A-032 Academic Honesty

The academic honesty policy aims to sustain and promote the academic integrity of Southwest Minnesota State University (SMSU). To maintain an environment of academic integrity, all students are required to accept personal responsibility for their work. Academic dishonesty unfairly and unjustly advances one’s academic standing and includes knowingly permitting or aiding another in doing the same.

Forms of Academic Dishonesty

Academic dishonesty includes plagiarism and cheating. Examples of plagiarism and cheating include, but are not limited to:

Presenting or submitting another individual’s work or ideas as your own without proper documentation. This includes but is not limited to homework assignments, term papers, research reports, lab reports, group projects, artistic works, tests, and class presentations, whether copying from an online or library resource.
Inappropriate use of artificial intelligence (AI). While the use of AI in and of itself is not necessarily a form of academic dishonesty, Minnesota State recognizes that “submitting the outputs from generative AI as one’s own work in the absence of proper citation is plagiarism. Student use of generative AI that violates the academic expectations set forth in . . . a course syllabus may constitute academic dishonesty. Whether a particular use of generative AI constitutes academic dishonesty is contingent upon the acceptable use parameters established in a course syllabus” (See “Generative Artificial Intelligence” linked to at the end of this policy.).
Submitting someone else’s electronic work or ideas as your own without proper use of a documentation style, including but not limited to video clips, audio clips, electronic files, electronic programs, and any other copied electronic page, document, article, and review.
Submitting another individual’s work as your own, either by means of paraphrasing, summarizing, or quoting, without the proper use of a documentation style, or submitting someone else’s work as your own with only minor alterations.
Submitting another individual’s work without appropriate use of quotations, footnotes, or references.
Submitting the same work for credit for more than one course or the same course without written permission from all instructors involved.
Submitting or presenting falsified research or falsified or fabricated sources.
Copying from other individuals during any type of examination or knowingly allowing other students to copy off one’s own exam.
Having another individual or entity take an individual’s exam.
Receiving answers to an exam from another person or media before or during an examination or communicating exam answers to other students.
Tampering with any course material, including but not limited to syllabi, assignments, quizzes, or examinations.
Using any material or resources not permitted by the instructor for an assignment, quiz, or examination.
Acquiring or providing another person with an assignment, quiz, examination or a portion of an assignment, quiz, or examination without the instructor’s consent.
Changing, attempting to change, or falsifying academic records, including attendance records or sign-in sheets.
Uploading course materials to websites during or after the completion of the course without the instructor’s permission. Examples of course materials include, but are not limited to, examinations, essay questions, or other assessment-related materials.
Any other forms of academic dishonesty as outlined in the instructor’s syllabus or assignment instructions.

Any student who intentionally aids another student in the performance of any of the above acts or has knowledge or information regarding another student's misconduct concerning academic honesty and does not bring it to the attention of the proper authorities (for example, course instructor or academic dean) will be held responsible for their action or inaction and subject to disciplinary measures for academic dishonesty.

Procedures for Reporting Incidents of Academic Dishonesty

All time stamps on communications are in Central Time.

Reporting by the Instructor of Record

The instructor of record should meet with the student regarding the specific charge, consider the evidence, and hear the student's explanation. If it is not possible to meet with the student or if the faculty member is not comfortable meeting with the student, the faculty member may submit an “Academic Dishonesty Incident Report” form. Otherwise, the faculty member shall only meet with the student one time regarding the incident. “Meeting” includes conversations in person, virtually, via phone, text message, email, or other means. Continued harassment of or persistent unwanted contact with the faculty member by the student regarding the incident may result in sanctions.

If a faculty member other than the instructor of record determines that a student has violated this policy, the faculty member may bring it to the attention of the instructor of record or may submit an “Academic Dishonesty Incident Report Form” to the Academic Dean’s Office, outlining the infraction along with any supporting documentation.

Accusations of dishonesty relating to the unsanctioned or inappropriate use of artificial intelligence or machine learning platforms are often difficult to prove. The faculty must provide sufficient evidence that an infraction has occurred. Support should be comprised of multiple pieces of evidence.

If the faculty member determines that the student has violated this policy, the faculty member may submit an “Academic Dishonesty Incident Report” form to the Dean’s Office, outlining the infraction and sanction imposed, along with supporting documentation.

Minor Violations

Intent: Often occur due to inexperience or lack of understanding of academic integrity.

Extent: Limited in scope, affecting a small portion of coursework or a minor assignment.

