The Integrity Blog explores timely issues regarding honesty, responsibility, and fairness in academic settings. Every day institutions of higher education face ethical and moral challenges. This blog both acknowledges the current environment and offers students an opportunity to discuss these dilemmas in an effort to promote integrity here at the University at Buffalo.
Written by Evelyn Nam, Student Integrity Ambassador
Procrastination is one thing students should try to avoid so that they can achieve their academic goals.
As the semester begins, students are most likely to organize the semester schedule based on their course syllabus. This period can be stressful and exciting at the same time for most students. For those who want to finish the semester strong, it would be good to organize your plans for the final assignment or exam, and therefore avoid procrastinating.
Negative Impacts of Procrastination:
1. Ruins Academic Performance
Procrastination can cause a variety of issues for students academically. When students start to procrastinate, they will not have enough time to work on the assignment. Sometimes, students cannot achieve their best results on the assignment and submit it because they are running out of time. If the assignments are a large portion of the course grade, it will impact the course grade as well. Additionally, procrastinating on studying can cause a bad quiz or exam grades, which can have a major impact on your final grade.
2. Causes Violations of Academic Integrity
Students violate academic integrity by using online sources when they do not have enough time to work on their assignments or study for exams by procrastinating. If this kind of situation repeats, students will get used to using online sources in their work without trying themselves. It is basically cheating themselves by not giving themselves enough time to study, which can lead to academic integrity violations.
Here are several ways to avoid procrastination:
1. Check your assignment due dates in advance!
It would be better if you checked the due dates of your assignments regularly. The best option is to write down all the due dates of your assignments right away after you get your syllabus with your assignment’s due dates. The benefits of knowing due dates in advance are that you can prioritize the work and start to work ahead of time. Then, you will have enough time to finish your work and go over it several times if you want to. Even though you wrote down all the due dates, you have to pay attention to announcements just in case they change the due dates for assignments. Using a planner or mobile calendar is a good way to track your schedule regularly and revise it conveniently.
2. Clarify priorities when you set up the plan!
Even though you write a to-do list in your planner, each task takes a different amount of time and effort to finish. It should be a priority to work on specific assignments first. I would recommend picking the task that is urgent and can be done quickly for the first one to work on. If you start to work on a task that takes a long time to finish, you might get delayed in finishing other work because you cannot assume how long it will take. Also, breaking down each assignment into smaller tasks is helpful as well. Using the planner will make it easier for students to visualize how much work each assignment might take.
3. Ask for help!
Don’t worry if you do not know how to prioritize and write a planner. There are a lot of resources where you can get help. If you have any questions about how to set up the plan in a specific course, do not hesitate to ask your professors or teaching assistants. They can help you prioritize the assignments or exams by the grading scale. Also, they might be able to provide you with tips for success in that course as well. It is always better to ask for help instead of procrastinating or violating academic integrity.
Sometimes, it is not always about academics. Students struggle for various reasons in college. The University at Buffalo offers different kinds of counseling services for students for free. Even though you do not want to go in and get help, they also have a lot of resources to support students. Here is the link for University at Buffalo counseling services: https://www.buffalo.edu/studentlife/who-we-are/departments/counseling.html
Even if you’re already having a hard time with your academics at the beginning of the semester, you have enough time to resolve the problem before the end of the semester. I hope this blog is helpful for you to manage your time. Welcome back to school and have a wonderful semester!
Written by Hakem Saeed, Student Integrity Ambassador
Integrity holds great importance when applying to medical school, PA school, dental school, pharmacy school, or any other health-related professional school. To better understand integrity, it’s essential to understand what it entails. Honesty, trustworthiness, and acting in good faith are some things that come to mind when thinking about integrity. These qualities are fundamental for health professionals in earning and maintaining the trust of both patients and their families, as well as fellow colleagues.
As a pre-health student, every decision you make in your undergraduate years will shape your journey towards securing that spot in your desired professional school. Grades seem to be the biggest stressor for many pre-health students, and rightfully so, as grades are the first thing that admissions teams look at when evaluating a candidate. This could sometimes lead students to do things that could potentially hurt their chances of achieving their goal to become a health provider.
Explaining a bad grade in a medical school interview is much easier than having to explain an academic integrity violation. This blog will hopefully shed some light on how to avoid being in a position where you could face such a violation and to stop you from getting into the pre-health school of your choosing.
1. Stay on top of your schedule in terms of assignments, quizzes, and exams.
One of the biggest reasons why some students violate academic integrity is due to them not having enough time to complete an assignment or study for a quiz or exam. Under this stress, some students think their only option would be to cheat by using AI to write their term paper or utilizing online sources such as Chegg to complete an assignment. By doing this, students cheat on themselves by not giving themselves the opportunity to grasp the content, and even facing an academic dishonesty violation.
2. Seek help from your professors, TA’s and peers.
As a pre-health student, many of the courses needed are hard and students oftentimes struggle in them. Utilize your resources to get the help you need in that dreadful organic chemistry class and to avoid even thinking of cheating yourself by typing that homework question into Google.
3. Study, study, STUDY.
I don’t think any pre-health student would need me to tell them how important studying is. Throughout high school, I never really needed to study and still managed to make it through my classes. However, in college this will not cut it. Learning how to study is an essential part of being a pre-health student, as this won’t end when you put that white coat on. Sharpen your studying now so you can thank yourself in the future.
