Academic Integrity

Northwest Nazarene University seeks to establish academic integrity within the University community.  Such integrity is fundamental to the principles of the Judeo-Christian tradition and is consistent with the nature and culture of Northwest Nazarene University.  This serves to promote the desired outcomes of Christlike Character and Academic Excellence by fostering a spirit of honest intellectual inquiry.  The University has identified as unacceptable practices including, but not limited to:

1. Cheating in its various forms, whether copying another student’s work, allowing your own to be copied, using unauthorized aids on an examination, having someone else take an exam for you (in class or take-home), submitting as your own another person’s work, rescheduling an exam relying on a false excuse;
2. Plagiarizing, e.g. presenting as your own the words or ideas of another person, including inadequate documentation of sources (electronic, Internet, or print) and excessive dependence on the language of sources even when documented, relying on a similar order of sentences while altering a few words or word order;
3. Submitting the same work for more than one course or assignment without prior written approval from the professor;
4. Using copyrighted material without appropriate citation or copying software or media files (such as music, movies, etc.) without permission;
5. Signing a roll sheet for another student who is not in class;
6. Fabricating data:  This includes falsifying or manipulating data to achieve desired results, reporting results for experiments not done (dry labbing), or falsifying citations in research reports;
7. Denying other students access to academic information whether in the classroom, library (by hiding books, for example), or computer lab;
8. Destroying, altering, or tampering with another student’s work to impede academic progress;
9. Stealing problem solutions from a professor or computer file;
10. Falsely reporting completion of reading assignments;
11. Altering, falsifying, or misrepresenting an academic document;
12. Helping someone alter or falsify an academic document;
13. Communicating false information whether oral, written, electronic or nonverbal;
14. Forging signatures.

Students who either witness or have knowledge of violations are responsible for informing the instructor or appropriate University personnel.

At the instructor’s discretion, depending on the nature of the offense, the student’s grade or ability to earn credit for the course may be affected.  All students who violate the principles of academic integrity will be reported to the appropriate academic school and the Vice President for Academic Affairs.  Violations may also lead to further disciplinary action through the Academic School Dean in cooperation with the office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs.  This report shall include a brief description of the offense.  In serious cases, or cases that constitute repeat offenses, the student may be suspended or expelled.