CYAF Academic Integrity Statement

University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Department of Child, Youth & Family Studies
Academic Integrity Statement

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Department of Child, Youth & Family Studies expects all students enrolled in CYAF courses to adhere to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Student Code of Conduct. The Student Code of Conduct is available in the online version of the UNL Undergraduate Studies Bulletin and in the online version of the UNL Graduate Studies Bulletin. Free individual copies are available through the Office of Student Judicial Affairs. Information about the Student Code of Conduct is also available on the University of Nebraska website under Administrative Units—Student Affairs—Student Judicial Affairs (http://stuafs.unl.edu/dos/code).

The Department of Child, Youth & Family Studies adheres to high standards for academic honor and integrity. Department students, instructors, and staff will neither engage in nor tolerate academic dishonesty. The following document outlines the position of the department regarding Academic Integrity and Academic Dishonesty and complements the University policies outlined in the Student Code of Conduct.

Academic Integrity: Definition
You are acting with academic integrity to the extent that you do your academic work honestly and ethically, and in particular:

  • take full credit for your own work, and give full credit to others who have helped you, or whose work you have incorporated into your own.
  • represent your own work honestly and accurately.
  • cooperate with other students on academic exercises only where specifically authorized.
  • properly report information regarding academic dishonesty.

Academic Dishonesty: Definition
You are guilty of academic dishonesty of you engage in any of the behaviors identified in the Student Code of Conduct section 4.2. According to the Student Code of Conduct, academic dishonesty includes but is not limited to cheating, fabrication or falsification, plagiarism, abuse of academic materials, complicity in academic dishonesty, falsifying grade reports, misrepresentation to avoid academic work, or failure to meet meet other prescribed standards of conduct for academic honesty in a particular course. Further explanation of each area of academic dishonesty is available in the UNL Student Code of Conduct.

Academic Dishonesty in Child, Youth & Family Studies
All Child, Youth & Family Studies students, instructors, and staff share in upholding high standards for academic honor and integrity. Consistent with this responsibility, all Child, Youth & Family Studies students, instructors, and staff are expected to report any and all information regarding academic dishonesty to the Child, Youth & Family Studies Department Chair. The Department Chair will take appropriate action.

Academic dishonesty in the Department of Child, Youth & Families Studies may take many different shapes. The following list provides examples of academic strategies engaged by students and indicates which are considered academic dishonesty and which are not.

While we cannot give a complete list of examples, the activity listed below:
IS NOT academic dishonesty IS academic dishonesty
You appropriately engage with other students, in the discussion of course concepts, class notes, handouts and text materials in preparation for an examination; you appropriately engage with other students in general discussion about the nature of an assignments, the requirements for an assignment, or general strategies for completing an assignment You collaborate with other persons on the specific tasks required to complete an assignment or examination without explicit permission from the instructor
You knowingly permit another person to turn in your work as his or her own work
You copy material from the work of another student
You have permission to collaborate with other students on a project, and you list all collaborators You have explicit permission to collaborate on an assignment but not all members of the team contribute and you put the names of the non-contributing members on the assignment anyway
You use only authorized resources during an open-book or closed-book examination and you rely only on yourself and your authorized resources in the completion of an examination You steal or obtain examinations or answer keys from the instructors’ files or computer directories
You turn in the work of any other person(s) (e.g., former students, friends, textbook authors, journal articles, people on the Internet, etc.) and represent it as your own work
You receive appropriate advice from instructors, teaching assistants, or staff members involved in the course You forge signatures of practicum or internship site supervisors
You address the same topic in two different classes that draws on the same sources of information but you prepare original work for each class/instructor You turn in the same assignment to different instructors without permission
You confidentially bring academically dishonest activities to the attention of the course instructor You do not report information regarding academic dishonesty to the course instructor
The above list of example activities IS NOT intended to be exhaustive.

