvious offenses that may be considered plagiarism include:

• Using the language of a source when paraphrasing, when you should use quotation marks;
• Elaborating on someone else’s ideas without citing them;
• Assuming that someone else’s original ideas/terms are common knowledge and not giving due credit.

Avoiding Academic Dishonesty
The snappy answer to the question “How do I avoid academic dishonesty?” is simply “Be honest in all that you do.” But honesty—like all virtues—can get lost in certain moments. In order to maintain your integrity, you should understand the underlying causes and motivations behind cheating. These include:

• Being unprepared for a test/quiz;
• Not understanding correct research and writing processes;
• Being afraid of how a bad grade might impact your GPA;
• Running out of time to complete an assignment and feeling like you have no other choice but to plagiarize/cheat;
• Viewing cheating/plagiarizing as easier and less time consuming than doing the work on your own;
• Feeling pressured to help friends who may have waited until the last minute to complete work;
• Thinking that a particular assignment is pointless and that you are justified in cheating;
• Believing that you can get away with cheating and that it won’t really matter;
• Believing that the end goal is the score you get on an assignment, rather than the knowledge and experience that you acquire in completing an assignment honestly.

So let’s look at some ways to avoid getting into such situations where cheating may seem like a logical solution:  

• Time management: Your days are full of classes, practices, appointments, family obligations, games, plays, and activities. Sometimes fitting time in for homework seems impossible. But it’s not (and learning how to manage your time now will help you later in life, when your days are similarly filled with different kinds of work, family obligations, travel, and activities).
  • Use time during the day to complete as much homework as possible—study halls, time immediately before/after school, or independent work time given by teachers.  
  • Have a workspace at home that is free of distractions where you can dedicate time on a daily basis to finishing homework and other assignments.
• Communicate with your teachers: Your teachers are here to help you—they obviously understand the material and the nature of their assignments—but they may not always know that you need/want their help if you don’t ask them for it.
  • If you are unclear about the expectations around an assignment, email your teacher. Don’t wait until you’ve already committed academic dishonesty to ask questions.
  • As a general rule, if you ever feel alone or panicked about a course or assignment, reach out to your teachers and let them know so that they can help you. Learning should never be an isolating experience.
  • If your personal circumstances are preventing you from completing work on time or according to expectations, talk to your teachers/counselors about it so that they can support you.
  • If you feel lost in a class or unsure of a particular concept or subject area, ask your teacher for clarification. This can usually be done before or after school, or through email.
• Understand proper citation and how to use sources: Plagiarism can easily occur when you don’t know how to effectively use external sources. Use the Helpful Links at the end of this guide, as well as the English Department resources, to learn more about proper citation.
• Protect yourself and your work: Sometimes you do everything right and have everything prepared, but something can happen that puts you in a bad position. Protect yourself against these external forces:
  • Save your work in more than one place. Don’t rely on only a hard drive or flash drive; save your work regularly and back it up in more than one place—if you don’t have extra hard drives on hand, email yourself your files, or use Google Drive to back up your work.
  • Make sure that you sign out completely on any public computers so that no one else can view or take your work.
  • Keep your passwords private.
  • If others ask you for your work, don’t give it to them.
• When all preparations fail, just tell the truth: If you find yourself in a position where you are considering cheating, be honest: tell your teacher that you ran out of time, or that you’re unprepared; tell your friends that you aren’t comfortable giving them your work, or very simply that you won’t give them your work because you don’t want to get in trouble. Anything is better than resorting to academic dishonesty.

Consequences for Academic Dishonesty
If you are suspected of academic dishonesty (i.e., cheating, plagiarizing, stealing work, sharing work, etc.), you will be reported to the Dean of Students and the Assistant Principal, who will investigate the circumstances around your case. If you are found responsible for academic dishonesty, consequences may include, but are not limited to:

• First Offense:
  • Student will receive an In-school Suspension (students may make up work missed in classes during an In-school Suspension);
  • Student will receive a zero on the assignment in question, and may have the opportunity to make up the work for up to a 59%;
  • Student will not be allowed to participate in any school activities or events—including athletic games—on the day of an In-school Suspension;
  • Student will engage in appropriate reflection—in writing and in conversation with school administration—on the academic, spiritual, social, and emotional implications of the offense.
• Second Offense:
  • Student will receive an Out-of-school Suspension for 1-3 days, depending on the circumstances of the offense (students may not make up work missed during an Out-of-school Suspension);
  • Student will receive a zero on the assignment in question without the opportunity to make up the work;
  • Student will not be allowed to participate in any school activities or events—including athletic games—throughout the course of an Out-of-school Suspension;
  • John Carroll Catholic High School and the student may be obligated to report 2nd offenses to colleges and universities in the course of the college admissions process.
• Third Offense:
  • Student may be expelled from John Carroll Catholic High School.
• Additional General Consequences:
  • Students found responsible for academic dishonesty may be removed from, or made ineligible for, academic honor societies such as the National Honor Society, the Mu Alpha Theta Math Society, or Foreign Language Honor Societies.
  • Depending on circumstances around an honor offense, students may also be removed from leadership positions (Student Council, Ambassadors, etc.), and from consideration for awards, recognitions, or titles.
  • Students found responsible for digital/technological offenses may lose the privilege of possessing or using electronic devices on campus.

A Call to Integrity

In the end, you will get out of your time at John Carroll what you put into it. If you are dishonest in your work and dealings with others, you may not survive here. If you do, you will leave with some scores that may or may not reflect your academic ability, and you will have relationships with teachers that may suffer upon weak foundations.

If you are honest, though, and seek integrity in your work and relationships, you stand to gain a great deal here. You will acquire knowledge and learn important skills necessary to being men and women of excellence. You will know how to critically think—that is, how to ask questions and find answers; how to identify problems and create solutions. You will experience personal, spiritual growth, and know how to make moral decisions. You will grow closer to God and be engaged with the world around you. You will be able to articulate your opinions about subjects, people, and society, and your opinions will matter. You will develop a deep sense of yourself, and how you fit into the world. You will develop positive relationships with your teachers. Most importantly, you will develop habits and qualities associated with the best kind of people: integrity, faith, intelligence, compassion, joy, creativity, and love of life, among others. When you graduate, you will be able to proudly claim your status among the John Carroll Alumni, a group of people who understand the value of these traits, who contribute to their communities in myriad ways, and who strive to bring glory to God every day throughout the world.

Helpful Links

1. John Carroll Catholic High School English Department site: http://jcchs.org/Academics/Departments/English.aspx

2. OWL (Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab): www.owl.english.purdue.edu

This is great resource for academic writing—proper citation, MLA formatting, tips, guides, and more.

1. Council of Writing Program Administrators’ Statement on Plagiarism: http://wpacouncil.org/positions/WPAplagiarism.pdf

2. www.plagiarism.org

photo credit: Constantine Pankin via shutterstock.com