Faculty Academic Resources

Academic Integrity Incident Report

What is Academic Integrity? Heading link

The International Center for Academic Integrity defines academic integrity as “a commitment, even in the face of adversity, to six fundamental values: honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility, and courage. From these values flow principles of behavior that enable academic communities to translate ideals to action. ”

Academic misconduct encompasses many behaviors, but the core idea is when a student chooses any action one might construe as “an unfair or undeserved academic advantage5”, they undermine their learning, their goals, and their relationships within the UIC community. For a complete list of Academic Integrity standards, please reference section IV.A. of the Student Disciplinary Policy.

Creating a culture of Academic Integrity Heading link

Creating a culture of academic integrity within a classroom is one of the most critical components of teaching. Research suggests there are a number of easy but essential steps professors can take to this end:

  • Focus on growth mindset and the value of learning and skill building1 over a culture of competition/getting a job
  • Talk about Academic Integrity early and often – not just during presentation of syllabi, but repeated on key assignments3
  • Speak about it as an exercise in cultivating integrity not just about eliminating cheating3
  • Cultivate trust with your students3
  • Address misconduct as it arises to reduce recidivism and improve the overall student culture

To learn more, you can read the Ten Principles of Academic Integrity for Faculty or request a personalized presentation for your heads, DUS, or faculty meeting here.

Detecting Academic Misconduct Heading link

The number one reason faculty fail to report academic misconduct is doubt they have enough evidence to substantiate a claim4. Know that tools such as SafeAssign, MOSS, and even just a google search make finding evidence somewhat simple. You can also search sites like Chegg or Course Hero for papers matching students’ work.

Additionally, one of the easiest ways to gather evidence of academic misconduct is speaking with the student. You can ask them to explain their thought process regarding various pieces that seem incongruent with the overall submission or earlier submissions. Students who have completed the work themselves can typically walk you through their process with much greater clarity than those who took help from outside sources. The student’s response can then be included as an important component in your incident report.

Frequently Asked Questions Heading link

For a quick overview of our process, check out our Academic Misconduct process infographic. For a more detailed description, you can refer to sections III and VI of the Interim Student Disciplinary Policy. If you would like a TA or another professor to serve as a witness, please ask them to give a full accounting of what they saw here.

Should you have questions about the process or just wish to consult, don’t hesitate to contact us at 312-996-4857.

Please send an e-mail to Carlos Mata, Associate Director of Community Standards, at cmata8@uic.edu. In your e-mail, please include all the links to your assignments (can be in an excel spreadsheet, if needed), a copy of your syllabus and/or any statement you share with students about your expectations for academic integrity. We will contact each website directly per their Honor Code policy and investigation procedures. Unfortunately we cannot guarantee that your assignments will be removed from their websites, but we will do our best to get them removed.

1Anderman & Midgley, 1997; Dweck, 1986; Dweck & Leggett, 1988
2Newstead et al, 1996
3McCabe & Treviño, 1993
4McCabe, 2004; Coren, 2011
5deanofstudents.utexas.edu/conduct