Academic Integrity Policy

Beliefs about learning and environments that foster learning are derived from an understanding of person, the nature of nursing knowledge, and the mission of the University. Learning involves the creation of understanding through the integration of knowledge within a context of value and meaning. A supportive environment for learning is a caring environment. A caring environment is one in which all aspects of the human person are respected, nurtured and celebrated. The learning environment emphasizes collegial relationships with faculty and students.

One piece of academic honesty involves the written word. While not all written work is original, students must credit the authors’ work if their words are used in any papers. There are many websites that address what plagiarism is and what it is not. A sample of these may be seen at www.plagiarism.com.

The University policies regarding academic integrity are enforced in the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing. The code of academic integrity is found in the Florida Administrative Code, Regulation 4.001 and the link has been included in the following section of this handbook. Adherence to the Code of Academic Integrity is a professional competency and an expectation of all students. ANY act of dishonesty that violates the code and misrepresents your efforts or ability may be grounds for immediate failure of a course, or may result in dismissal from the College of Nursing.

A software program to assist faculty members in determining if plagiarism has occurred may be utilized in nursing courses and by nursing instructors. This service helps educators prevent plagiarism by detecting unoriginal or similar content in student papers. In addition to acting as a plagiarism deterrent, it also has features designed to aid in educating students about plagiarism and the importance of proper attribution of any borrowed content. You may either be asked to submit your written work for detection prior to handing it in at the scheduled time for a grade OR the faculty member may submit the paper on your behalf.

The code of academic integrity informs students about the consequences of cheating, plagiarism, and other forms of dishonesty. Specific consequences for each course may be delineated in the syllabus. These consequences may range from a grade of zero on the assigned work to failure of the course. Students should always read the entire syllabus to be aware of requirements, responsibilities, and consequences of failure to do as instructed.

The Code of Academic Integrity, Regulation 4.001, may be read at this location:

https://www.fau.edu/regulations/documents/chapter4/reg4-001-6-7-22.pdf