Reporting Academic Dishonesty: What do you do if you are aware of academic dishonesty?
Students who are aware of academic dishonesty in a CYAF course must report all relevant information to the course instructor or, if the course instructor is not available, to the CYAF Department Chairperson. Either the instructor, the CYAF Department Chairperson, or an assigned committee will investigate and consider all related matters to determine whether or not academic dishonesty has been committed and determine appropriate sanctions.

Academic Dishonesty Sanctions: What sanctions are applied if you are believed to have been engaged in academic dishonesty?
In accordance with Section 4.2 of the Student Code of Conduct, in cases where an instructor finds that a student has committed any act of academic dishonesty, the instructor may, in the exercise of his or her professional judgment, impose an academic sanction as severe as giving the student a failing grade in the course. Before imposing an academic sanction, the instructor will first attempt to discuss the matter with the student. If deemed necessary by either the instructor or the student, the matter may be brought to the attention of the student’s major adviser, the CYAF Department Chairperson, or the Dean of the college in which the student is enrolled. When an academic sanction is imposed which causes a student to receive a lowered course grade, the instructor is required to submit a written report of the facts of the case and the academic sanction imposed against the student to the CYAF Department Chairperson and to the Judicial Officer. The student will be provided with a copy of this report. If the instructor, in the exercise of his or her professional judgment, believes such action is warranted, he or she may recommend disciplinary proceedings against the student being instituded for violation of the Student Code of Conduct. In addition to academic sanctions, one or more of the following disciplinary sanctions may be imposed: warning, restitutions, probation, behavioral requirement, suspension, or explulsion, as outlined in Section 5 of the Student Code of Conduct.

Academic Dishonesty Appeals: What do you do if you believe you have been wrongfully accused of academic dishonesty or you believe you have been too harshly punished for academic dishonesty?
Students who believe they are not guilty of academic dishonesty or believe that the academic sanction imposed by the course instructor is too severe, may appeal to the Chairperson of the Department of Child, Youth & Family Studies. The Chairperson may turn the matter over to an appropriate committee (e.g., the Undergraduate Advising Committee, the Graduate Committee, or an ad hoc Committee). The committee will meet with the student and the instructor, review the evidence, and make a recommendation to the instructor regarding the incident. The instructor will review the recommendation and may or may not amend the original decision. If the student is not satisfied with the outcome of the appeal within the department, she or he is free to appeal at the university level as permitted in section 4.2.c and d of the Student Code of Conduct.

Academic Integrity: Why should you act with academic integrity?

  • Pride in yourself: You should be able to look at yourself in the mirror and see an honest, ethical person looking back.
  • Pride in your work: You should be able to tell yourself that you completed your work using the your own knowledge and skills, without deceiving your colleagues, your instructors, or yourself.
  • Pride in your profession: You should make yourself ready to move on to subsequent courses, graduation, or employment fully prepared. If you have “cheated” in your work, taking credit for others’ efforts, you have cheated yourself. The main reason you are in a university Child, Youth & Family Studies program is to learn to be a professional in this field, and if you cheat, you have not demonstrated that you have learned what you were supposed to learn.

Academic Integrity: Why should you care if others act with academic integrity?

  • The value of your degree is reduced: If you graduate from a program with a reputation for tolerating unethical or dishonest behavior, what will employers or graduate schools think of you? They will have no way to know that you were one of the honest ones.
  • The integrity of the profession is questioned: Nearly all Child, Youth & Family Studies graduates will influence the well-being of the families and children they encounter professionally. Graduates who received their degree on the strength of others’ work, not their own, may well be incompetent and dangerous in the workplace. For example:
  • Would you leave your young child in the care of an Early Childhood Educator that you knew had engaged in dishonest academic practices?
  • Would you trust the ethics of a Marriage and Family Therapist who had engaged in dishonest academic practices to confidentially handle your family’s challenges?

How do you find the Student Code of Conduct online?
This document includes the web address for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Student Code of Conduct (http://stuafs.unl.edu/ja/code/). Should this address fail to link to the site, you should be able to find the Student Code of Conduct on the Student Judical Affairs website. From the University of Nebraska homepage, select the Administrative Units drop down menu, select Student Affairs, then select Student Judicial Affairs.