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Part A - Preliminary

Academic Honesty Policy


1. Commitment to Academic Honesty
2. Definitions
3. Related Documents


1. Commitment to Academic Honesty

Academic honesty is a fundamental principle of the University as an institution devoted to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research and service, and to respecting the value and dignity of each person. Conduct which breaches academic honesty attacks the integrity of learning and scholarship, contravenes academic values of respect for knowledge, scholarship and scholars, and represents a form of fraud.

2. Definitions

The following words have the following meanings in this document:

Academic dishonesty: behaviour which has the effect of or is designed or calculated to provide a misleading basis for admission, assessment or academic progression or any academic advantage or advancement to which the person is not entitled, and includes any conduct which constitutes a breach of the Assessment Policy.

Assessment: evaluation of a students performance by written or oral examinations, assignments, presentations, thesis or other means notified in Unit Outlines. It includes, but is not limited to:

  1. written tests and assignments;
  2. practical work, including field or clinical work;
  3. oral or aural examinations and tests;
  4. any other tasks required to be completed by a student, the results of which are wholly or partly used for assessment; and
  5. assessment conducted in any format or medium including, without limitation, paper-based, online, digital or electronic medium.

Collusion: occurs where a student works with others, without permission, or beyond the scope of permission granted intending to produce work which is then presented by individual students, himself or herself included, as their separate assignments and/or where the work is almost identical or mostly the work of one of them. Collusion can be a form of plagiarism.

Course: a program of study leading to an accredited higher education award of the University.

Examination: a central or School examination, defined as such in the Unit Outline. A central examination will be conducted within the formal examination period; a School examination will be conducted outside class time, and may be conducted in the formal examination period or at some other time during the relevant study period.

Groupwork: a formally established assessment task to be conducted by a number of students in common, resulting in a single piece of work for assessment or a number of associated pieces of work.

Lecturer-in-Charge: the person, nominated by the Head of School, and designated as having responsibility for coordinating the preparation of Unit Outlines and for coordinating results in accordance with School guidelines.

Legitimate co-operation: any constructive educational practice that aims to facilitate optimal learning outcomes through interaction between students.

Non-award course: a program of study leading to an award other than an accredited higher education award.

Plagiarism: occurs when a student presents as his/her own work the thoughts, ideas, findings or work which he/she knows to be the work of another person or persons, without acknowledgement, of the kind commonly required in academic practice, of the source.

Recycling: the submission for assessment of ones own work, or of work which is substantially the same, where:

  1. the work has previously been counted towards the satisfactory completion of another unit of study credited towards another qualification; and
  2. the Lecturer-in-Charge has not granted prior written consent for the student to reuse the work.

Student: includes

  1. a person who is enrolled in a program or unit of study or research offered by or at the University;
  2. a student of another university or other education provider who is granted temporary or ongoing rights of access to a campus or site of the University for study or research purposes;
  3. a person who was a student at the time of any alleged breach of academic honesty.

Unit: a particular subject area within a course, which has a specified number of credit points.

3. Related Documents

This policy should be read in conjunction with the following:

  1. Academic Regulations
  2. Assessment Policy
  3. Statute 10 Student Conduct and Discipline
  4. Research and Professional Doctorate Degree Regulations.