Academic Integrity

Statement by the University Academic Integrity Leadership Community

The Penn State Values should guide all members of the Penn State community. The value of Integrity requires the highest academic, professional, and ethical standards. Academic integrity connects the pursuit of scholarly activity, authentic discovery, and the dedication to honesty, and it includes a commitment to avoid acts of misrepresentation and deception in the creation, submission, or presentation of academic work. University academic integrity policies promote consistent and equitable outcomes when academic actions are inconsistent with the university’s academic integrity culture, and all members of the university community should strive to follow these policies.

The university community should foster a climate of academic integrity in all scholarly activities and be continually mindful of the need to preserve academic integrity, even as technology changes methods of information access and use. Colleges should provide educators and teaching assistants with information about the appropriate ways to promote academic integrity and to respond to dishonesty concerns. Educators must make their expectations about academic integrity clear to their students and graduate assistants for each course they teach, support academic integrity processes, and, when asked to serve, consider participation on academic integrity committees. Students must strive to create, submit, or present work that is free of misrepresentation, follow academic integrity policies, and foster the university’s academic integrity culture.

As the University Academic Integrity Leadership Community, representing colleges and campuses across Penn State, we strongly support efforts to enhance academic integrity. We provide individual and collective leadership to further strengthen the university’s commitment to the highest standards of academic excellence.

 

February 29, 2024