Academic Integrity
Butler University is an academic community. It exists for the
sake of the advancement of knowledge; the pursuit of truth; the
intellectual, ethical and social development of students and the
general well being of society. All members of our community have an
obligation to themselves, to their peers and to the institution to
uphold the integrity of Butler University. In the area of academic
integrity, this means that one's work should be one's own and that
the instructor's evaluation should be based on the student's own
efforts and under-standing. When the standards of academic
integrity are breached, mutual trust is undermined, the ideals of
personal responsibility and autonomy are violated, teaching and
learning are severely compromised and other goals of the academic
community cannot be realized.
Students are responsible for being fully aware of what
constitutes academic dishonesty; claims of ignorance cannot be used
to justify or rationalize dishonest acts. Academic dishonesty can
take a number of forms, including but not limited to cheating,
plagiarism, fabrication, facilitation and interference:
Cheating includes receiving or giving help on
papers, experiments, reports, compositions, projects or
examinations without the instructor's permission. It also includes
submitting part of or all of the completed assignment of another
student as one's own work. Of special note and concern is the use
of purchased research papers. It is a violation of the regulations
of Butler University for a student to purchase a term paper.
Cheating is also using unauthorized materials and aids, such as
books, one's own notes or those of another and calculators during
an examination.
Plagiarism is the fraudulent misrepresentation
of any part of another person's work as one's own. Submitting any
writing, including take-home exams, that does not properly
acknowledge the quoting or paraphrasing of another person's words,
or that fails to give proper credit for another person's ideas,
opinion, or theory is plagiarism. Any unacknowledged use of sources
to which one is indebted including but not limited to, music,
video, audio, theatre projects, compositions, Website and computer
software constitutes plagiarism.
Fabrication is the falsification or invention
of information or data in reports, lab results, bibliographies or
any other academic undertaking.
Facilitating Academic Dishonesty involves
assisting someone in an act of dishonesty.
Interference includes the theft, alteration,
destruction or obstruction of another student's work. Interference
may take the form of the theft, defacements or destruction of
resources, e.g., library periodicals and books, so as to deprive
other students of information.
The requirements of academic integrity also extend to academic
activities involving computers and networks and
unethical/unprofessional conduct specific to academic programs. For
more information, refer to the "Rights and Responsibilities"
section of the student handbook, section VI.
A person who violates the standards of academic integrity
undermines the values integral to the educational mission of Butler
University. Academic dishonesty is a serious offense, harming both
the community and the perpetrator, and Butler University has,
accordingly, adopted procedures for dealing with possible
in-stances of academic dishonesty (Procedures found in the Rights
and Responsibility section).