4. Have fun!
The journey to a professional health school is a marathon, not a sprint. By mastering tip 1, you will also be able to make some time to destress. Enjoy the years of undergrad before you begin the real grind.
Written by Kiara Wisniewski, Student Integrity Ambassador
As the semester starts to speed up, it’s crucial to maintain the keys to success. But, what are the keys to success? The keys to success are the resources you have available to you, and what you can do with them. I’m sure everyone has been told there are resources, but what exactly are they, and why should you use them?
Resources are here to help you succeed. Whether it’s a professor’s office hours, tutoring, or study centers, UB has many resources for students. They are available if you want them, but not necessary. You should take advantage of these opportunities because it may help you to feel less stress, pressure, or frustration when completing assignments. Creating a plan for your semester will allow you to set aside and focus on school before it’s midterm time and suddenly everything feels so fast.
It may be easy to push things off, but then it can get more tempting to resort to things like cheating or plagiarizing. When students are stressed or overwhelmed, that’s often when it gets harder to maintain academic integrity. However, if you set yourself up for success by sticking to a plan and using available resources, it can deter you from considering actions that might compromise your academic integrity.
Written by Maria Disorbo, Graduate Assistant
Last week the Office of Academic Integrity gave out six awards for distinction in academic integrity to one student and five faculty and staff members. These awards are given out to members of the UB community that set an example for others through their commitment to integrity. This can be done in many ways: modeling academic integrity for others, demonstrating commitment to integrity through new initiatives, acting with courage while confronting dishonesty, upholding these standards beyond the normal expectation, and exhibiting the values set forth by the International Center for Academic Integrity.
This year’s student winner was Winifred Mei who is a DDS graduate student. Winifred’s efforts were noted in her reviving the School of Dental Medicine’s Student Professionalism and Ethics Association (SPEA).
Our five faculty and staff winners were from various areas across the university. Dr. David Emmanuel Gray from the Department of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences won for his proactive approach to integrity in the classroom. Dr. Gray does this through honor agreements, philosopher’s stones to be used for extensions when needed and his clear communication of expectations in his classes.
Dr. Oliver Kennedy from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering won this distinction because of his new initiatives started in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Dr. Kennedy is most noted for serving on the Promoting Academic Integrity Committee and co-authoring the new departmental values statement.
Kaeleigh Peri, also from the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences won also for her focus on new initiatives in SEAS, specifically in the programs she is the senior graduate advisor for. Kaeleigh has created an honesty contract and started the development of a remedial bootcamp for all incoming students in her programs. Kaeleigh has offered support and encouragement to many faculty members in her programs with processing academic dishonesty cases.
Dr. Sarahmona Przybyla from the School of Public Health and Health Professions has also been nominated for her focus on new initiatives. Dr. Przybyla was most noted for her eager response in helping the Office of Academic Integrity roll out the pilot course for all incoming students in SPHHP. This course will be rolled out to all incoming undergraduate and graduate students beginning in Fall 2023.
Dr. David Salac from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering has been awarded this distinction for his close eye on academic integrity in his courses. Dr. Salac takes academic integrity very seriously and ensures that those students that are completing their work honestly are not being cheated out by those who do not complete their work honestly.
Congratulations to our six winners! You can find the full bios for our winners here: https://www.buffalo.edu/academic-integrity/awards/22-23-winners.html. While you’re there be sure to check out our award winners from last year at this link: https://www.buffalo.edu/academic-integrity/awards/2122winners.html.
Every year the Office of Academic Integrity asks students, faculty, and staff to nominate fellow UB members for this distinction. As you finish up this semester and begin the Fall 2023 semester, keep an eye out for those around you that go above and beyond with academic integrity. The nomination form for this award can be found here: https://www.buffalo.edu/academic-integrity/awards/nom-form.html.
Written by Maria Disorbo, Graduate Assistant
“Only three more weeks!” I’m sure I can’t be the only one telling myself this everyday as the final projects start piling on and final exams are looming in the distance. Although this time in the semester can be very stressful and hectic, it is important to complete your work with integrity. Here are some tips to strengthen your study skills to finish the semester strong.
References
https://www.buffalo.edu/studentlife/who-we-are/departments/counseling.html
Written by Xinyi Zheng, Student Integrity Ambassador
With the release of Artificial Intelligence systems - like ChatGPT - it is not surprising to hear students using them for unethical purposes like writing papers for their classes. In response to this, Turnitin has recently announced its ability to detect Artificial Intelligence (AI) writings, including ChatGPT. For those that are unfamiliar with Turnitin, it is a large company "dedicated to ensuring the integrity of education and meaningfully improving learning outcomes" and it is used by many educators and institutions globally to check whether the work submitted comes from an individual's original work. Some students may think that having another detection tool would not change anything or affect them because there have been other tools developed in the past soon after the release of ChatGPT.
Turnitin stated that its technology team had been working on AI detection tools for almost two years before ChatGPT was released to the world, and based on the collected data, this AI detection tool can be used to check ChatGPT with a confidence level of up to 98 percent and with a low false positive rate. Current Turnitin educator users can now access it freely and globally without additional steps. The AI writing detection tool is able to generate a Similarity Report with the AI writing indicator on the side stating a percentage of the submission that has been determined to be AI-generated.
