Mediation

What is Integrity?

Integrity means there are no divisions in an ethical person’s life, no difference in the way he/she makes decisions from situation to situation. (Josephson Institute of Ethics)

The key to Integrity is consistency – not only setting high personal standards for oneself (honesty, responsibility, respect for others, fairness) but also living up to those standards each day. One lives by these standards even when making life’s hard choices, choices that may be clouded by stress, pressure to succeed, or tempatation. (University of North Texas: www.unt.edu/csrr/academic_integrity.htm)

Integrity is doing what is right, even when it’s costly or difficult; being able true to your very best self; living up to the highest ethical standards; not compromising your values by giving in to temptation. (www.goodcharacter.com/integrity.html)

Loss of Integrity

People lose their integrity (or act without integrity) when they take risks without realizing it or fooling themselves into believing excuses. To identify risks, a person:

1. first needs to know the rules and
2. be aware of the facts

Unintentional acts do not excuse misconduct and ignorance is not a defense.

When deciding to take a risk, consider the consequences, in the future as well as now. If you get caught, you allow others to impose a punishment, one that you probably have no control over. This often puts you in a vulnerable position. Those who don’t get caught often continue to cheat because the outcome was positive and it seemed relatively easy to do. However, the stakes get higher and your probability of getting caught increases.

We must be honest about our actions and avoid excuses. If we fool ourselves into believing we’re not doing anything wrong, we can’t see the real choice we’re making and that leads to bad decisions. To avoid fooling yourself, watch out for excuses and ask your self “how would you feel if your actions were public and anyone could be watching over your shoulder. Would you feel proud or ashamed of your actions? If you’d rather hide your actions, that’s a good indication that you’re taking a risk and rationalizing it to yourself. (University of North Texas: www.unt.edu/csrr/academic_integrity.htm)

What is Academic Integrity?

Academic Integrity is a commitment, even in the face of adversity, to five fundamental values:

• Honesty
• Trust
• Fairness
• Respect, and
• Responsibility.

From these values flow principles of behavior that foster academic communities.(Center for Academic Integrity, 1999)

Why is Academic Integrity so important?

In the classroom, academic dishonesty (loss of academic integrity):

1. affects the learning of the student who is involved,
2. undermines the instructor,
3. pressures others in the class to keep up by cheating,
4. affects the class especially through grade distribution,
5. undermines the work of others and
6. undermines the reputation of the institution.

(University of North Texas: www.unt.edu/csrr/academic_integrity.htm)

UNLV’s Policy

Page 56 of Undergraduate Catalog Fall 2002- Spring 2004

What could happen if found responsible for Academic Dishonesty?

Academically:

1. Do the assignment over
2. Get a zero for the assignment
3. Flunk the class (most common) or
4. Removal from college or major

Judicially:

1. Accept the academic sanction
2. Judicial Warning
3. Judicial Probation
4. Letter of Understanding/Reflection Exercise
5. Transcript Notation (future proposal)
6. Participation in Ethical Decision-making Course (future proposal), or
7. Suspension from the institution or NSHE system.

What procedures are followed if a student is charged with Academic Dishonesty?

Access the UNLV Student Conduct Code and Policies here (PDF File Format) for more information.

“This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.”
- Shakespeare, (Hamlet 1.3.78)