Academic Integrity
As an institution committed to the Christian values of honesty and integrity, the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor expects all members of the learning community to commit themselves to high standards of academic integrity. Academic integrity is vital not only as we live out our Christian calling but also for our students’ success in their future vocations. To that end, students are expected to take responsibility for all the work they produce at the University and to ensure that it meets the University’s standards for academic integrity.
- Written work should reflect the student’s own ideas and any use of others’ words, ideas, or patterns of thought should be appropriately quoted and/or cited.
- Plagiarism in any form is expressly prohibited.
- Failure to comply with the university’s copyright policy is expressly prohibited.
- Students are responsible for understanding the instructor’s rules governing any particular piece of academic work and abiding by those rules. Any questions about persons or materials not authorized to be used on any particular assignment should be clarified before accessing those persons or materials.
- Submitting academic work produced with unauthorized assistance or materials is expressly prohibited. This may include assistance from fellow students, other faculty members, textbooks, notes, online resources, or commercial sources such as professional paper writers that are available for hire, or any other material that has not been authorized by the instructor for use.
- Papers (in whole or in part) or other work prepared for one course should not be submitted to meet the requirements of another course without express permission from the instructor.
- Students assigned to collaborate in group projects should contribute their fair share of the work necessary to complete the project or notify the instructor of their failure to contribute.
- Academic integrity requires that students be truthful in all their academic work.
- Falsifying research data, lab reports, or other academic work product is expressly prohibited.
- Students should refrain from disclosing the specific contents of any test, exam, or other required assignment to a student who will, or may, later be required to complete that same assignment.
- Students should refrain from soliciting or otherwise acquiring specific information about the contents of any test, exam, or other assignment that will, or may, be administered in the future.
- As members of a learning community, we all have a responsibility to assure that all members have equal access to learning materials.
- Keeping, taking, intentionally misplacing or damaging library books, online files, laboratory equipment, or other academic resources in order to obtain an academic advantage over another student is expressly prohibited.
- Exhibiting behavior that disrupts the learning environment of the classroom deprives students of learning opportunities and may be grounds for expulsion from the class session. Students dismissed from a class for voluntary disruptions may be counted as absent for that class. Repeated incidents may be grounds for expulsion from the course.
- Students taking online courses should be diligent to maintain the same standards of academic integrity for work performed off campus as for work performed in the classroom, the library, or other campus facilities. Online students should maintain strict privacy of their login identity and passwords.
- The University’s standards of academic integrity go beyond the classroom to encompass all aspects of a student’s academic life.
- Falsifying an academic record, a degree plan, a prerequisite waiver, or any other official document is expressly prohibited.
- Students should not mislead any official of the University in order to secure a required form or otherwise obtain an academic advantage.
- The University is a learning community in which participants are responsible for one another.
- Assisting a student in any violation of the academic integrity standards is expressly prohibited. For example, providing or receiving unauthorized assistance, including (but not limited to) taking another student’s exam, providing answers to another student during a test, or contributing to another student’s written work without permission.
- In furtherance of the mutual responsibility students share for academic integrity, students are expected to respond fully and candidly to any request from a University official for assistance in any investigation of violations of the University’s standards.
- Failure to respond candidly and fully to such a request is a violation of the university’s standards.
This is not an exhaustive list and the university reserves the right to interpret and reasonably apply academic standards to individual situations.
A student who fails to meet these standards of academic integrity may receive a lower grade (including zero) on an assignment or a lower grade (including an "F" or "No Credit") for the course, as determined by the instructor. The penalty for academic dishonesty may also include more severe penalties, up to expulsion from the University. Conduct which violates the student Code of Conduct may also be grounds for disciplinary action as described in the Student Handbook.
For more information regarding academic integrity at UMHB, contact the Provost’s Office.