It is understandable that some professors may incorporate AI tools in their curriculum, such as ChatGPT, but that doesn’t mean you should rely on it for everything and always use it with caution. When in doubt, check with your TA or instructors to avoid any possible violations. Also, ChatGPT does not provide accurate information or use up-to-date sources in its writing, nor does it possess human-acquired critical thinking skills, so professors can easily detect with the help of Turnitin detecting tools. Some people might argue that ChatGPT will soon be more advanced, and not have to worry about these problems, but detection tools can also be more advanced. Hopefully, this will make the students think about the true values behind learning and taking their work seriously and honestly.
If you have any questions about the policies, violations, or concerns, stop by the Office of Academic Integrity at 255 Capen Hall or at our upcoming Academic Integrity to Professional Integrity workshop on Wednesday, April 26, 2023, @7-8 p.m. in NSC 228 to chat with our Graduate Assistant and Student Integrity Ambassadors.
Sources:
https://help.turnitin.com/ai-writing-detection.htm
https://thecheatsheet.substack.com/p/turnitin-turns-on-ai-text-technology
Written By Vanesa Rodriguez, Student Integrity Ambassador
Example:
Some more tips:
Sources:
https://www.educationcorner.com/the-forgetting-curve.html
https://lsc.cornell.edu/how-to-study/taking-notes/cornell-note-taking-system/
Wrriten by Unnati Agarwal, Student Integrity Ambassador
The stress of having to meet deadlines and produce high-quality work is something we college students are all too familiar with. It is simple to lose sight of academic integrity in the hustle. The repercussions of academic dishonesty can be severe, ranging from receiving a zero on an assignment to being expelled from the university. Here are some helpful hints for preventing plagiarism and upholding academic integrity.
References
https://www.ox.ac.uk/students/academic/guidance/skills/plagiarism
Written by Aditi Patel, Student Integrity Ambassador
Can you believe that we are almost at the halfway point of the semester? This can be a challenging time since assignments and exams will be piling up and you may feel as though there is no more motivation left to complete them. The good news is that spring break is only 3 weeks away, so we all have that to look forward to! Here are some tips to help you keep up with the workload and to prevent any procrastination that may be trying to sneak in:
Set goals that are possible.
One of the reasons why you are tempted to delay school work could be due to setting unrealistic goals. There are times in the semester where there is so much stuff to get done that it can get extremely intimidating. A way to combat this is to focus on small tasks. If you have a long assignment to complete, try to divide the work into smaller sections so that you can take your time and do not have to finish it all at once. Plus if you set smaller goals, you will feel more accomplished which will inspire you to get more tasks done.
Study with a friend.
Find a friend who you can study with so that you can push one another to get your work done. This is a tip that especially helps me when it comes to my own procrastination. I know that if I study by myself at home then I will get lazy and want to do other things instead like watching TV. However, if I am in an environment where people are studying - especially if I am there with friends - then it forces me to also get my work done without any distractions.
Make time for breaks!
One mistake that you do not want to make is to constantly either be in class or studying. While I understand that you want to get your work done, you should take breaks from studying so that you do not burn yourself out. An easy way to help with this is to use the Pomodoro method. This method allows you to study for 25 minutes straight and then it gives you a 5 minute break. After doing four intervals of this, it then gives you a larger amount of break for about 15 minutes. This method is used by many people and could help increase your productivity!
Don’t forget to have fun!
College is supposed to be a memorable experience. Getting the best grades possible is definitely an important aspect to it but college is also meant to make meaningful relationships and to have a good time. Make time in your hectic schedule to enjoy yourself with friends and family. Try learning a new hobby, relax with friends, and stay physically active. Taking part in self-care activities will only help you in the long run and prevent any chances of burnout.
Learning to manage your time is part of the college experience, and it is something that mostly everyone goes through. The tips listed above work well for me but it may not work for everyone. Understanding the reasons why you procrastinate will help you find a permanent solution to get rid of this bad habit. While developing good time management skills can be difficult, understanding the reasons why you procrastinate will help you find effective solutions to get rid of this habit and reduce stress and feeling overwhelmed.
Written by Tyler Gross, Graduate Assistant
The terms ‘ChatGPT’ and ‘AI’ seem to be dominating the news, social media feeds, and day-to-day conversation. Depending on where you fall on the techno-optimism spectrum, your feelings towards ChatGPT are likely to vary. One thing is for certain, 'Big Tech' sees potential in the technology. At the time of writing, Microsoft has recently integrated ChatGPT into Bing’s search engine and Google has released BARD, an AI chat bot of its own.
The ability for these technologies to generate text is extraordinary. But how does it work? These AI chat bots are known as large language models, a type of artificial intelligence used to generate textual data. These language models are a type of supervised learning models, meaning that they are trained on large amounts of textual data from the internet to ‘learn’ how to generate text. However, what sets new AI chat bots such as ChatGPT apart from previous versions was the introduction of reinforcement learning to the training process. Reinforcement learning involves humans providing feedback to the language model during training to make the model feel more ‘conversational’.
Although this technology has potential benefits to society, it should be used with caution. As a student, using ChatGPT or similar technology without the explicit permission of your professor is academic dishonesty. To assist professors from detecting such forms of cheating, technology is being developed to distinguish AI-written text from human-written text. There is also the possibility of AI chat bots providing misinformation, as the technology does not have the ability to recognize what is true and what is not.
To explore many of the resources available to you as a UB student, please visit our website.
