8. Academic integrity
Higher education and society both benefit when a college promotes and applies standards of integrity and excellence that provide a foundation for a vibrant academic life, promote progress in science and arts, and prepare you for responsible citizenship and professional conduct. Georgian College is committed to providing opportunities for you to learn about the importance of academic integrity and how to work within these expectations.
Academic integrity arises from a community of shared values and responsibilities, including “honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility and courage” (International Center for Academic Integrity [ICAI], 2021, p. 4). Georgian College endorses these values by promoting a culture of academic integrity in academic life, including research, teaching, learning and community engagement. Since these values impact the credibility of the educational experience provided to students at the college and the credentials held by alumni of the college, breaches of ethics and integrity will not be tolerated Georgian College’s Academic Integrity Policy (AC-013).
In addition to the types of academic breaches outlined in this regulation, other offenses involving civil or criminal law involving academic work or materials are subject to penalties under the applicable civil or criminal law. You should also be aware that other types of breaches may be dealt with under other procedures, such as the Student Code of Conduct, the Information Technology Acceptable Use Procedure, the Ontario Human Rights Code, or the Criminal Code of Canada.
As a member of the Georgian community, you are responsible for conducting yourself in a manner that reflects our commitment to academic integrity. This applies not only to your academic work on campus and online but also during work-integrated learning, as outlined in the regulations that follow.
8.1 Student academic responsibilities
8.1.1 Attendance
Faculty determine the requirements for success in your courses. You are responsible for attending classes (whether in-person or online), not only for course content, but also for information related to the progress of the course. Individual programs and courses may have specific attendance requirements. Please refer to the program outline and/or course outline and syllabus for details specific to your program and courses. Tests, examinations, graded assignments, clinical and field placements must be written/submitted/attended on the date and time specified (Section 10. Tests and examinations). Requests for academic accommodations must be made prior to the test/examination/graded assignment/clinical/field placement date. If documented, such requests may allow faculty to make alternate arrangements for assignments and tests or allow consideration of an incomplete contract if necessary (Section 4.3.4 Incomplete grade designation). It is important you reach out to Accessibility Services as early as possible to discuss any potential request for academic accommodations.
8.1.2 Student conduct
At Georgian College we are dedicated to fostering a learning and working environment where everyone feels seen, heard and knows they belong through demonstrable, accountable, and system-wide commitments to diversity, de-colonization, anti-racism, equity and inclusion. The learning environment and activities are determined by the faculty, and guided by mutual respect, common sense, propriety, courtesy, and etiquette. The faculty has the right to require you to cease and desist in actions that are disruptive or that impede with the positive learning environment in the course.
The faculty has the right to require you to leave the learning environment if a positive learning environment is impeded by your actions or comments. Also, you are not permitted to transmit, distribute, or make materials available that incite hate which are harassing or discriminatory. Illegal, abusive, obscene, threatening, intimidating, or demeaning transmissions to any individual or group are also prohibited. This includes but is not limited to the use of electronic mail systems and postings on electronic bulletin or message boards, Blackboard, webpages, and social media. Further actions may be taken under law, or the college’s Student Code of Conduct or the Human Rights Procedure.
8.1.3 Improper use of technology
A faculty member may ban any device, application or website deemed to impede positive progress of the class or deemed to compromise the integrity of tests or examinations. For detailed information about use of Information Technology, refer to the Information Technology Acceptable Use Procedure.
8.1.4 Acting with academic integrity
You are expected to act with academic integrity throughout your studies at Georgian College, in alignment with the ICAI’s Fundamental Values (2021) and Georgian College’s Academic Integrity Policy (AC-013). This includes the obligation to acknowledge sources; to protect your work; to avoid suspicion, falsification, and fabrication; and to tell the truth. Breaches of academic integrity are outlined in Section 8.2 Breaches of academic integrity. To support the education and awareness of academic integrity, you are required to successfully pass Georgian’s Academic Integrity module in Blackboard with a grade of 80 per cent or greater, in your first term of study.
