Academic Misconduct

What is academic misconduct?

Academic integrity is critical to maintaining fair, knowledge-based learning at Portland State University. Academic misconduct in any form is a serious violation: it undermines the bonds of trust and honesty between members of our academic community, degrades the value of a degree and puts at risk those who may eventually depend upon our students' knowledge and integrity.

Examples of academic misconduct include, but are not limited to:

cheating on an exam
copying from someone else
submitting work for credit that was not the student’s own original work (including plagiarism and paraphrasing without citing sources)
stealing examinations or course materials
knowingly and intentionally assisting another student in any of the above

If you are unsure of whether or not academic misconduct has occurred, the Student Conduct office is available for a consultation, which may involve reviewing student-submitted material or the situation to determine if it violates any aspect of the code and if a complaint should be submitted.

Academic Misconduct and AI

Artificial Intelligence (AI) programs have rapidly expanded in their technological capabilities and access to the average person. While there are phenomenal prospects for the use of AI to assist in almost any field, students should be cautious about the use of AI for academic work. AI programs generate content by pulling from a number of sources and while it can appear to be an easy solution for academic work, there are a number of concerns that accompany the growing use of AI.

At PSU, the expectation under our Code is that work students submit is their own original work, completed without the use of unauthorized materials and tools. This is stated in section 9 of the Code, "Unless otherwise specified by the faculty member, all submissions, whether in draft or final form, must either be the Student’s own work, or must clearly acknowledge the source(s)." While the code doesn't explicitly prohibit AI technology, it does prohibit cheating, the use of unauthorized materials in the general sense, which would include tools like AI generators, and plagiarism, which is using content without citing appropriate sources.

Please know, the use of AI (or any other unauthorized materials), without prior explicit authorization from the instructor assigning the work, would be considered a potential violation of the code and would be referred to the Director of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution for review and possible disciplinary action. If you do use materials and sources, including AI generators, that are not your own original work, you would need to properly cite the sources of that work to give appropriate attribution to the author.

When an instructor does permit the use of AI programs, or any other resources and materials, they should be used as specified in the assignment instructions. If you have questions about the use of any resources and materials, or the proper citations of sources, check with your instructor, use the library, or reach out to the Writing Center.

For Students

What should I do?

If you have received an email from our office regarding a possible violation of the Code of Student Conduct and Responsibility, you have the opportunity to participate in the review process, share your perspective, and provide any information/documentation you’d like included in the review. You are encouraged to participate in this process, though are not obligated to. If you do not participate, the review will proceed without the benefit of your input, however you will not be penalized for not participating. You have the option to bring a support person with you to any meeting, that person doesn’t have an active role in the process and cannot have been involved or witness to the allegations. If you have any questions or would like to review the conduct Code and process prior to participating, please email us at conduct@pdx.edu.

For Faculty

What should I do?

If you believe that a student has been academically dishonest, the following steps are recommended:

The student should be made aware of the situation. This can be done via email or in person. Simply outline how you came to the conclusion of academic dishonesty and what your next steps will be.
Give a proper grade for the assignment or exam in question. Grading of the assignment is separate from the conduct process and any disciplinary action that may be taken as a result. In most cases, this will be a "0" or "F” – however grading is the authority of the instructor and can be determined based on your own discretion. It is recommended that you have a consistent practice in grading as a result of academic misconduct that is outlined in your syllabus for the course. Please note, per the policy instructors may not grade beyond the specific assignment or exam in question (i.e. giving the student an automatic "F" for the entire course).
Report the matter to the Conduct Office. This can be done through our online submission system or by contacting us at conduct@pdx.edu or (503) 725-4422. Any documentation you can provide is helpful.

Recommendations for addressing AI generators

Consider in advance whether you will allow the use of AI programs in your course. If you choose not to allow AI programs, be clear about this in the syllabus and discuss it at the start of the term. If you choose to allow AI programs, or even use them for assignments, clarify the expectations around the proper use, limitations on assignments, and any pitfalls students may encounter while using them (i.e. lack of fact checking, limited assessment capabilities, etc.) and how to work around them.
Talk with students about both the potential and pitfalls in AI generators. For research on talking points, you may visit https://journals.sfu.ca/jalt/index.php/jalt/article/view/689 or https://www.ap.org/discover/artificial-intelligence
Review your assignments and writing prompts, you may want to consider updating assignment structures and prompts to avoid them being easily solved/written by AI. Contact the Office of Academic Innovation for additional support on course structure and learning assessment. Become familiar with a few AI generators. Use your own prompts in the programs to be able to see what responses they provide so you can identify AI generated work when evaluating student assignments.
Additional programs have been developed to detect the use of AI in student work. Use the same caution with these programs as we recommend to students. Many of the programs are new, inaccurate, or ineffective. Do not rely entirely on these programs to determine the use of AI.

What happens next?

After a report is made by an instructor, the Director of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution will review the report to determine if the Conduct office has purview, refer to other campus offices if appropriate, and assess if there is a potential policy violation. If the information reported falls under the purview of the Code and may constitute a policy violation, the Director will initiate a Conduct Review.

In the Conduct Review process, the Student will be provided:

Notice of the report, allegations, and which sections of the Code are alleged to be violated,
Opportunity to participate in the conduct review, via either a meeting or written statement, and provide information relevant to the allegations for review (participation is not required; students may opt out and an outcome will be determined without the benefit of their input),
The ability to bring a support person with them to any meeting,
Notice of outcome of the review and, if found responsible, any sanctions,
Opportunity to appeal the outcome, and
A right to privacy with regards to their conduct record.

Please note that faculty members who report academic misconduct are granted the right to be notified of the outcome of the report by our Code of Student Conduct and Responsibility, upon request. If you are interested in learning more, please contact our office by writing to conduct@pdx.edu or calling (503) 725-4422.