ACADEMIC INTEGRITY POLICIES & PLEDGE

You are a student at the University of San Carlos, onward to becoming a Carolinian Witness to
the Word, because you demonstrated the necessary intellectual ability and because USC sees a
potential in you to make a significant contribution to human thought and knowledge that
promotes progress and betterment of society and environment. At your respective department
in USC, you will be given special opportunities to do research and undertake scholarship that
will advance knowledge in your fields of study. Along the way, you will also face many
challenges.

As the world has become more complex and more dependent on online education and
resources, USC anticipates that you will pursue your studies with purpose and integrity. The
cornerstone of scholarship in all academic disciplines is HONESTY. The university, and all its
administrators and most especially your teachers, who are now your online learning facilitators,
expect that you will approach everything you do here honestly – whether doing assignments or
projects, writing a research or critical paper, or answering an exam.
Remember that one of the Carolinian core values of Virtus is integrity, a trait which is integral to
your academic life and even more so to your future career or profession.

According to Quintos 2017, academic dishonesty refers to “Any deliberate act of violation of an
educational institution’s prescribed rules or standard conditions on honesty that involves either
the (1) passing off or declaring of something – be it data, information, answer, or product – as
generated from one’s own sincere effort or work, when, it is not or (2) engaging in activities
that will directly or indirectly put the purpose and integrity of any academic exercise into
jeopardy”.

The following are some types and examples of academic dishonesty

1. Cheating - taking or giving any information or material which will be used to determine
academic credit. Examples include copying from another student’s test or homework; allowing
another student to copy from your test or homework, using material ls such as textbooks,
notes, or formula lists during a test without the professor’s permission; collaborating on an in-
class or take-home test or assignment without the professor’s permission
2. Misrepresentation - any act or omission that is intended to deceive an instructor for
academic advantage which includes lying to an online learning facilitator in an attempt to
increase your grade, or lying when confronted with allegations of academic dishonesty.
3. Fabrication - the use of invented or misrepresentative information, which includes creating
or altering experimental data and listing a source in your references cited that you did not
actually use in your paper.
4. Collusion - the act of two or more students working together on an individually- graded
assignment or project.

5. Duplicate submission – submission of the same output for two different classes without prior
informed consent of the online learning facilitators.

6. Conspiracy - working together with one or more persons to commit or attempt to commit
academic dishonesty.

7. Academic misconduct - the violation of the school or university policies by tampering with
grades or by obtaining and/or distributing any part of a test or assignment, such as obtaining
a copy of a test before the test is administered, distributing, either for money or for free, an
exam before it is administered, encouraging others to obtain a copy of a test before the it is
administered, changing grades in a gradebook, on a computer, or on an assignment and
continuing to work on a test after time is called.

8. Improper online and blended course use – includes accepting or providing outside
help on online assignments or tests.

9. Disruptive Behavior - any behavior that interferes with the teaching/learning process.
Disruptive behavior includes, but not limited to, disrespecting a professor or another student,
talking with microphones on during synchronous lectures, viewing and sharing material
unrelated to the course during a lecture, and posting inappropriate material or materials
unrelated to the course on discussion boards and other synchronous class activities.

10. Plagiarism - using another’s words, ideas, assertions, data, or figures and do not
acknowledge that you have done so or credit the author or authors for the work
copied.

The consequences for the different forms of academic dishonesty mentioned above can be very
serious, possibly including suspension or expulsion from the university. Any violation of the
rules outlined here and/or the USC student handbook, established by the instructor of the class,
or deviating from responsible conduct of online classes, may be considered violations of
academic integrity. As such, online learning facilitators decide how to handle violations of
academic integrity on a case- to-case basis as enumerated below:
1. Within a class, the online learning facilitator determines what action is appropriate
to take. Such action may include:

• requiring the student to redo the assignment or project for a reduced grade.
• assigning the student a failing grade for the assignment.
• assigning the student a failing grade for the course.
2. The online learning facilitator may also submit documentation to the Office of
Student Affairs in the form of a letter to file for a formal complaint that will appear on
the student’s permanent record.
3. Disciplinary action through the Guidance Office and/or Office of Student Affairs
wherein cases for alleged academic misconduct are reviewed and in the case for the
need of official hearings. If the latter results in a verdict, the offender are subject to a
full range of sanctioning outcomes, including probation, suspension, dismissal, or
other educational sanctions.

Conforme:

__________________________________________

Signature over printed name