Academic Integrity

ACE upholds rigorous academic standards, and students are expected to demonstrate personal and professional integrity. Academic honesty is essential to maintaining the integrity of professional practice. Disciplinary action may be taken against students whose behavior does not align with the College’s expectations. Each student is responsible for understanding and complying with the standards outlined in this policy. Lack of familiarity with these standards does not exempt students from being held accountable for adhering to them.

An academic integrity violation includes, but is not limited to:

Falsification or Fabrication

This involves making any oral or written statement that the individual knows, or should know, to be false. Falsification refers to altering existing information, while fabrication involves inventing or creating false information. Examples include, but are not limited to:

1. Providing false information to faculty, college employees, fellow students, or personnel at internship or clinical sites.
2. Submitting fabricated or altered information in any academic exercise, such as inventing data for an experiment, citing non-existent articles, or creating fictitious reference sources.
3. Offering a false excuse for missing an exam, quiz, or assignment deadline.
4. Falsely claiming to have submitted a paper or assignment.

​​​​Collusion and/or Complicity

Collaborating with another student without instructor approval on any examination or any other assignment. Collusion includes the exchange of materials or ideas verbally or non-verbally. Complicity includes helping or attempting to help another student to commit an act of academic dishonesty.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the use of another person’s ideas, data, or language without proper acknowledgment in written or oral academic work. Examples include, but are not limited to:

1. Quoting directly from a source without using quotation marks, footnotes, references, or proper citations.
2. Summarizing or paraphrasing ideas without giving credit to the original source.
3. Submitting work not written by the student, such as content from an online source, a paper written by someone else, or a paper obtained from a commercial service.
4. Failing to acknowledge one or more sources during an oral presentation.

Resubmission of Work

Submitting academic work, without prior approval, that has been previously submitted in identical or similar form to satisfy an academic requirement. This includes but is not limited to, self-plagiarism (i.e., submitting the same paper or project for credit in multiple courses without explicit permission).

ACE Exception: When retaking a course, students are required to meet all current course requirements, including participation in discussion board activities. If a student did not receive credit in their previous attempt, they may choose to resubmit assignments from the earlier course. However, work flagged as plagiarized in the original submission should not be resubmitted. All resubmitted assignments will undergo a fresh evaluation, which may result in a higher or lower grade. It is the student’s responsibility to inform the instructor about any resubmitted work.

Cheating

Cheating involves using or attempting to use unauthorized assistance, materials, devices, or study aids in any exam or academic work, as well as interfering with another student’s access to authorized resources. In general, all required coursework must be completed independently unless otherwise specified by the instructor or outlined in the assignment directions. Examples include, but are not limited to:

1. Copying from another student’s answers or work during quizzes or exams.
2. Collaborating with classmates to answer questions on quizzes, exams, or other assignments without authorization.
3. Using external websites that share ACE’s copyrighted or proprietary course and assessment materials.
4. Buying, selling, possessing, soliciting, transmitting, or using material that is claimed to be unreleased content from any assignment, including exams or quizzes.
5. Bribing or soliciting someone to obtain or provide information related to exams, quizzes, or other assignments.
6. Impersonating another person or allowing someone to substitute for you during an exam or other assessment.

Misrepresentation of Academic Record

Engaging in the misrepresentation, alteration, or tampering of any part of a student’s transcripts or academic record, whether before or after enrollment at ACE. Examples include, but are not limited to:

1. Submitting an unauthorized grade change form.
2. Altering or tampering with computer-based academic records.
3. Providing false academic information on an application.

Academic Integrity and Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (AI) refers to the general ability of computers to perform tasks and simulate human thought in real-world environments. Large Language Models (LLMs), the technology behind generative AI platforms like ChatGPT, are capable of comprehending and producing human-like text, making them valuable for tasks such as answering questions, translating languages, and creating content.

Today, AI plays a central role in many technologies, and in the context of higher education, it has the potential to transform teaching, learning, and administrative processes. The AI landscape is rapidly advancing, with its capabilities continuously improving and new tools being released at a steady pace.