Examples:

Plagiarism on a minor assignment or a small part of a major assignment, including the uncited use of AI.
Unpremeditated cheating on a quiz or minor exam.
Unauthorized collaboration on homework
Plagiarism on a minor assignment or a small portion of a major assignment
Improperly documenting sources
Quoting or paraphrasing without acknowledging the source
Failing to footnote or give proper acknowledgment

Major Violations

Intent: Involve deliberate planning and clear or malicious intent to deceive.

Extent: Affect a significant portion of coursework, involve major assignments, or cause direct harm to others.

Examples:

Continuing examples of minor violations, after multiple, previous minor violations have been addressed
Substantial plagiarism on a major assignment
Using unauthorized materials or devices during a major exam
Falsifying data or evidence for a major project
Facilitating dishonesty by another student on a major exam
Participating in organized cheating schemes
Having a substitute take an examination
Cheating or plagiarism on a capstone project, thesis, or dissertation
Intentionally destroying another student’s work
Violations that involve legal issues or significant ethical breaches.

Dean Responsibilities

The Dean’s Office shall inform the student in writing that the “Academic Dishonesty Incident Report” form has been filed. The letter from the Dean’s Office will outline the student’s rights to appeal the faculty member’s decision. The letter from the Dean’s Office is communicated to the student in person or via U.S. Mail, and via secure email. It is the student’s responsibility to maintain up-to-date mailing and email addresses on file with the university.

If an incident is sufficiently egregious, as determined by the Academic Dean, the student may be immediately referred to the Academic Appeals Committee.
The Dean’s Office keeps the complaint form, any supporting documentation, and records of the adjudication on file.

Sanctions

An incident of academic dishonesty may result in one or more of the following sanctions:

A warning or a verbal or written reprimand.
A reassessment of a resubmitted assignment with an appropriate reduction in points.
A failing grade for the assignment or test.
A failing grade for the class. If this sanction occurs prior to the date by which a student may withdraw from the course, the student may be removed from the course, with the inability to withdraw with a “W” grade.
Suspension from Southwest Minnesota State University.
Expulsion from Southwest Minnesota State University.
The revocation of a degree.

Sanctions applied by the faculty must be clearly explicated in the relevant course syllabus. The punitive options available are not limited to the sanctions specified above.

The Academic Dean may impose sanctions in addition to those imposed by the faculty member in the event of subsequent, serious, or multiple violations

Repeated Offenses

Any student accused of three (3) separate acts of academic dishonesty must appear before the Academic Appeals Committee.
The Academic Appeals Committee will determine if the seriousness of the offenses warrants additional penalties and will recommend any additional penalties to the Academic Dean’s Office.

Should the student receive a failing grade in the course or cannot withdraw from the course as a result of the dishonesty, the faculty member shall not be required to continue grading and evaluating this student’s work.

Appeals

A student wishing to appeal the faculty member’s decision must submit a written appeal to the Academic Dean’s Office stating the grounds for such appeal within five (5) business days of receipt of the written decision of the faculty member. This five-business-day period starts from the date the letter from the Academic Dean’s Office is sent to the student. The Academic Dean has the right to extend this five-business-day period. However, lack of maintaining accurate communication means (mailing and email addresses) on file with the University will not be grounds to extend this 5-day appeal period. The Academic Dean will review the appeal and decide if it meets the criteria for an appeal using the guidelines below.

An appeal shall be limited to a review for one or more of the following purposes:

To determine whether the decision was:

Rendered fairly in light of the charges and information presented; and
In conformity with prescribed procedures, giving the complaining party a reasonable opportunity to prepare and to present information that the Academic Honesty Policy was violated, and giving the accused student a reasonable opportunity to prepare and to present a response to those allegations.

To determine whether the decision reached regarding the accused student was based on substantial information. That is, whether there were facts in the case that were sufficient to establish that a violation of the policy occurred, if believed by the fact finder.

To determine whether the sanctions imposed were appropriate for the violation of the policy.

Deviations from designated procedures will not be a basis for sustaining an appeal unless significant prejudice results.

If an appeal does not meet the criteria for appeal or no clear criteria is provided, the appeal will be rejected, and the student will be notified in writing.

If the appeal has merit, it will be routed to the Academic Appeals Committee for a hearing. Procedures for the appeal hearings are found in SMSU Procedure G-005, “Academic Appeals Policy.”

Policy History

Date of Adoption: November 11, 1981
Date of Revision: January 22, 2026

Date and Subject of Amendments

1/22/2026 – Updated to include information about the use of AI, minor edits for punctuation, spelling, and style.

5/5/2023 – The list of items considered as plagiarism was expanded; reporting procedures expanded; appeals expanded.