Sources:
https://www.assemblyai.com/blog/how-chatgpt-actually-works/
https://openai.com/blog/new-ai-classifier-for-indicating-ai-written-text/
Written by Maria Disorbo, Graduate Assistant
Welcome back Bulls! As we all are making our way back onto campus for the start of another great semester, the daunting feeling of another full semester can be looming. The start of semester can always feel overwhelming with learning a new schedule, meeting new professors, forming new study groups, and just getting back into a routine. The Office of Academic Integrity has some events coming up to help guide you in the right direction to a successful semester.
More events to come including:
Keep an eye on UBLinked for details as they get closer.
Other academic integrity information:
*For Faculty: Feeling like your class may need a refresher on the academic integrity policy? Feel free to reach out to academicintegrity@buffalo.edu to schedule a time for representatives from our office to come present to your class.
Written by Kyrah Milfort, Student Integrity Ambassador
It’s finals week and the pressure is piling on. Assignments are due, and time seems to be moving at the speed of light, but that doesn’t mean you have to be stressed! Your mental health should be your priority! There are plenty of healthy habits and things you can incorporate into your daily routine to keep yourself motivated. We know this can be a stressful time for most people, so here’s three stress relieving apps you can use on your phone to improve your mental health during finals!
1) BALANCE: MEDITATION & SLEEP: This app is an essential tool in anyone’s arsenal, because it helps to focus the mind, and keep you present. The app contains many guided meditation exercises that could help you achieve your goals such as better sleep, feeling happier, or increasing your focus. All of the exercises are catered to you and your needs! For a limited time only you can use all premium features of the app for free for a YEAR!
2) FABULOUS: DAILY HABIT TRACKER: This app will keep you motivated by making your daily routines fun! In the app you can create personalized daily routines to incorporate all the aspects of your life that are important to you, especially down to the smallest detail. For example, you could schedule in your showers and the app will remind you about it and even offer a choice of calming music to make your showers and daily activities more enjoyable! It’s a great way to romanticize your life during finals and keep you motivated!
3) MONUMENT VALLEY: There is no kind of stress relieving activity like solving a puzzle! Monument Valley makes puzzle solving so calming and relaxing to the mind. Follow Ida, their main character, as she navigates “monuments” and teaches you calming life lessons along the way! Relax your mind as you test your abilities to think creatively outside the “box!”
These stress relieving activities are all so relaxing, but remember they aren’t a cure all! You need to remember to prioritize yourself and your mental well-being. Be sure to remain rested and hydrated, and be patient with yourself as you navigate finals!
Written by Vanesa Rodriguez, Student Integrity Ambassador
Have you seen our Student Integrity Ambassadors around campus and wondered what the position is? Student Integrity Ambassadors are volunteers for the Office of Academic Integrity volunteering 5 hours a week on average and gaining skills for their future! Below are things you will gain as a Student Integrity Ambassador if you choose to apply.
1) Build your interpersonal soft skills: As a Student Integrity Ambassador, you’ll have the opportunity to give presentations about the importance of academic integrity to various classes throughout the semester, which can benefit you academically and professionally. Many classes, no matter your major, include presentations and many jobs value public speaking skills. You’ll be able to speak about academic integrity while also building your soft skills.
2) Interested in Marketing and Outreach? Here’s a good start!: Being a Student Integrity Ambassador is a great way to start building marketing skills. You’ll have the opportunity to be involved with graphic design for event fliers and gain outreach skills through tabling and event planning throughout the academic year as well as writing blog posts.
3) Learn more about integrity and educate those around you: As a volunteer for the Office of Academic Integrity, you will learn all there is to learn about integrity and its importance. You are the Office’s representation within the student body so it is important that you uphold the University’s Academic Integrity standards and educate those around you, including you friends and classmates! There are a lot of opportunities for you to reach the student body. The Office of Academic Integrity hosts a range of events throughout the year that you would be able to help with. They include syllabus reading nights, International Day of Action, stress relief nights and tabling events.
If any of the above sound interesting to you then being a Student Integrity Ambassador may be the position for you! The Office of Academic Integrity will be accepting applications for Student Integrity Ambassadors for the 2023-2024 academic year beginning in February 2023 and closing on March 31, 2023 so make sure to be on the lookout for it! If you have any questions about the position please reach out to our Ambassador Coordinator and Graduate Assistant, Maria Disorbo, at prov.mariadis@provost.buffalo.edu.
Written by Aditi Patel, Student Integrity Ambassador
Eight people were arrested in Miami for cheating on their elevator repair certification exam.
That's right, you read that correctly…eight people were actually taken by legal authorities and into custody because they were caught cheating.
Miami-Dade county ordered the arrest for the eight people who paid others to take their online elevator repair certification exam. They were charged with cheating and fraud under the Florida law that says, “Whoever is convicted of any gross fraud or cheat at common law shall be guilty of a felony of the third degree.” This is an appalling story to hear because it is the first time anyone in the United States has ever been arrested regarding cheating on an exam.
Now, you may be wondering, “Why should I care about some random people in Florida who got caught cheating?”
While this story may not affect us directly, it should be in the back of our minds.
Just imagine what would happen if you went on an elevator and it was to break down because the people who repaired it had no idea what they were doing since they cheated to get their certification. Imagine if a doctor had scammed their way through medical school, or if a pilot does not know how to fly an airplane. Now imagine what would happen if everyone in each different profession were to do the same. Do you think our society would be able to survive?