At ACE, we recognize AI’s potential to enhance learning experiences. Thoughtful and strategic use of AI tools can support students in developing their skills, improving their work, and preparing for future careers. ACE generally encourages the use of AI tools for tasks such as brainstorming, generating ideas, conducting background research, refining research questions, drafting outlines, and checking grammar and style. These and other uses of AI tools are acceptable as long as they adhere to an assignment’s requirements and intended learning outcomes.

Below are guidelines for using AI at ACE. Please note that these guidelines are subject to change as the field continues to evolve. Ethical considerations, regulations, and policies will be updated regularly to reflect AI’s dynamic nature.

AI Guidelines

• Students are considered the authors of AI-generated content and are responsible for its accuracy and integrity.
• Students should not submit AI-generated content verbatim in any submissions (e.g., papers, discussion board posts, literature reviews). Instead, these submissions should primarily be written in the student’s own words and reflect the student’s original thinking and effort.
• Students are responsible for ensuring they use AI tools in accordance with ethical guidelines and academic integrity principles.
• Students are responsible for using AI tools with careful judgment, which includes several key practices:
  • Understanding how AI works, including its capabilities and limitations.
  • Ensuring that their use of AI aligns with ethical standards.
  • Verifying the accuracy, relevance, and reliability of AI-generated information.
  • Being transparent about their use of AI and disclosing it appropriately in their work.
• When incorporating AI-generated material into an assignment, it must be cited correctly according to the required citation style for the course. Students can access APA Style Resources through the Writing Center in Student Commons. Additionally, the ACE Library provides an AI Subject Guide for students and faculty, offering information on academic integrity, proper citation, and copyright. 
• To properly cite AI-generated content in APA format, both an in-text citation and a reference list entry are required:
  • In-Text Citation: (OpenAI, 2024) 
  • Reference List Entry: OpenAI. (2024). ChatGPT (August 21 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat 

If students are unsure whether the use of artificial intelligence is allowed, they should consult their course instructor for clarification.

Academic Integrity Alleged Violations

A. Documenting an Infraction

All alleged violations of academic integrity must follow these steps:

1. The faculty member will assign the assignment a grade of zero in the grade book and include a comment noting that it has been flagged for a potential academic integrity violation.
2. The faculty member will also request that the student provide any explanation they wish to include in the documentation submitted for review. The student has 24 hours to respond.
3. The faculty member will submit documentation of the suspected violation, including the student’s response, for review.
4. Based on the severity of the violation and the student’s prior record, the Program or Department Designee (PDD) will decide whether to dismiss the report or proceed with an informal or formal warning.
5. If the PDD determines that a formal warning is warranted, College Support Services will issue the formal warning to the student.
6. The PDD will provide grading guidance to the faculty member.

B. If a student receives a second formal warning of violating the academic integrity policy, the following steps will occur:

1. The PDD will promptly notify the student of the issue, provide documentation of the offense, and inform them that the matter is being escalated to the department’s Academic Disciplinary Committee (ADC) for review.
2. Following the notification of the ADC referral, the committee chair will email the student, offering them the opportunity for due process by submitting a written statement addressing the violation.
3. The ADC will review the offense and the student’s response and determine the appropriate academic and disciplinary sanctions.

C. Academic and disciplinary sanctions will be based on the seriousness of the situation and may include, but not be limited to, the following:

1. Documented counseling by faculty members, department chairs, program directors, Student Services representatives, the College Support Services, or any college official or administrator.
2. Reduction of the grade in the course.
3. Administrative withdrawal from the course with a grade of F.
4. Suspension from the institution for a specified period.
5. Permanent dismissal from the institution.
6. Filing of criminal charges.

D. Student Appeals

Since disciplinary sanctions are imposed at the program/department level, students’ appeal process for disciplinary issues begins at Step 2 of the Complaint and Appeal Policy-the college-level review.

Non-Retaliation Statement: No individual will face retaliation for filing a harassment or discrimination complaint, participating in an investigation, or submitting any type of appeal to the College. ACE treats retaliation as a serious violation of its policies and will investigate and resolve retaliation complaints through standard investigative procedures.