For Instructors Using Turnitin
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY and ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Academic integrity is a core value of the University. It is essential to our scholarly and creative work and to our teaching. Students need your support if they are to develop an appreciation of academic culture and the value it places on citation as a means of tracing the history of intellectual contributions to research. The rapid evolution of generative artificial intelligence (AI) makes clear communication to students of university-wide and course-specific academic integrity expectations especially important now. Taking small amounts of class time to explain your expectations and their connection to course learning goals can foster student engagement and motivate academic integrity. The Center for Learning and Student Success (CLASS) supports faculty in promoting academic integrity and collaborates with schools and colleges to implement our policy for academic integrity developed in consultation with the University Senate. Please contact aio@syr.edu if you have questions.
Academic Integrity Syllabus Language
Syracuse University’s Academic Integrity Policy reflects the high value that we, as a university community, place on honesty in academic work. The policy holds students accountable for the integrity of all work they submit and for upholding course-specific, as well as university-wide, academic integrity expectations. The policy governs citation and use of sources, the integrity of work submitted in exams and assignments, and truthfulness in all academic matters, including course attendance and participation. The policy states that any work a student submits for a course must be solely their own unless the instructor explicitly allows collaboration or editing. The policy also requires students to acknowledge their use of other peoples’ language, images or other original creative or scholarly work through appropriate citation. These expectations extend to the new, fast-growing realm of artificial intelligence (AI) as well as to the use of websites that charge fees or require uploading of course materials to obtain exam solutions or assignments. Students are required to ask their instructor whether use of these tools is permitted – and if so, to what extent – before using them to complete any assignment or exam. Students are also required to seek advance permission from instructors if they wish to submit the same work in more than one course. Failure to receive this permission in advance may violate the Academic Integrity Policy. Under the policy, instructors who seek to penalize a student for a suspected violation must first report the violation to the Center for Learning and Student Success (CLASS). Students may not drop or withdraw from courses in which they face a suspected violation. Instructors must wait to assign a final course grade until a suspected violation is reviewed and upheld or overturned. Upholding Academic Integrity includes abiding by instructors’ individual course expectations, which may include the protection of their intellectual property. Students should not upload, distribute, or otherwise share instructors’ course materials without permission. Students found in violation of the policy are subject to grade sanctions determined by the course instructor and non-grade sanctions determined by the School or College where the course is offered, as outlined in the Violation and Sanction Classification Rubric. Students are required to read an online summary of the University’s academic integrity expectations and provide an electronic signature agreeing to abide by them twice a year during pre-term check-in on MySlice.
[Insert here any course-specific expectations consistent with the Academic Integrity Policy, including expectations regarding the use of artificial intelligence.]
Artificial intelligence is expanding rapidly, including tools that generate text, images, and music as well as software designed for a wide range of specific goals, from avoiding common grammar errors in Mandarin to communicating following a stroke. The use of artificial intelligence may be appropriate for students to achieve some learning goals and inappropriate for other learning goals. Faculty and instructors are encouraged to include a statement in their syllabus explaining whether and how the use of artificial intelligence will be incorporated or prohibited. Turnitin now includes a built-in AI detection tool. As Turnitin acknowledges, this tool incorrectly identifies student work as AI generated in some instances and fails to identify AI-generated work in others and “should not be used as the sole basis” for a suspected academic integrity violation. Instructors who intend to use Turnitin or other AI detection software should include syllabus language informing students of this intent and should share output of that software with students so they can respond directly to any concerns of inappropriate use of AI. (Students do not have access to output of the Turnitin AI detector.)
Exemplar Artificial Intelligence Language:
Using artificial intelligence to complete [some/all] assignments and exams is prohibited because [developing your own voice as a writer/learning to code in Python/etc.] is a key goal of this course. AI detection tools including Turnitin’s built-in AI writing indicator, may be used as one factor in evaluating potential inappropriate use of AI in this course.
