Policy - AAC02001

The Institution is committed to principles of academic integrity and expects that its learners will undertake all assessments with honesty, fairness, respect, trust and responsibility. Academic integrity is essential to high-quality education and to the values and reputation of the Institution.

This policy aims to establish clear expectations and responsibilities for both the Institution’s staff and learners in promoting academic integrity. It unequivocally communicates that cheating and any form of dishonest behaviour are unacceptable and will have consequences on the students results and ultimate ability to continue their studies.

Academic misconduct: A breach of academic integrity (e.g. all types of cheating). Examples of academic misconduct include but are not limited to collusion, contract cheating, exam cheating, file sharing, impersonation, plagiarism and fabrication or falsification of data/ information, reusing previously submitted work, unauthorised and/or undeclared use of generative artificial intelligence.

Collusion: Unauthorised collaboration in preparation or presentation of work including knowingly allowing a learner’s own work to be copied by others. Collusion involves engaging in illegitimate cooperation with one or more than one learner to complete assessable work. This is different to working on group assignments that are set by lecturers, whereby authorised collaboration is encouraged and an integral part of the assessment task. Collusion includes working with a friend or a group of friends to write an essay or report that is meant to be an individual piece of work.

Contract Cheating: A type of illegal cheating where a learner requests someone else to produce all or part of an assessment task that is submitted as their own work, including paid arrangements with a third party. This can include asking another person (e.g. relative or friend) to assist with an assessment task or having them write an essay, report or some other kind of assignment, and is sometimes referred to as ‘ghost-writing’. Actions that support illegal contract cheating services are also considered breaches of academic integrity

Delegated Authority: The Academic Director (or delegate) who exercises delegated authority to resolve academic appeals, complaints, and learner disciplinary matters, including breaches of academic integrity.

Delegated Programme Lead: The academic staff member who exercises responsibility for making decisions in relation to academic misconduct for the programme. This may be a team leader, programme manager or another person nominated by the Head of Department or the Academic Director.

Exam Cheating: includes but is not limited to sitting an examination for someone else, using notes during closed-book examinations, attempting to copy from other learners, communicating with people inside or outside the exam venue while the exam is in progress, bringing prohibited items such as unapproved textbooks or calculators into the exam, using electronic devices to access information related to the exam while it is in progress.

Fabrication or Falsification of Information: Intentional creation, or unauthorised or undisclosed alteration, of any information, case studies or citation. For example, the use of artificial intelligence softwares like ChatGPT to fabricate information.

File Sharing: the unauthorised sharing of course content and assessment material on online study platforms or commercial contract cheating websites, or between individuals.

Institution: the Institution that is referred to in this policy is Future Skills Academy or Ashton Warner Academy.

Plagiarism: Submitting work that is not a learner’s own without acknowledging, citing or referencing the original sources of the work. It does not matter whether the words are changed to make them the learner’s own (e.g. use of text spinners and paraphrasing tools) or simply copied and pasted. This includes deliberate use of translation tools, synonym generators or similar, to rephrase existing content and copying/rephrasing content from samples/exemplars of assessments found in Moodle resources or using software to disguise plagiarism. When a learner is using another person’s thoughts and ideas, they must reference the source material.

Recycling or Resubmitting Work: Submitting (or resubmitting) work that has already been assessed without lecturer’s permission

Policy  

1. Breach(es) of academic integrity undermine the value of the Institution’s qualifications and its reputation,  and are not tolerated. The Institution takes a holistic and multi-stakeholder approach to upholding its academic integrity by: 
   1. Promoting a culture of honesty and integrity in every aspect of its academic offerings to assure the quality of its qualifications.  
   2. Promoting academic integrity by empowering learners and staff to adhere to academic integrity policies.  
      1. Academic integrity is discussed and promoted with learners at all stages of academic journey with the insitution, including before assessment tasks. 
      2. Academic integrity is discussed and promoted with staff at all stages of their employment through training, performance review and professional development opportunities. 
      3. Training is provided for all learners and staff on the meaning and importance of academic integrity. 
   3. Ensuring that staff and learners are provided with the necessary support. 
      1. The Institution recognises that learners and staff need support and guidance to build confidence and to ensure that the highest standards of academic integrity are upheld. 
      2. The Institution aims to create an environment that makes it possible for learners to seek assistance from lecturers, Student Success and Learning Support teams when needed. 
      3. The Institution recognises that additional support and assistance may be required for priority groups. 
2. Responsibilities 
   1. It is the responsibility of learners to: 
      1. Engage actively with the learning resources provided by the Institution. 
      2. Understand the expectations of the Institution with respect to academic integrity. 
      3. Comply with instructions for assessment tasks. 
      4. Submit their own original work for assessment in the correct format as per instruction’s and assessment requirements. 
      5. Acknowledge all ideas, designs, words and work of others, including in group assessments, in accordance with the expectations of the course. 
      6. Take reasonable steps to prevent other learners from accessing or copying their work. Any such collusion can unfairly advantage a learner or group of learners over others. 
      7. Provide accurate and truthful documentation to the Institution with regard to assessment and academic performance. 
      8. Not reuse previously subitted work. If a learner wants to build on their previous work (including when repeating a course), they should discuss this first with their lecturer and the work must be referenced accordingly. 
   2. It is the responsibility of lecturers to: 
      1. Demonstrate academic integrity through their own actions at the Institution. 
      2. Design assessment tasks to minimise the opportunity of breaches of academic integrity.  
      3. Develop learners’ understanding and skills in relation to academic integrity, including in the context of specific assessment tasks. 
      4. Maintain currency of training and skills in detecting breach(es) of academic integrity standards. 
      5. Investigate and report potential breach(es) of academic integrity using agreed systems. 
      6. Be fair, consistent, transparent and timely in dealings with learners and colleagues in managing academic integrity issues. 
   3. It is the responsibility of  the Head of Department (HoD) or Delegated Programme Lead to: 
      1. Support the lecturers in their team to meet their obligations regarding academic integrity. 
      2. Support the lecturers in their team in the investigation and management of alleged breaches of academic integrity. 
      3. Maintain records of investigations and outcomes of allegations. 
      4. Issue warning letters for academic misconduct. 
      5. Report repeated breaches of academic integrity by an individual to the delegated authority for disiplinary action. 
   4. It is the responsibility of the  Delegated Authority to: 
      1. Ensure all academic teams meet their obligations regarding academic integrity. 
      2. Advise academic teams in the investigation and management of alleged breaches of academic integrity. 
      3. Support faculty in the investigation and management of allegations of breaches of academic integrity 
      4. Investigate repeated breaches of academic integrity by any individual referred by the HoD or delegated programme leads in accordance with the Learner Discipline Policy. 
      5. Maintain records of investigations and outcomes of allegations. 
      6. Notify learners and relevant staff, including HoDs, delegated programme leads, Registry and Student Success, of decisions taken. 
      7. Strategically manage the Institution’s response to academic integrity issues and trends. 

