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ACADEMIC INTEGRITY POLICY 3-27-12
Academic Integrity at Winona State University is based on honesty. The University requires that work
produced by students represents their personal efforts and requires that they properly acknowledge the
intellectual contributions of others.
WSU students are required to adhere to the University's standards of academic integrity. Following are
examples of behaviors considered unacceptable and viewed as violations of the academic integrity
policy:
Cheating: Using or attempting to use unauthorized materials in any academic exercise or having
someone else do work for you. Examples of cheating include looking at another student's work, bringing
an unauthorized “crib sheet” to a test, obtaining a copy of a test prior to the test date, or submitting
homework borrowed from another student.
Deception and Misrepresentation: Lying about or misrepresenting your work, academic records, or
credentials. Examples of deception and misrepresentation include forging signatures, falsifying
application credentials or transcripts, and misrepresenting group participation.
Enabling Academic Dishonesty: Helping someone else to commit an act of academic dishonesty. This
would include giving someone else an academic assignment with the intent of allowing that person to
copy it or allowing someone else to cheat from your test papers, quizzes, assessments or other course
materials.
Fabrication: Refers to inventing or falsifying information. Examples of fabrication include inventing
data for an experiment you did not do or did not do correctly or making references to sources you did
not use in academic assignments.
Multiple Submissions: Submitting work you have done in previous classes as if it were new and original
work. Although faculty may be willing to let you use previous work as the basis of new work, they
expect you to do new work for the class. Students seeking to submit a piece of work to more than one
class should seek the permission of both instructors.
Plagiarism: Using the words or ideas of another writer without proper acknowledgment, so that they
seem as if they are your own. Plagiarism includes behavior such as copying someone else's work word
for word, rewriting someone else's work with only minor word changes, and/or summarizing someone
else's work without acknowledging the source.
CONSEQUENCES FOR ACADEMIC VIOLATIONS
Consequences for academic violations are most often addressed by the instructor and the student at the
time of the violation. The instructor’s determination is final unless appealed to the dean of the college.
Possible consequences at the discretion of:
 Faculty: Re-do the exam or assignment, award a lower or failing grade on an assignment and/or
the course, or allow the student to withdraw from the course
 Department: Dismissal from a program or major
 Dean: Administrative withdrawal of the student from a course after consultation with the
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instructor
Vice President for Student Life and Development: Disciplinary probation or suspension
Note: There may be circumstances where the Dean of the College, in collaboration with the WSU
Director of Student Conduct and Citizenship, will determine that the case will be heard as a student
conduct issue. Students found culpable of a violation(s) will face disciplinary consequences as defined in
the Student Conduct Code. The WSU Student Conduct Code can be obtained online or in the Office of
Student Life and Development.
STUDENT RIGHTS
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Oral or written notice of the charges from the faculty member is required even though an
immediate consequence may be imposed.
An explanation of the evidence against the student. Note: Evidence may be physical or in the
form of witnesses or observers.
An opportunity for the student to present his/her side of the story
Notice of the decision(s)
An opportunity to appeal the decision(s)
APPEAL PROCEDURE
STEP I: A student appealing a faculty, department, or dean’s decision should meet within 14 calendar
days on an informal basis with the faculty member, department chair, or dean directly involved in the
situation in an attempt to address the matter and resolve the issue(s). If the student is not comfortable
working with the faculty member or if the student is not able to get a response within this period of
time, they may appeal to the next higher level of authority.
STEP II: A student may appeal the decision in Step I and has 14 calendar days to meet with and present
a dated, signed, and written account of the circumstances to the appropriate college dean. The appeal
shall contain a statement indicating the reason for the appeal and the relief requested. The academic
dean (or higher authority) shall respond to the student and faculty member with a written decision
within 14 calendar days of receipt of the appeal.
Written appeals must be based on one or more of the following reasons:
 The evidence presented at the meeting between the faculty and the student does not support the
outcome.
 There are facts not brought out in the original meeting which may affect the outcome.
 There was a procedural error which could have affected the outcome of the meeting.
 The consequences were perceived as excessively severe.
STEP III - If the issue is not resolved in Step II, the student has 14 calendar days to appeal to the Vice
President for Academic Affairs. This appeal should be a dated, signed, and written account of the
situation. The vice president shall respond to the student, faculty member and dean with a written
decision within 14 calendar days of receipt of the appeal. The decision of the vice president is final.
The 14 day response period does not include breaks and holidays. A time extension may be granted
upon request to the dean (STEP II) or academic vice president (STEP III). Failure to submit a timely
appeal, or request for extension, constitutes a waiver of any right to request an appeal.