8.2 Breaches of academic integrity
The following areas constitute the major types of breaches of academic integrity and are subject to a fair and equitable process and decision. Please note that a suspected breach on one or any portion of your work will result in the implementation of the breach of integrity process with a restorative outcome; there is no partial responsibility. Fees are not refunded if you are suspended, dismissed, or removed from courses or your program for breaches. Refer to the outcomes chart in Section 8.2 Breach of academic integrity.
8.2.1 Cheating
Cheating is the use of inappropriate, prohibited, or unacknowledged materials, information aids, or misrepresentation in any academic work. The unauthorized use of books, notes, online resources, electronic technology (including, but not limited to calculators, cell phones, tablets, voice and video recorders, and generative artificial intelligence (AI) (e.g., Chat GPT, Quilbot, list not inclusive) as well as conversation with others is restricted or forbidden in many instances of academic work and their use constitutes cheating. You may not request others (including commercial or free term-paper organizations) or any other form of unauthorized assistance to conduct research or prepare any work for you. In addition, you may not distribute or receive an examination, test or other course material that are not obtained with the permission of the professor.
8.2.1.1 Contract cheating
Contract cheating occurs when a student outsources their work to a third party with or without payment and then submits it for academic credit. The third party may include web-based services or people or resources known to the learner. Examples of contract cheating include, but are not limited to:
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Accessing or purchasing an assignment from a commercial source and submitting it as one’s own for marks.
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Having another person complete an assignment and submitting it as one’s own for marks.
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Outsourcing test or exam questions.
8.2.2 Fabrication
Fabrication is the falsification or invention of any information or citation in an academic work or program and employment documentation.
You must never falsify a record of any kind, nor permit another person to do so. Fabricating academic work, program and employment records includes, but is not limited to clinical permits, criminal reference checks, co-op jobs, placements, employer or placement supervisor evaluation, signatures, misrepresentation of academic credentials from other institutions, or submitting false information for the purpose of gaining admission or credits. An example of fabrication is making up data results for a lab or providing references which are not real.
8.2.3 Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the representation of another's words, computer code, design solution or ideas as your own regardless of how they are generated in any academic work. Whenever you use words, code, design, or ideas that are not your own when submitting scholarly work, you must cite your sources with an in-text citation, use quotation marks where appropriate, and include a list of references for the sources cited. Failure to do this constitutes plagiarism.
You must not allow anyone access to the work you have prepared for evaluation, whether in a test, examination, or assignment, etc. You are the only one who should receive credit for what you know, unless prior agreement has been reached with the faculty that group work (and group credit) is allowed. Therefore, publishing work on a public repository (ex. Course Hero) is prohibited.
Plagiarism of any part of a work is a breach of academic integrity; there is no partial responsibility. To avoid plagiarism, every source of information must be identified and properly documented according to an established writing convention determined by your faculty, for example, Georgian College Library Citation Guidelines, American Psychological Association (APA) style. Faculty have the right to request that you submit your work for electronic text matching and may ask you to submit proof of paper development, including your notes and drafts.
8.2.3.1 Self-plagiarism
Self-plagiarism is the resubmission of previous work or portions of work from another course or from the same course if you are repeating a course, without the permission of the current faculty. Self-plagiarism of any part of your work is a breach of academic integrity; there is no partial responsibility.
8.2.4 Facilitating a breach of academic integrity
Facilitating a breach of academic integrity occurs when you put yourself in a position where you could be suspected of having made your work accessible to others, having copied another’s work, or having used unauthorized aids. You alone should receive credit for what you know, unless prior agreement has been reached with the faculty that group work (and group credit) is allowed. Even the appearance of dishonesty may undermine faculty confidence in your academic work.
