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 values of truth, transformation, and community by fostering a spirit of honest intellectual inquiry. The University has identified the following as unacceptable practices, regardless of the environment in which they occur (face-to-face, online, or blended classrooms). These practices include, but are not limited to:

  1. Cheating in its various forms, whether copying another student's work, allowing your own work to be copied, completing work, in whole or in part, for another student, using unauthorized aids, including Internet resources, on an assessment, having someone else take an exam for you (in-class, take-home, or online), submitting another person's work as your own, giving a false excuse to have an exam rescheduled;
  2. Plagiarizing, e.g. presenting the words or ideas of another person as your own, including inadequate documentation of sources (electronic, internet, or print) and excessive dependence on the language of sources even when documented, by using a similar order of sentences while altering a few words or word order;
  3. Submitting the same work from a current or previous 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. Checking into class for another student who is tardy or absent;
  6. Fabricating data, including 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, the library (by hiding books, for example), or a computer lab;
  8. Destroying, altering, or tampering with another student's work to impede academic progress;
  9. Obtaining course materials and/or problem solutions from a professor, student, or online source without professor authorization;
  10. Falsely reporting completion of reading or other course assignments;
  11. Altering, falsifying, or misrepresenting an academic document;
  12. Communicating false information whether oral, written, electronic, or nonverbal;
  13. Submitting work using AI-generated output without prior written approval from the instructor;
  14. Forging signatures; and/or
  15. Aiding others to engage in any of the above violations.

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

Student identified to be in violation of the academic integrity policies outlined above during their college matriculation are subject to the following discipline by the Vice President for Academic Affairs, in addition to actions taken by the respective professor:

  1. First reported violation - professor's discretion (see below)
  2. Second reported violation - failure in the course (if the student has not already failed the course)
  3. Third reported violation - dismissal from the university

Faculty members must notify students of their violation of the academic integrity policy and give students an opportunity to respond. Because violations of academic integrity cumulatively lead to dismissal, faculty members are required to report each case to their dean and to the Academic Affairs Office.