Academic Integrity at Brandeis
Erika Lamarre
Director of Academic Integrity
elamarre@brandeis.edu
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The policies
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Education and Prevention
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Reporting an incident
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The Procedures
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Resources for Instructors
The Policies at Brandeis
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Students are required to submit material that is the product of their
own thought and study with appropriate citations and footnotes.
Students may not collaborate on work without the specific
permission of the instructor.
Unless allowed by the instructor; notes, calculators, cell phones, or
other aids or devices are not permitted to be in a student’s possession
or accessible during exams. Talking during exams is not permitted.
Unless permission is received in advance, a student may not resubmit
previous work for credit in a current course.
Complete information on policies and procedures can be found in the
student handbook Rights and Responsibilities
http://www.brandeis.edu/studentaffairs/srcs/rr/
How do we teach Academic Integrity?
The expectations of academic honesty are communicated during Orientation.
Citation and writing are taught in our Comp and UWS courses.
Students have access to The Writing Center, English Language tutoring, Roosevelt
Fellows, Academic Services tutoring, and online resources such as Zotero and
Endnote.
Faculty are expected to include a syllabus statement on academic integrity.
Brandeis instructors now have access to TurnItIn.com for assistance in student selfediting and plagiarism detection. http://turnitin.com/en_us/features/faqs
There is still more we can do to consistently communicate the expectation of
academic honesty…..
The current landscape
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Many students share old lab reports, tests, and papers with friends. Often
students will simply change the name and submit this work as their own or
cut and paste portions. We had over 100 reports of academic dishonesty
last academic year.
Most cases involve first-year students and sophomores.
Incidents increase during final exams/projects. The higher the stakes the
more likely a student may try to cheat to increase their grade (Lang, 2013).
Cases that are reported are not the result of a misunderstanding of proper
citation. Instructors are savvy enough to discern a scholarly error or
learning curve with intentional acts.
Prevention in your Classroom
The following suggestions come from various sources. A list of recommended readings
will be provided.
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Alter your assignments and exams each year to reduce the likelihood of
worked being shared among students.
Highlight the Academic Integrity syllabus statement on the first day of class.
Inform students that you will be paying close attention to their work
submissions.
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Use the TurnItIn.com plug-in on Latte consistently.
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Remind students of your office hours and available resources on campus.
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Review academic honesty expectations before exams and final projects.
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Actively proctor your exams and remain for the entirety of the exam.
The Procedures
If a faculty member, instructor, or Teaching Assistant suspects that a student has violated an
academic integrity policy, the following steps should be taken immediately. Note that it is
important that all incidents be reported, and as soon as possible after they are detected.
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Notify the student of your suspicion.
Document the incident, using a Community Standards Report . This is an online format. The
language you will see will call it a Public Incident- this simply means that anyone can file a
report. The information is confidential.
Once the Community Standards Report form is submitted, instructors will be contacted by
the Director of Academic Integrity and informed about next steps. Faculty should feel free to
notify the Director with any questions at any time.
After the Director and Instructor have made contact and exchanged information, the Director
will schedule a meeting with the accused student and begin the process.
Conduct Procedures at Brandeis
At Brandeis we apply due process to each accused student. The accused student has the
option to accept or deny responsibility for the accusation(s).
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Most cases are resolved by the student accepting responsibility. Rarely we must convene the
student conduct board to hear a case.
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Possible outcomes as determined by the Director of Academic Integrity/Conduct Boards in
consultation with the referring instructor might include:
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-Giving the student a grade of zero on the assignment involved.
-Disciplinary Probation.
-If the behavior is especially severe or the student has previous conduct history, sanctions may
include failure in the course or possibly suspension from the university.
Why do we do this?
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Accurate record keeping
Fairness to students and instructors- without conduct processes students can file
grade grievances or claim discrimination.
FAQs
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Q: Will a student’s application to graduate school or employment be impacted by a report of
academic dishonesty?
A: Brandeis does not use transcript notations for conduct violations with the exception of
suspensions. Graduate schools and employers have different criteria for what they want a student
to report. The University can not release student information without a student’s permission.
Even then we do not release details.
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Q: Can the instructor choose what type of sanction a student receives?
A: The Director and the instructor will collaborate on the outcome and/or sanction. Sometimes a
student’s history (or lack thereof) impacts the type of sanction that is issued. We are working on
various educational sanctions as well as grade-based sanctions.
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Q: If the student and I agree on an outcome do I still need to report the incident?
A: Reporting is required in order for any type of outcome or sanction to be applied. Also, this
allows for record-keeping in the event of a student’s repeat behaviors in other classes or other
conduct violations. Reporting is the expectation in order to protect students and instructors.
Resources for Faculty
Books:
Cheating Lessons- James M. Lang
Cheating In College: Why Students Do it and what Educators can do about It- McCabe,
Butterfield and Trevino
Pedagogy not Policing- Tyra Twomey, Holly White, and Ken Sagendorf
The Cheating Culture- David Callahan
Online:
Director of Academic Integrity: www.brandeis.edu/svpse/academicintegrity/
The Brandeis Center for Teaching and Learning: www.brandeis.edu/teaching/
The International Center for Academic Integrity: www.academicintegrity.org/
Thank You
Erika Lamarre
Director of Academic Integrity
Shapiro Campus Center 2nd floor
elamarre@brandeis.edu
 781 736-5075