If you knowingly or negligently allow your work (including electronic files), portions of your work, or drafts of your work to be used by other students or aid others is a breach of academic integrity breach. This applies if you hide, misrepresent, or falsify information related to a breach of academic integrity. You are as responsible as a student who is involved in the incident directly, even though you may not yourself benefit from that act and are therefore subject to the same outcomes.
8.2.5 Impersonation
Impersonation is pretending to be another person for the purpose of deception. If you knowingly have someone impersonate you, either in person or electronically, for any academic work or activity, you are breaching academic integrity. Both the impersonator and you are subject to the same outcomes.
8.2.6 Denying access to information or material
Denying others access to academic resources or to deliberately impede the progress of another student or scholar is a breach of academic integrity. This would include giving other students false or misleading information, making library or shared resource material unavailable to others by stealing, deliberately misplacing, defacing, or destroying any of these resources, including computer files that are not your own.
8.2.7 Copyright violation
Copyright violation occurs when you use copyrighted material without permission. Canada’s Copyright Act, states the legal and permissible use of copyrighted material. Georgian College has adopted the Association of Canadian Community Colleges Fair Dealing Policy that provides guidance in copying according to the Fair Dealing exception under the Copyright Act. Copying beyond these limits of the guidelines and the Copyright Act, is a breach of academic integrity for the individual who made the illegal copy. You may also be subject to penalties under the Copyright Act .
8.3 Process for reviewing and resolving reported breaches of academic integrity
The following outlines the process for addressing cases of reported breaches of academic integrity at Georgian College, as well as related outcomes. Procedural fairness will be followed in all instances.
- If at any point in the process outlined below it is shown, to the faculty’s satisfaction, that the situation is free of academic integrity breach, no record is kept of the incident.
- If at any point in the process, you decide to withdraw from the course connected to the academic breach the process continues unless otherwise advised by the dean/associate dean or Office of the Registrar.
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If at any point during the process outlined below, you are unresponsive or unwilling to meet within the required timelines, the process proceeds, and the form is forwarded to the Office of the Registrar for processing. Your signature on the form is not required for an outcome to be applied or for a record to be created for you in Banner.
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If an academic breach is identified for group work, the process proceeds individually for every member of the group. In cases where one or more members of the group (a subset of the group) are identified to be responsible, only the individual members of the group held responsible will move through the process.
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The form remains part of your record in the Office of the Registrar; however, no indication of a breach of academic integrity is made on your official transcript. Regulatory bodies, partnership institutions or employers may require details around academic integrity breaches, such as number of instances and outcomes you have received. As with other documents in your record, access is restricted by the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, 1990 (Section 7. Academic and related records).
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From the time the suspected reported breach is found to the time it is recorded on your record, the process should take no longer than 15 working days. You are expected to continue your term while the process is taking place unless otherwise advised by a dean/associate dean, registrar/associate registrar in writing.
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Academic integrity breaches may also be identified by other employees such as co-op consultants, testing services staff, or any other department at the college who is involved in determining grades for academic work.
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If requested by you, the student success advisor can prompt reflection and support you to build your self-navigation and self-advocacy skills as it relates to the breach of academic integrity process. It is not the role of the student success advisor to negotiate on your behalf.
You can appeal breaches of academic integrity decisions by following the process outlined in Section 8.3 Process for reviewing and resolving reported breaches of academic integrity of the academic regulations.