Course Failure as a Grade Sanction for Level 1 Violations
Faculty and instructors wishing to exercise their option to levy grade sanctions up to and including course failure for any violation – including those violations classified as Level 1 in the Academic Integrity Policy – should inform students of this intent by including a statement to this effect in their syllabus. Suggested language:
The Violation and Sanction Classification Rubric establishes recommended guidelines for the determination of grade penalties by faculty and instructors, while also giving them discretion to select the grade penalty they believe most suitable, including course failure, regardless of violation level. Any established violation in this course may result in course failure regardless of violation level.
Academic Integrity Online
For courses that include online assessments (tests, quizzes, etc.), maintaining academic integrity can be a challenge. The Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence (CTLE) and the Center for Learning and Student Success (CLASS) have developed some useful resources to help faculty develop effective online assessments. Some faculty have had success using Zoom as a proctoring tool for timed examinations. University Counsel has determined that using Zoom or other webcam-based proctoring approaches is not a violation of student privacy rights. Please let students know in advance if you plan to use any online proctoring methods. Instructors may wish to supplement the syllabus statement on academic integrity (above) with additional information on the conduct of online assessments. For example:
“All academic integrity expectations that apply to in-person quizzes and exams also apply to online quizzes and exams. In this course, all work submitted for quizzes and exams must be yours alone. Discussing quiz or exam questions with anyone during the quiz or exam period violates academic integrity expectations for this course.”
Instructors may also wish to include a statement warning students of the potential risks of using websites that that charge fees or require uploading of course materials to obtain exam solutions or assignments completed by others. For example:
“Using websites that charge fees or require uploading of course material (e.g., Chegg, Course Hero) to obtain exam solutions or assignments completed by others and present the work as your own violates academic integrity expectations in this course and may be classified as a Level 3 violation, resulting in suspension or expulsion from Syracuse University.”
Syllabus Statement, Guidelines and Consent Forms for Instructors Who Use Turnitin
In order to comply with University policies and federal and state law, including privacy and intellectual property law, instructors who plan to use the software program Turnitin for detection of potential plagiarism are required to notify students in advance of their intent to do so. Furthermore, instructors are required to use one of the two submission methods listed below. Failure to adhere to these policies may be taken into consideration when faculty interviewers review suspected academic integrity violations.
- Students submit their own papers or other assignments directly to Turnitin via Blackboard so that both student and instructor can view the results, OR
- Students sign a statement* giving consent for submission of their papers to Turnitin.
Instructors who use Turnitin should also include a syllabus statement informing students that they plan to use Turnitin and describing how they will use it. The example below is designed for courses in which the instructor allows students to submit their papers to Turnitin before the instructor does so. Instructors should tailor their syllabus statement to specify how they will use Turnitin in each course.
“This class will use the plagiarism detection and prevention system Turnitin. You will have the option to submit your papers to Turnitin to check that all sources you use have been properly acknowledged and cited before you submit the paper to me. I will also submit all papers you write for this class to Turnitin, which compares submitted documents against documents on the Internet and against student papers submitted to Turnitin at Syracuse University and at other colleges and universities. I will take your knowledge of the subject matter of this course and your writing level and style into account in interpreting the originality report. Keep in mind that all papers you submit for this class will become part of the Turnitin.com reference database solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of such papers.”
*The consent statement should be signed and dated and should include language authorizing the instructor to submit student papers or assignments “to the plagiarism detection and prevention system Turnitin.” The consent statement should make clear that submitted student work will be compared to other student papers as well as to Internet documents and will become part of the Turnitin.com reference database, for example:
“By signing below, I give permission for the submission of all work I turn in for [COURSE NAME] to the plagiarism detection and prevention system Turnitin, which compares submitted documents against documents on the Internet and against student papers submitted to Turnitin at Syracuse University and at other colleges and universities. I understand that all assignments submitted for this class will become part of the Turnitin.com reference database solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of such papers.”
To view the policy in its entirety, please visit: Academic Integrity: Expectations and Policy.