Procedure 

1. The Institution provides practical resources to academic staff to help them identify and respond to academic integrity breaches. 
2. The Institution uses technologies, including but not limited to plagiarism detection software and authorship tools.  
   1. Plagiarism detection software is used consistently across all text-based assessments for all learners. 
3. Handling allegations of academic misconduct: 
   1. Allegations against a learner are handled in accordance with this policy and, if found proven, will result in appropriate penalties.  
   2. In considering allegations of academic misconduct, the Institution ensures that the following principles of procedural fairness are adhered to:  
      1. Allegations are appropriately investigated; 
      2. The investigation process is fair, transparent and consistent; 
      3. Learners are provided with the opportunity to respond to any allegation against them; 
      4. Decisions are made and communicated in a timely manner, usually within five (5) working days of final investigation meeting; 
      5. Decisions are made without bias; 
      6. Involved parties are supported and protected from prejudicial treatment; 
      7. Decisions are based on evidence 
   3. Lecturer investigates and reports potential breach(es) of academic integrity using Academic Integrity app (or other system when the app is unavailable as advised by the delegated programme lead). 
   4. The HoD or Delegated Programme Lead, issues warning letters for academic misconduct. 
   5. The HoD or Delegated Programme Lead, reports repeated breaches of academic integrity by an individual to the delegated authority for disciplinary action. 
   6. A learner facing an allegation of academic misconduct has the right to present their case formally and may be supported or accompanied by a support person during meetings and interviews. The support person provides emotional and moral support to the learner during the meeting. They shall not provide academic advice to the learner or act as the learner’s spokesperson during the interview. 
   7. The delegated authority investigates repeated breaches of academic integrity by any individual referred by the HoD or delegated programme lead in accordance with the Learner Discipline Policy. 
   8. The delegated authority maintains records of investigations and outcomes of allegations. 
   9. The delegated authority notifies learners and relevant staff, including HoDs, delegated programme leads, Registry and Student Success, of decisions taken. 
4. Penalties for proven cases of misconduct: 
   1. Minor first offence: Where the breach of academic integrity is considered to be unintentional, the work may be assessed as is, or the learner may be required to resubmit that assessment if allowed by the programme regulations. The lecturer shall provide explanation and guidance to the learner on the academic integrity issues. A written warning letter may be issued by the HoD or delegated programme lead. 
   2. Second offence or serious first offence: Where the breach of academic integrity is considered to be intentional, or the learner repeatedly breaches academic integrity, the evidence and its context should be provided to the HoD for review and depending on the degree of breach of academic integrity, the matter may be referred to the delegated authority. A written warning in the form of a disciplinary letter will be issued to the learner by the HoD or delegated authority. The learner may receive a reduced grade, be required to resubmit the assessment with a maximum grade of C-, or fail the assessment. 
5. Learners are advised of their right to appeal an academic integrity decision and/or penalty in accordance with the Appeals Policy. 

Approved policies and procedures are always intended to comply and conform with the current Ministry of Education, Tertiary Education Commission (TEC), New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) and other external agency legislation requirements and procedures.

AAC01002 - Appeals Policy 

AAC01014 - Resolution of Learner Complaints Policy

AAC01015 - Learner Discipline Policy 

(AAC01015-1) - Learner Rights and Responsibilities 

Education (Pastoral Care of Tertiary and International Learners) Code of Practice 2021   

Human Rights Act 1993 

NZQA Programme Approval, Recognition, and Accreditation Rules 2022