Academic Integrity

Academic dishonesty is prohibited in The City University of New York. Penalties for academic dishonesty include academic sanctions, such as failing or otherwise reduced grades, and/or disciplinary sanctions, including suspension or expulsion from the College.

Academic integrity is exercising honesty and responsibility in one's intellectual work. Both faculty and students are held to this standard at York. For students, this standard means that all assignments must be completed by the students themselves, without unauthorized aid. All exams and tests must also be completed without the use of unauthorized aid, and any documents submitted must not be falsified or forged. Additionally, since academic work often involves interacting with the ideas of others, academic integrity also means that students must appropriately credit the author(s) of any language or ideas taken from sources other than themselves, whether they are quoting the material directly or paraphrasing it into their own words. Crediting source material involves using a standard documentation format, as specified by the instructor (e.g., MLA or APA format, scientific reference formats).

Some examples of academic dishonesty include Cheating (e.g., using notes during a closed book exam; changing graded exam and returning it for more credit, etc.), Plagiarism (e.g., using another person’s words without quotation marks and footnotes attributing the words to their source; internet cut & paste techniques without proper attribution, etc.), Obtaining Unfair Advantage (e.g., stealing, reproducing or circulating examination materials; depriving other students of access to library materials, etc.), and Falsification of Records and Official Documents (e.g., forging signatures of authorization; falsifying information on an official college document, etc.).

Under this policy, all faculty members need to promptly report all incidents they consider to be academic dishonesty on the College’s Faculty Report Form and shall submit the Form to the College’s Academic Integrity Officer. A faculty member who suspects that a student has committed a violation of the CUNY Academic Integrity Policy shall review with the student the facts and circumstances of the suspected violation whenever possible prior to making a determination triggering the submission of a fillable Faculty Report Form. If the student agrees to the allegations/proposed sanctions by signing the form, the Academic Integrity Officer will file the form and notify the student that a copy has also been sent to the Dean of Student Development. Disciplinary actions such as suspension or expulsion may also be pursued. If the student does not agree to the allegations/proposed sanctions, there will be a follow-up investigation and proceedings before the College Academic Integrity Committee and/or the Faculty and Student Disciplinary Committee, during which the student will have an opportunity to be heard, the right to present witnesses on their behalf, and the right to question the faculty member accusing them of academic dishonesty. Rulings on student appeals by either the College Academic Integrity Committee or Faculty Disciplinary Committee are considered final.