Academic Integrity Policy

Approved by Faculty December 4, 2000

An integral part of the mission of Walla Walla University is to prepare its students to be responsible individuals with Christian values. The university expects all members of its community to have integrity, including a steadfast adherence to honesty. Faculty have a responsibility to foster integrity by example and instruction. Students have a responsibility to learn, respect, and practice integrity.  

All acts of dishonesty are unacceptable, including cheating, plagiarism, forgery, misrepresentation, falsification, prohibited collaboration, and prohibited use of files. Departments or schools may have specific criteria for behavior and skills suitable to their disciplines which will be communicated to students, typically in course syllabi.

I. In any violation of academic integrity discovered before a student has completed a degree or certificate, teachers and administrators will follow this procedure:

1. A teacher with reasonable evidence of a violation will talk privately with the student.
2. If after the conference the teacher is convinced that a violation occurred, the teacher will consult with the department chair/school dean on the evidence and the action to be taken. 
3. After consultation, the teacher may assign the student a failing grade for the assignment and/or for the class.
4. If any action is taken, the teacher will write a report describing the offense and will send it to the Associate Vice President for Academic Administration (Associate Vice President for Graduate Studies for graduate students), who will keep it on file for tracking further academic integrity violations. Academic Administration may consult the file when writing university recommendations. The file will be destroyed five years after the offense, unless the student is still in attendance.
5. If the teacher or chair/dean desires further action beyond assigning the student a failing grade in the course, a request for such action, separate from the report, should be sent to the Associate Vice President for Academic Administration (Associate Vice President for Graduate Studies for graduate students). Upon review of the report, this administrator may initiate a request for further action. Any  requests for further action will be forwarded to the Academic Standards Committee (Graduate Council for graduate students), which has the authority to take all further actions, including expulsion. Records of actions taken by the committee will be included in the student’s tracking file.
6. If multiple offenses occur, the Associate Vice President for Academic Administration (Associate Vice President for Graduate Studies for graduate students) will submit this case to the Academic Standards Committee (Graduate Council for graduate students) for consideration of the student’s expulsion.

II. In any violation of academic integrity discovered after a student has completed a degree or certificate, the teacher, department chair, or school dean may recommend appropriate action to the Academic Standards Committee (Graduate Council for graduate students).