8. Academic integrity

Higher education and society 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 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 endorses these values by promoting a culture of academic integrity in academic life, including research, teaching, learning and community engagement. Since these values are essential to the integrity of the learning experience and the transformative power of education at the college, any breaches of ethics and integrity will not be accepted. Such actions undermine not only the credibility of the educational experience but also the purpose of learning and the long-term value of the credentials earned by our students and alumni. 

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. 

At Georgian we're 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.  Georgian is committed to fostering a learning and working environment where everyone feels seen, heard, and knows they belong, grounded in equity, diversity, inclusion, anti-racism, and decolonization. Students play an important role in creating and sustaining this environment through their conduct across all learning spaces, including classrooms, labs, online environments, and clinical or field placements. Faculty also share responsibility for facilitating respectful and meaningful learning experiences that reflect these commitments. 

Faculty may require students to leave a learning environment if their actions or comments significantly disrupt the learning experience for others. Students are expected to contribute to a respectful and inclusive environment. The sharing or distribution of materials that promote hate, harassment, or discrimination is not permitted. Any form of illegal, abusive, obscene, threatening, or demeaning communication, whether directed at an individual or group, is prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to, emails, posts on bulletin boards or message boards, content on Blackboard, webpages and social media. Violations may lead to further actions in accordance with the law or college policies. 

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: 

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 knowingly 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. 

Plagiarism is the representation of another person's words, computer code, design solutions, or ideas as your own in any academic work. When you use words, code, design, or ideas that are not your own, you must properly acknowledge the source through in-text citation, quotation marks where appropriate, and a reference list. Failure to do so constitutes plagiarism. Use of artificial intelligence (AI) requires explicit permission from faculty before it is used. 

Plagiarism also includes facilitating or enabling others to present your work as their own. You must not share or provide access to work you have prepared for evaluation, including tests, examinations, or assignments, unless collaboration has been explicitly authorized by the faculty member. Publishing academic work on public repositories or sharing platforms, such as Course Hero, is prohibited. 

Plagiarism of any part of your work is a breach of academic integrity. To avoid plagiarism, you must clearly identify and properly cite all sources using the citation style required by your faculty member, such as APA or the Georgian Library Citation Guidelines. Faculty may require you to submit your work to electronic text-matching software and may ask for drafts or notes to confirm that the work is your own. 

Facilitating a breach of academic integrity occurs when you help someone else break academic rules, even if you’re not the one directly committing the misconduct. You put yourself in a position where your actions enable, support, or make it easier for another person to be academically dishonest (for example, making your work accessible to others, enabling the copying of another’s work, or providing the use of 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. 

Knowingly or negligently allowing 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. This applies if you hide, misrepresent, or falsify information related to a breach of academic integrity. You're 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. 

Impersonation is pretending to be another person for the purpose of deception in relation to academic work or activities. Knowingly allowing someone else to impersonate you, either in person or electronically, is a breach of academic integrity. 

Any Georgian student or employee involved in impersonation — whether acting as the impersonator or allowing themselves to be impersonated — may be subject to outcomes under these regulations. Where an impersonator is an external third party, the college may take appropriate action in accordance with applicable policies and procedures. 

These guidelines are intended to support fair and consistent decisions when determining consequences for breaches of academic integrity. At the same time, individual circumstances may be considered, and outcomes may vary where appropriate. As a student, it’s an opportunity for you to actively engage in the process and embrace the learning experiences that come with it to support your growth and success. 

The consequence is recommended by the faculty in accordance with the severity of the offence and the number of past breaches you have. Any one or more of the outcomes listed below can be applied to your first, second and third breach. 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.