Academic integrity is a high priority for all teaching and learning at RWU. All students admitted to RWU are assigned a unique RWU User ID and password. In our Acceptable Use Policy students agree not to share this identity with others or try to gain access to another’s account. In addition, RWU adheres to FERPA regulations that protect student privacy while allowing verification of identity by instructors.
Roger Williams University Academic Standards
Academic Integrity Pledge
We, the students of Roger Williams University, commit ourselves to academic integrity. We promise to pursue the highest ideals of academic life, to challenge ourselves with the most rigorous standards, to be honest in any academic endeavor, to conduct ourselves responsibly and honorably, and to assist one another as we live and work together in mutual support.
Breaches of Academic Integrity
Roger Williams University exists to foster the mature pursuit of learning, which is premised upon the exercise of mutual trust and honest practice when representing data, findings and the sources of ideas used in an academic exercise. The University expects students to observe these principles of academic integrity that ensure the excellence of their education and the value of their diploma.
Examples of breaches of academic integrity include but are not limited to:
Cheating: Using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information or citation in any academic exercise. Examples include, but are not limited to
Fabrication: Unauthorized falsifications or invention of any information or citation in any academic exercise. Examples include, but are not limited to
Plagiarism: Plagiarism is best defined as the incorporation of words and ideas of another person in an attempt to claim that person’s work as one’s own. Thus, plagiarism fails to engage in civil, scholarly discourse. It is sometimes a form of intellectual theft and is always a form of intellectual fraud.
In its worst form, plagiarism may consist of directly copying large or small portions of either printed or online works, or, as frequently happens in schools, written papers of another student, without properly crediting the source(s) from which they came. There are, however, more subtle forms of plagiarism as well. Paraphrasing, which is the process of using alternative expressions to communicate the meaning of another author’s words, is also a form of plagiarism, unless the sources of those ideas are acknowledged. Roger Williams University provides resources and advice to students to help avoid plagiarism. See How to Avoid Plagiarism and the Cite Sources & Links to Handouts. Students are encouraged to consult their instructor if they have questions regarding proper documentation of sources and avoiding plagiarism. Examples of plagiarism include, but are not limited to
Fraud: Altering, forging, or encouraging another person to alter or forge, official records of the institution, or assisting others in such activities. Examples of plagiarism include, but are not limited to
Willful Damage: Damaging another’s creative work or property.
Facilitating Academic Dishonesty: Assisting or aiding someone else in committing a
breach of academic integrity. Examples include, but are not limited to
Consequences of a Breach of Academic Integrity
Civil discourse and the entire academic project depend on mutual trust among the community of scholars that is Roger Williams University. Even a minor breach of academic integrity diminishes that trust. Accordingly, the consequences of a breach of academic integrity, depending on severity, include:
In a rapidly evolving AI landscape, understanding the limitations and potentials of generative AI is key to fostering academic integrity and effective learning. The journey of cultivating judgment, originality, and collaboration remains essential in education. Academic community expects original authorship, fostering thinking and creativity that leads to new ideas.
We strongly encourage you to read this blog post: What is academic integrity in the era of generative artificial intelligence (by Chris Dede)