It really takes into perspective that academic dishonesty - specifically cheating - isn’t only important when you are in school. We have always been told at an early age to perform in our studies in an honest manner - to always use citations, never plagiarize, or never to copy someone’s work. However, what we tend to forget is that these habits do not end once we graduate from school. Maintaining academic integrity is important in our studies but also incredibly important outside in the workplace, no matter what profession you are in. The real world also relies on everyone to behave in an honest manner and there are real life implications for those who do not follow through with this. It is also crucial to understand that when you are dishonest, you not only jeopardize your own education or career, but also those around you.
With the semester coming to an end, this would be a great time to reference the Academic Integrity policy to understand the ways to stay out of trouble. There are also many resources that are offered by our office to help maintain your integrity at UB. Some tips include attending classes on a regular basis, planning a study schedule, organizing your deadlines, managing your stress, and so much more! Join us at our upcoming Stress Relief Night on Thursday, December 1, 2022, 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. in Davis 101. We will be handing out freebies and making coasters for your coffee (while supplies last)!
Remember, it is never too late to begin your integrity journey. Academic integrity is something that will follow you throughout your entire life, so it is important to maintain these habits to ensure a successful future not only at UB but also out in the real world!
References
The Cheat Sheet. “Eight Arrested in Miami for Cheating on Certification Exam.” Eight Arrested in Miami for Cheating on Certification Exam, The Cheat Sheet, 10 Nov. 2022, https://thecheatsheet.substack.com/p/eight-arrested-in-miami-for-cheating?utm_source=substack&%3Butm_medium=email.
Written by Xinyi Zheng, Student Integrity Ambassador
Fall recess is around the corner, which means finals are approaching faster than it seems—having trouble balancing school and work? No time for personal life? Submitting work right before it’s due? We get it, but you are almost there, so let’s finish the semester strong by using some FREE apps and resources to help you stay organized!
Google Keep/Google Tasks: Google Keep allows you to jot down notes/reminders and make lists. Feel free to set a title for each note, color-code it, and change the design to your liking. Just like its name, Google Tasks helps you organize tasks and deadlines because it is designed like a to-do list that also allows you to add specific dates and times. Both tools let you check off each box and give you a list of completed items at the end.
Google sheets: Make a master to-do list for the semester. Simply list all the assignment deadlines and midterms by date and edit them as you move through the progress till you have fully completed the assignment. For students that prefer focusing on one task at a time, this may be a good way for you to feel a sense of accomplishment when checking off each box and moving on to the next row.
Notion: There are many ways for you to customize the pages and layouts in Notion based on your needs and styles. Everything we have talked about above applies to Notion as well. You can create a daily/weekly/monthly planner, a master to-do list, or goals you want to achieve, whether it’s academically or personally. The more organized you are, the less stress you will have, and this may even increase your productivity on academic stuff as a student. Insert a quote to motivate yourself, be creative and add pictures, or create different pages for you to balance between school and personal life (Schedule the time you want to spend on working assignments and see if you can fit in a little break in between for self-care). Remember to balance and prioritize because Notion is to help you stay organized and eliminate wasting time, not making you busier and more stressed. There are many videos on Notion setups and tutorials on YouTube, some of the YouTubers even include free templates for people to use.
Stickies: To all Macbook users, the built-in application Stickies may be one of the useful tools for you when it comes to organizing your to-do list for the day or week (Shortcut: command + space bar and search Stickies). Create notes for daily checklists or multiple notes for weekly tasks, you can open and collapse each sticky note according to the day of the week you are in, so you are not overwhelmed with all your tasks, but can easily access it on the screen. For example, Stickies have different colors available, utilize them by differentiating between school, work, and personal life or assign colors to each weekday.
Printable weekly/monthly calendars: For those who prefer a physical copy over a digital one, don’t let your printing dollars go to waste. Search for free printable calendars on google or on Instagram to check out some of the study accounts that let you use their printable calendars or others for free. You can even make one yourself (For tablet users, download and bring it with you everywhere).
These tools are all customizable depending on how you want them to be, but the main point is to help you stay organized with everything. Think about how proud you will be after checking all those boxes or the joy of seeing all assignments crossed off on your to-do list. Everyone is different when it comes to organizing, just because one method works for someone else doesn't mean it works for everyone. These resources allow you to better organize and balance between tasks, and if one doesn't work, try another!
Written by Tyler Gross, Graduate Assistant
The 7th annual International Day of Action Against Contract Cheating (IDoA), organized by the International Center for Academic Integrity, will take place on Wednesday, October 19th (ICAI, 2022). Contract cheating is the act of having your academic work completed by an individual other than yourself. This can include having friends or family complete your work, paying someone online to complete academic work on your behalf, or paying someone to take an exam for you (ICAI, 2022). Contract cheating, like other forms of academic dishonesty, can have negative consequences on the individual, their peers, the professor, and the university as a whole. The goal of IDoA is to inform individuals about what contract cheating is, how to prevent it on your campus, and educate students about the negative impacts contract cheating can have on their academic and professional career as well as spread awareness around academic integrity overall. The event is organized by volunteer groups, which include faculty from eleven countries and students from seven countries (ICAI, 2022). This year’s IDoA theme is Addressing Contract Cheating and Beyond in the New Learning Environment and includes a Student TikTok Contest in which students from all over the world will create reels generating ideas on how students and professors can promote academic integrity (ICAI, 2022). IDoA will be celebrated by campuses from around the world, including the University at Buffalo! The Office of Academic Integrity will be hosting tabling events in the Student Union on North Campus and Diefendorf Hall on South Campus from 10am – 3pm on Wednesday, October 19. Stop by either of the tables to sign an academic integrity pledge board, meet our Student Ambassadors, and collect some UB swag!
