CAMPUS NOTICE

 

ACADEMIC SENATE: SAN DIEGO DIVISION

May 30, 2019


MEMBERS OF THE ACADEMIC SENATE, SAN DIEGO DIVISION

SUBJECT:    Revised UCSD Policy on Integrity of Scholarship, Effective Fall 2019

Dear Colleagues,

The Representative Assembly approved a proposal from the Educational
Policy Committee (EPC) to revise Appendix II of the Senate Manual, the
UCSD Policy on Integrity of Scholarship, at its February 19, 2019
meeting. The changes are effective Fall Quarter 2019.

The proposal with the complete text of the approved revisions to the
UCSD Policy on Integrity of Scholarship is available at:
https://go.ucsd.edu/2YQCWGS. The revised Policy will be posted on the Senate’s
website in Appendix II of the Senate Manual when it becomes effective, in Fall
Quarter 2019.

EPC, in partnership with the Academic Integrity Office (AIO), drafted
the policy revisions. Major changes include:

1. Removing procedural information from Appendix II of the Senate
Manual.

The current AI Policy includes both the general rules governing student
integrity of scholarship at UC San Diego and the detailed procedures for
resolving suspected academic integrity violations, leading to a long and
complicated document that is difficult to follow and change. Following
the approved revisions, the general rules associated with student
integrity of scholarship will continue to reside in Appendix II of the
Senate Manual under the UCSD Policy on Integrity of Scholarship. The
procedural information will be moved to a separate document available on
the AIO and Senate websites in Fall 2019. The procedural information
will be maintained by the AIO with Senate oversight from EPC. This
change will allow the AIO, in consultation with the Academic Senate, to
respond more quickly when opportunities arise to streamline the process
or make procedural adjustments due to external factors.

2. Streamlining the process for resolving academic integrity
violations.

Two main changes to streamline the resolution process for suspected
academic integrity violations will be implemented to better serve our
students and instructors and allow for a more timely resolution of
cases.

a) The current Policy gives instructors the option of meeting with
students before submitting a report to the AIO. The new Policy
formalizes this optional meeting with an Instructor-Student Resolution
form. When the instructor submits this form along with the allegation
report, the AIO and Appropriate Administrative Authority (AAA) will be
able to expedite the process for those students who accepted
responsibility in the meeting with the instructor.

b) The current Policy affords only one option – the Academic
Integrity Review Board (Review Panel) – for resolution of contested
allegations. As a result, the system is overtaxed and case resolutions
are delayed by 4-6 months. The revised Policy streamlines the process by
including two levels of reviews – one for students facing suspension or
dismissal from the University (AI Review II) and another for those not
facing separation (AI Review I). The changes are intended to reduce
delays for students in getting their cases heard, especially for those
students facing separation from the University.

3. Allowing the Appropriate Administrative Authority (AAA) (AAA’s
are defined in the AI Policy, examples include the deans of Student
Affairs in the colleges or the Assistant Dean in the Graduate Division)
to delegate case resolution to the AI Office.

This proposed change leverages the under-utilized expertise of the AI
Office and increases the efficiency of the case resolution process to
prevent case backlogs.

4. Updating and modernizing language and format.

The revised Policy updates and corresponding Procedures document include
clearer sections to make content easier to find and reference. The
language of the revised Policy has also been updated to match best
practices in the academic integrity field (e.g. using the International
Center for Academic Integrity’s definition of academic integrity) and to
provide clarity (e.g. instead of referring to multiple administrators
throughout the document, the appropriate administrative authorities are
defined once and then referred to as AAAs throughout both documents).

Questions related to the implementation of the revised UCSD Policy on
Integrity of Scholarship may be directed to the Academic Integrity
Office, at aio@ucsd.edu. Questions related to the policy revisions may
be directed to Lori Hullings, Senate Associate Director, at
lhullings@ucsd.edu.



Sincerely,

Timothy Rickard
Chair, Educational Policy Committee