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What is Academic Integrity?
Academic integrity exists when students and faculty seek knowledge honestly, fairly, with mutual respect and trust, and accept responsibility for their actions and the consequences of those actions.
Without academic integrity, there can be no trust or reliance on the effectiveness, accuracy, or value of a University's teaching, learning, research, or public service activities. It is therefore key that we understand what academic integrity is, why it is important, and how to help it flourish on college campuses. In support of these goals, the Center for Academic Integrity undertook a three-year, grant-funded project to identify, define, and explain five "fundamental values" of academic integrity -- Honesty, Trust, Fairness, Respect, and Responsibility. This project included research and dialog among faculty, students, and deans from dozens of colleges, including UC Davis. The final project report is published on-line. For more information, see the CAI Fundamental Values of Academic Integrity Project http://www.academicintegrity.org/fundamental.asp
These values are interrelated and interdependent, and each is essential to academic integrity. For example, honesty is essential to the educational process, as is explained below: those who cheat do not gain a knowledge of the subject matter, nor do they learn the necessary skills, or understand their own strengths and weaknesses (so they cannot correct their errors). Similarly, "To be most rewarding, teaching and learning demand active engagement and mutual respect. Students and faculty must respect themselves and each other as individuals, not just as a means to an end. They must also respect themselves and each other …[to extend] their boundaries of knowledge, [to test] new skills, [to build] upon success, and [to learn] from failure.” (See Fundamental Values Project Report at page 9.)
UC Davis has been a member of the Center for Academic Integrity (CAI) for over ten years, and was one of 21 college campuses from across the country that participated in a 1999-2000 CAI research survey. The research results confirmed that significantly less cheating and plagiarism occurred at campuses such as UC Davis, where students and faculty actively participated in efforts to promote academic integrity -- whether through a traditional or a modified honor code, such as the UC Davis Code of Academic Conduct. The survey results showed that at UC Davis, and at other large public universities with modified honor codes, students were more aware of the standards of ethical academic conduct, self-reported less cheating and plagiarism, believed that they were more likely to get caught if they did cheat, and saw the sanctions imposed for violations as more serious than their counterparts at schools without such a code.
At UC Davis, we have a tremendous resource and foundation for maintaining academic integrity based on our long-standing honor code tradition, and the active participation and dedication of our students and faculty.