Reflection Paper: Academic Dishonesty
Academic dishonesty involves but not limited to cheating in assignments and examinations, taking part in an unauthorized collaboration, having plagiarized works, or engaging in any activity that offers the student unfair academic advantage. Also, academic dishonesty includes but not limited to acts of falsifying or fabricating documents of the university or submission of similar work for two courses when it is not permitted by the instructor (California State University Fullerton n.d). Moreover, academic dishonesty involves but is not limited to benefiting from academic help or trying to be part of a similar act. Academic dishonesty can also be described as any form of cheating that may involve attempting or taking part in any act that is meant to help the student gain credit for academic assignments through dishonesty, deception, fraud, or any means and methods that are not authorized (California State University Fullerton n.d). Academic dishonesty also entails taking ideas, work, or data of another person by paraphrasing or copying and presenting it was own without giving credit or acknowledging the source of the information. Such an act is regarded as plagiarism (California State University Fullerton n.d).
It is essential for members of the university to have a clear understanding of academic dishonesty. In this regard, when members of the university understand academic dishonesty they are discouraged from taking part in any acts that would be explained as a breach of academic integrity. It is crucial for members of the university to have a full understanding of academic dishonesty as they become aware of the consequences of violating academic integrity. Notably, the consequences of breaching academic integrity usually vary depending on the nature of their occurrence. For instance, some of the consequences of violating codes of academic integrity include the imposition of various sanctions to the student, as well as the risk of suspension and expulsion from the university (California State University Fullerton n.d). Thus, members of the university found to be involved in acts of academic dishonesty may face sanctions, such as dismissal from the academic unit affected, revocation of admission, suspension or expulsion from the university, and revocation of the degree of the affected student (California State University Fullerton n.d).
Cheating can be explained as an act where a student receives an unfair academic advantage. Cheating may entail a student preparing his or her assignment using the help of another individual who is not authorized to do so by the university. Moreover, acts of cheating may entail presenting homework or assignment that has been copied from another student. It may also involve a student presenting the work of an author as his or her own and failing to credit their source (California State University Fullerton n.d). There are also instances where cheating involves students utilizing unauthorized materials or engaging in collaboration with other people for purposes of gaining an academic advantage. Nonetheless, there are numerous strategies that a student should consider embracing to avoid cheating. For example, every student should be aware that it is their responsibility to maintain academic integrity by ensuring that they always submit or present honest work (California State University Fullerton). Also, it is the responsibility of every student to avoid any form of unauthorized collaboration in their homework and assignment because it is not allowed. Therefore, all students are obliged to doing their homework and assignment as required and expected by the instructors. Furthermore, each student should take it as their sole responsibility to protect their work from being accessed by the other students to ensure that they uphold academic integrity.
The incident that surrounds my case has had negative effects on my status as a student at the California University Fullerton. In this regard, the decision that was taken by the university to suspend and prohibit me from the university has led me into moments of reflection and regrets. From the time that the incident of academic dishonesty, I have encountered extremely difficult moments trying to imagine how my future would be if I would lose my status at Cal State University Fullerton. The moments of fear and regrets have in the past couple of months led me into understanding the need to ensure that I uphold academic integrity at all times. Furthermore, I understand that the incident that involved me has also had negative effects on the CSUF’s academic integrity (California State University Fullerton n.d). I am cognizant that my incident breached the core values of honesty and integrity of the institution. It is vital to understand that these core values are critical in the function of the academic community at CSUF. Thus, my actions truly lowered and tainted the integrity standards at the California State University Fullerton.
Finally, the incident that I was involved in has led me to a point of deep reflection regarding my academic future. Thus, it is apparent that I have learned some important lessons about the need to upholding academic integrity. In this regard, I have decided that I would follow the guidelines provided for academic integrity from this point going forward. I now understand that it is my sole responsibility to ensure that I adhere to the code of conduct of the CSUF to ensure that I do not get involves in any incident that may be taken as academic dishonesty. Also, I fully understand that I am responsible for presenting myself as a serious student through always submitting or presenting honest work. I also commit myself to always giving priority to all my academic works and avoid any instances of procrastinating, since I understand that it tends to tempt students into taking part in some acts that may be deemed as academic dishonesty.
Works Cited
California State University Fullerton. “UPS 300.021 Academic Dishonesty.” 2016. Available at:http://www.fullerton.edu/senate/publications_policies_resolutions/ups/UPS%20300/UPS%20300.021.pdf
California State University Fullerton. “TITAN INTEGRITY (144): Guide to Understanding and Avoiding Academic Dishonesty.” 2016. Available at: http://www.fullerton.edu/integrity/_resources/pdfs/Titan%20Integrity.pdf