Student Affairs : Judicial Affairs : Faculty and Staff : Academic Integrity : Sample Green Sheet Statement

Sample Green Sheet Statement

The class syllabus gives you the opportunity to clearly spell out all of your expectations for your class.  Academic integrity is essential to the mission of San José State University.  You should include a statement about what constitutes as dishonesty in your class and provide your students with a list of the possible consequences if they make the choice to violate the Academic Integrity Policy.  Please feel free to use the following statement in your syllabus without citation.

Academic integrity is essential to the mission of San José State University.  As such, students are expected to perform their own work (except when collaboration is expressly permitted by the course instructor) without the use of any outside resources.  Students are not permitted to use old tests, quizzes when preparing for exams, nor may they consult with students who have already taken the exam. When practiced, academic integrity ensures that all students are fairly graded. Violations to the Academic Integrity Policy undermine the educational process and will not be tolerated.  It also demonstrates a lack of respect for oneself, fellow students and the course instructor and can ruin the university’s reputation and the value of the degrees it offers.

We all share the obligation to maintain an environment which practices academic integrity.  Violators of the Academic Integrity Policy will be subject to failing this course and being reported to the Office of Student Conduct & Ethical Development for disciplinary action which could result in suspension or expulsion from San José State University.

CHEATING:

At SJSU, cheating is the act of obtaining or attempting to obtain credit for academic work through the use of any dishonest, deceptive, or fraudulent means. Cheating at SJSU includes but is not limited to:

Copying in part or in whole, from another’s test or other evaluation instrument; Submitting work previously graded in another course unless this has been approved by the course instructor or by departmental policy. Submitting work simultaneously presented in two courses, unless this has been approved by both course instructors or by departmental policy.  Altering or interfering with grading or grading instructions; Sitting for an examination by a surrogate, or as a surrogate; any other act committed by a student in the course of his or her academic work which defrauds or misrepresents, including aiding or abetting in any of the actions defined above.

PLAGIARISM:
  
At SJSU plagiarism is the act of representing the work of another as one’s own (without giving appropriate credit) regardless of how that work was obtained, and submitting it to fulfill academic requirements. Plagiarism at SJSU includes but is not limited to:

The act of incorporating the ideas, words, sentences, paragraphs, or parts thereof, or the specific substances of another’s work, without giving appropriate credit, and representing the product as one’s own work; and representing another’s artistic/scholarly works such as musical compositions, computer programs, photographs, painting, drawing, sculptures, or similar works as one’s own.

Please keep in mind that students have their own interpretations of what constitutes cheating or plagiarism.  Having a well written statement about academic integrity will open the door for an enriching discussion.