IDOA International Day of Action Against Contract Cheating (academicintegrity.org)
Written by Grace Verweire, Student Integrity Ambassador
It’s your first day at university and suddenly, you’re in possession of several single-spaced pages of information that your professor has provided. This foreign material may prove to be intimidating to new students, especially if you’re a freshman that has never encountered a syllabus before. What you might not know is that this particular piece of paper(s) may be your ticket to success throughout your college career.
The purpose of the syllabus is to inform students about the content and structure of the course that they are taking. The syllabus can include academic information as well as a list or lists of resources available on campus that can aid in your academic success. Some of these resources include the Accessibility Resources Department, the Office of Academic Integrity, and the Center for Excellence in Writing.
Arguably the most important thing on the syllabus is the course outline. Here, you will usually find a calendar of sorts that details the assignments and expectations for learning and understanding throughout the semester. A common mistake that students make is that after their first day of classes, they tuck their syllabus away, never to be seen again. Don’t be that student! Keep your syllabi on hand at all times, and if you happen to lose it, it is usually posted on UBLearns or a copy can be sent to you from your instructor.
While the syllabus is important, what’s even more important is the information you take away from the syllabus. Being handed an outline of all the work that will be due throughout the course builds the foundation for success. If you choose not to build upon this foundation, you may have trouble getting ahead.
It’s extremely important to have a planner throughout your college career! Whether it’s on paper or a digital entity, it is a vital and necessary tool to all students, everywhere. The syllabus and the planner go hand-in-hand. Using your syllabi to fill out the planner is usually the best route to take in terms of being prepared for the semester. If you’re struggling with planning out your deadlines, there are many resources available to help you, including your academic advisor.
The syllabi are a great way to test the university waters. The process of planning can create an efficient mindset that can stick with you throughout your education. Building these habits now can produce beneficial results for anyone, anywhere, at any time. You never know when these skills will come in handy one day!
Below is a link to a list of resources available to you at UB that are included in your tuition:
Written by Unnati Agarwal, Student Integrity Ambassador
As university begins, all students set their goals for the semester, with the most common one being “getting a good GPA”. Here are a few tips and strategies to help achieve your academic goals.
Following these tips and strategies and a healthy routine can bring you one step closer to achieving your academic goals. Below is the link for helpful resources on campus that are available to all UB students.
LINK TO ACADEMIC RESOURCES: https://www.buffalo.edu/studentsuccess/resources.html
Written by Maria Disorbo, Graduate Assistant
With the excitement and anticipation of what this semester will bring, there is always that feeling of doubt and being overwhelmed. For some of us this is our first time ever stepping foot in a college class. Many of us are away from home and on our own for the first time ever. How scary! Not for long. Breathe. You will find your groove. You will make friends. And with the tips offered here here, you will start off right and succeed this semester and the rest to come.
What do you mean they don’t take attendance? What do you mean I’m not in class from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. everyday? I’m responsible for asking for help if I am struggling instead of waiting for my teacher to approach me? Yes, there is a lot that is different moving from High School to College. Follow these tips to help make this transition just a bit easier.
Everyone at UB wants you to succeed! If you’re looking for any other resources that may help you throughout the semester, you can refer to the Office of Academic Integrity’s student resources. All of these tips will help you achieve with integrity here at UB. Check out some more resources by following these links:
● 8 Tips for Students Starting College, ThoughtCo.
● Helpful Hints to Maintain Academic Integrity, Brandeis University
● Common Misconceptions Video, University at Buffalo Office of Academic Integrity
Written by Grace VerWeire, Student Integrity Ambassador
Picture this:
It’s 10:30 PM before the midnight due date. You open the assignment - it’s an essay. After staring at the prompt on the screen until your eyes hurt, you take out a pen and begin furiously scribbling. Concepts. Ideas. Details. The barrage of endless relevant information before you becomes a thesis tsunami; everything connects somehow. At 11:45 PM, you slowly enter the final period in your conclusion paragraph, and breathe a sigh of relief. As you upload your finished product, something catches your attention:
“Must cite at least five sources in APA format for full credit.”
You quickly reopen the assignment in Google Drive. You open the UB Library Database. You enter some key words, pick the first three sources, and begin rapidly skimming for any relevant information. You pull several quotes that may or may not have to do with your thesis, using copy and paste. At 11:55 PM, You slap some quotes around them, copy the URL of the source, paste it under the last page titled “References,” and turn in the assignment with sixty seconds to spare. Three days later, you have an email from the Office of Academic Integrity. You have committed plagiarism.
Professional writing can be a real drag when it comes to citing your sources, but citing sources properly is one of the most important steps towards getting a good grade, getting published, or even just writing in general. When you cite your sources properly, you are not only respecting and paying tribute to those whose information you used, but you are also potentially avoiding a violation of policy, or worse, a lawsuit. Plagiarism is a form of theft. When you use another person’s research or information without crediting them, you are stealing hours and hours of hard work and by putting your name at the top of the page you are, quite literally, calling it your own. Even if you don’t intend to steal someone’s work; even if it is just a small homework assignment for a class that isn’t going to be published anywhere; even if it is just a sentence - it’s plagiarism, and it’s illegal.