Breach of academic integrity decision chart
| Step | Process | Owner | Resource |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Determine a review for a academic integrity breach is required . | Faculty | Exam, test, assignment, etc. |
| 2 | The faculty informs and consults with the program coordinator . | Faculty | Phone/email/teams |
| 3 | An initial meeting between the faculty and student must take place within five working days of first identifying suspected breach. The faculty member will email the student via Georgian email with an invitation to meet. After five days the breach process continues. | Faculty | Banner, timetable/outlook calendar, Georgian student email |
| 4 | Faculty contacts the Office of the Registrar via RORecords@georgiancollege.ca to determine any previous reported breaches | Faculty | Phone/email/or Banner |
| 5 | Faculty completes the Breach of Academic Integrity Form (BAIF) | Faculty | BAIF |
| 6 | Faculty conducts a meeting with you to discuss the breach of academic integrity. If third offence, provide warning to you that a fourth offence will result in an automatic dismissal from your program and the college for up to five years. | Faculty | BAIF and supporting evidence |
| 7 | Within 24 hours of the meeting, you are to review the BAIF form and either: a) acknowledge the offence, accept the outcome and sign. The form is then sent to the Dean/Associate Dean for final signature and forwarded to the Office of the Registrar, or; b) choose not to acknowledge the breach. If you do not wish to meet sign the BAIF form, or, you fail to provide the required documentation, the process continues | Student | BAIF |
| 8 | Faculty sends form and any supporting documentation to the Dean/Associate Dean within two working days of meeting with the student . | Faculty | |
| 9 | Dean/AD reviews form and supporting documentation and discusses with faculty. If a meeting with the student is required for clarification, the date and time of meeting must be determined within three working days of receiving the BAIF from the faculty. | Dean/associate dean | BAIF/phone/email |
| 10 | The Dean/Asscociate Dean finalizes/signs the BAIF and emails the form to you copying the Office of the Registrar, the student success advisor, and the faculty. In this same message, advise you of the academic appeal process as per section 10.2.1. If the academic breach is appealed, the Academic Appeal form (AAF) must be completed and submitted by you to the Office of the Registrar | Dean/associate dean | BAIF |
| 11 | The student information is updated in Banner by the Office of the Registrar. | Office of the Registrar | Banner |
| 12 | Implement any record changes needed because of the outcome | Faculty/Office of the Registrar | Blackboard, Banner |
8.4 Consequences of breaches of academic integrity
The guidelines below are used to assist in formalizing decision for breaches of academic integrity. The guidelines are to be used to formalize decision making of the consequences of a breach of academic integrity, with the understanding that circumstances can occur which may warrant a resolution that differs from the guidelines. As a student it is important that you engage in the process and take advantage of the learning opportunities that are presented to you as part of the process.
Any one or more of the outcomes listed below can be applied on your first, second and third breach. The consequence is recommended by the faculty in accordance with the severity of the offence and the number of past breaches you have. The final decision regarding the consequence applied will be determined by the Dean/Associate Dean.
A fourth breach will result in your automatic dismissal from the program and from the college for up to five years. After the fourth breach you may not return to the same program.
| Offence | Penalty |
|---|---|
| Faculty are encouraged to include opportunities for remediation and learning as part of the process. | |
| First | - Documented warning - Complete assigned remediation (e.g., Academic integrity module or other as identified by the academic area/department) - Assigned training or advising/academic support. - Re-submission of work involved (this may include a reduction or modification of the grade assigned to this work) - Mark of “0” in work involved |
| Second | - Assigned training or advising/academic support - Mark of “0” in work involved- Mark of “0” in the course - Immediate suspension from the college for the current term - Immediate suspension from the college for the current term, plus one subsequent term - Immediate dismissal from the program and suspension from the college for one year (12 months) |
| Third | - Assigned training or advising/academic support - Mark of “0” in the course - Immediate suspension from the college for the current term - Immediate suspension from the college for the current term, plus one subsequent term - Immediate dismissal from the program and suspension from the college for one year (12 months) - Immediate dismissal from the program and the college for three years |
| Fourth | - Automatic dismissal from the program and college for a period ranging from current term, plus one subsequent term, up to five years as determined by the dean/associate dean |
8.4.1 Breaches of academic integrity within Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council (OMVIC) courses
If you are a student studying within a OMVIC certification course a breach of academic integrity will result in a “0” in the course along with a 120-day suspension. You will not be permitted to retake the course or other courses within the OMVIC certification program during your suspension. Additional breaches of academic integrity may result of further penalties which may make you ineligible to complete your certification.
Breaches of academic integrity by students are reported by the college to OMVIC.