It takes a lot of work, time, and skill in order to master citations, and there isn’t much wiggle room when it comes to errors. However, plagiarism is a completely avoidable mistake. In order to tackle this issue, you should familiarize yourself with the multiple forms of citations. Then, you should practice with each form of citation, and reach out for help if you need it. There are multiple resources available on campus for free that provide assistance when it comes to citations and citation forms, no matter what type of help you may need. The Center for Excellence in Writing and the Office of Academic Integrity are great places to start when you need help with citing your work, and they are completely accessible to all students on campus when needed.
This article will walk you through creating common citations in MLA and APA format - the two most common academic writing citation formats. Examples will be presented, and the format will be explained below each example.
Now let’s jump into the formats:
APA
APA stands for the American Psychological Association. It is most commonly used to cite sources when writing in the social or behavioral sciences. It has seven editions and many professors accept this form of citation.
Citing in-text:
“I want to know that I earned my degree honestly.” (VerWeire, 2021)
(Last name of author, year of publication)
References:
- Website
Verweire, G. (2021). Office of Academic Integrity. University at Buffalo. Retrieved 10 March 2022, from https://www.buffalo.edu/academic-integrity.html.
Author last name, first initial. (Year of publication). Page title. Website name. Retrieved (date retrieved), from (URL).
- Article
Sefcik, L., Striepe, M., & Yorke, J. (2020). Mapping the landscape of academic integrity education programs: what approaches are effective?. Assessment & Evaluation In Higher Education, 45(1), 30-43. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2019.1604942
Author last name, first initial. (Year of publication). Article title. Journal name, volume number(issue number), pages used. URL.
- Book
Bertram Gallant, T. (2008). Academic integrity in the twenty-first century: a teaching and learning imperative (5th ed.). Jossey-Bass.
Author last name, first initial. (Year of publication). Book title. (Edition ed.). Publisher.
MLA
MLA stands for Modern Language Association. It is used most commonly in the humanities and literature. Almost all professors accept this form of citation. There are nine editions.
Citing in-text:
- Website/Book
“I want to know that I earned my degree honestly.” (VerWeire)
(Last name of author)
- Article
“I want to know that I earned my degree honestly.” (VerWeire et al.)
(Last name of author, et al.)
References:
- Website
Verweire, Grace. "Office Of Academic Integrity". University at Buffalo, 2021, https://www.buffalo.edu/academic-integrity.html.
Author last name, author first name. “Page title”. Website name, year of publication, URL.
- Article
Sefcik, Lesley et al. "Mapping The Landscape Of Academic Integrity Education Programs: What Approaches Are Effective?". Assessment & Evaluation In Higher Education, vol 45, no. 1, 2020, pp. 30-43. Routledge, https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2019.1604942. Accessed 10 Mar 2022.
Author last name, author first name et al. “Article title”. Journal, vol (volume number), no. (edition number), year of publication, pp. (pages used). Database name, URL.
- Book
Bertram Gallant, Tricia. Academic Integrity In The Twenty-First Century: A Teaching And Learning Imperative. 5th ed., Jossey-Bass, 2008.
Author last name, author first name. Book title. (number of edition) ed., publisher, year published.
Now picture this:
It’s three days before the deadline. You open the assignment in Blackboard, and read it from top to bottom, twice. It’s an essay requiring five sources or more in APA format. You form a thesis surrounding the question in the assignment. Using keywords from your thesis, you use the UB Library Database to find relevant sources. You take the time to thoughtfully read the sources, enhancing your understanding of the content. You find quotes to bolster up your thesis and type them out, careful to put them in quotations when directly quoting, and cautious to include the in-text citation. The information before you becomes a flowing river of facts and supporting evidence, much different from the tsunami prior. You create a references section chock-full of sources - six, to be exact - and the last page of your paper becomes a masterpiece of APA formatting. With days to spare, you stop in at the Center for Excellence in Writing to make sure that your paper receives a peer review. Three days later, you receive an A, and you think to yourself:
“Worth it.”
Sources (cited in APA 7th edition format):
Bertram Gallant, T. (2008). Academic integrity in the twenty-first century: a teaching and learning imperative (5th ed.). Jossey-Bass.
Sefcik, L., Striepe, M., & Yorke, J. (2020). Mapping the landscape of academic integrity education programs: what approaches are effective?. Assessment & Evaluation In Higher Education, 45(1), 30-43. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2019.1604942
Purdue Writing Lab. (2022). APA Style Introduction. Retrieved 10 March 2022, from
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_style_introduction.html
VerWeire, G. (2021). Office of Academic Integrity. University at Buffalo. Retrieved 10 March 2022, from https://www.buffalo.edu/academic-integrity.html.
Written by Grace VerWeire, Student Integrity Ambassador
Edited by Jeremy Raymore, Graduate Assistant
The beginning of the semester has surely come to an end as we enter our sixth week of the academic year! Fortunately for some, this means getting into a routine and building a schedule that can help them stay on track. However, it can be hard and sometimes even seem impossible for some students to come up with a comprehensive plan or schedule for the semester. It can be a daunting task: sitting down, pulling up countless emails, syllabi, and to-do lists of homework assignments and exams. Sometimes, this can lead students to become disorganized and miss out on important deadlines. The path of procrastination can lead students down a path of academic dishonesty as well.
When a student is faced with the challenge of a rapidly approaching deadline, sometimes it can seem tempting to text a friend and ask for their homework answers or even purchase the assignment online. But one thing that students who fall victim to this behavior forget is the consequences that can follow it. Although it may seem harmless to copy a few answers from a friend, the truth is that you miss out on the practice that you need in order to achieve an honest degree. Your professors assign homework and readings in order to prepare you for not only upcoming classes, but your future career. Missing out on this preparation can be detrimental to your future. Also, by submitting someone else’s work, you’re not only putting yourself at risk of getting sanctioned, but your friend as well.
Here are a few personal habits you can practice to protect yourself from ending up in these situations and maintain your personal integrity:
There are many other ways to reduce the chances of you ending up in a situation where academic dishonesty could be at play. By staying organized, focused, and level-headed, anything is possible in your academic career. Remember, honesty is always the best policy! If you are facing burnout, communicate with your professors and see if together you can make a plan to get back on your feet with integrity.
Check out the Office of Academic Integrity’s student resources page for resources to help you stay on top of your studies, or take a look at the following external resources:
Kennedy Alexis, Graduate Student, Urban Planning, Class of 2021
So, it’s officially been a year since COVID-19 impacted the academic experience of us all. The transition to virtual learning caused us all lots of stress including Zoom fatigue, decreased privacy from living back at home with family, and the overall feeling of having no outlet to relax and de-stress because the spaces, once available to us, have all been closed. Like many of you, the stress and overload by our circumstances has left me feeling overwhelmed at times. I often felt depressed or anxious, and would question my path, as life wasn’t the same anymore. As the graduate assistant in the Office of Academic Integrity, I saw how this impacted the academic choices of many students at UB. Students did not know how to manage their feelings and often experienced difficulty accessing and expressing their needs for help to professors and teaching assistants. This led many students to use unacceptable resources for class assistance and/or participate in class group chats, both of which caused numerous instances of cheating over the past two semesters. In this post, I want to talk, not about cheating, but about what we should do in times where we experience adversity during our academic careers.
A tool that I’ve adopted during the pandemic to combat stress and overload is mindfulness. Mindfulness is the state of being aware or conscious of something. It is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us (mindful.org, 2020). Research shows that “mindfulness practice decreases stress and anxiety, increases attention, improves interpersonal relationships, [and] strengthens compassion” for students (Mindfulness Schools, 2021). An example of where mindfulness can be helpful would be when you’re stressed during finals week. The back-to-back exams and projects that is finals week can make us feel overwhelmed and anxious; mindfulness can help us take deep breaths and develop perspective to calm our busy minds. For example, through mindfulness one may learn that the pressure to receive an A on an exam is what’s causing them stress. Through further practice a student may realize that an A on the exam is not a representation of their intellectual abilities, because their abilities were shown throughout the entire semester. This realization can help calm the mind of a very anxious student.
In the Office of Academic Integrity, we understand that the role of a college student is inherently very stressful as students have to manage classes, stay involved in campus activities, and participate in work experiences. Although life may be stressful, committing acts of academic dishonesty is never the best solution for dealing with stress. In actuality, getting caught cheating adds another layer of stress and always leads to more serious consequences than doing poorly on one assignment. We want students to know there are free resources available to help them deal with stress; one resource is UB’s Counseling Services. The Counseling Services department offers self-help resources that teach students strategies for relaxation and de-stressing. UB’s Student Life Gateway is another resource which offers stress management and prevention resources to students. Lastly, the Graduate School has compiled a list of health and wellness resources, both on- and off-campus. For the rest of the semester, I challenge students to practice mindfulness, breathe, and do their best, especially in times of adversity.
“What Is Mindfulness?” Mindful, 8 July 2020, https://www.mindful.org/what-is-mindfulness.
“Research on Mindfulness.” Mindful Schools, 26 Aug. 2019, https://www.mindfulschools.org/about-mindfulness/research-on-mindfulness.
Kennedy Alexis, Graduate Student, Urban Planning, Class of 2021
On Sept. 3, 2020, William & Mary College published a letter announcing that the college will be cutting seven athletic programs after the 2020-21 academic year. In this letter, William & Mary explains that the costs associated with sponsoring these Division I programs have grown dramatically over time and have become unsustainable. The letter further explains that the COVID-19 pandemic “has made [the] budget constraints acute and has brought [the university] to a point of reckoning” (William and Mary, 2020). Many universities across the United States took similar approaches to alleviating their increased financial burdens inflicted upon them due to the Coronavirus. This is not what brought William and Mary College to media headlines; it was that many sections of this letter were found to be plagiarized from an announcement made by Stanford University on July 8 about cutting 11 of their teams. Braden Keith from swimsman.com released images that highlight obvious parallels between the two documents.
In her Sept. 18, 2020, statement, Athletic Director Samantha Huge stated that it was her staff’s goal to “emulate best practices, not imitate” and that they “should have taken more care with the review of the materials shared”. The William & Mary Honor Code defines plagiarism as the “the presentation, with intent to deceive, or with disregard for proper scholarly procedures of a significant scope, of any information, ideas or phrasing of another as if they were one’s own without giving appropriate credit to the original source.” Following this definition, it is a bit difficult to understand that their goal was to emulate best practices when no credit was given to the institution whose best practices they were emulating. Huge, who holds a Juris Doctorate from Campbell University, has stopped working at William & Mary since October, but in her departure, she left a negative impact on the William & Mary reputation and her own.
As a student, the policies regarding academic integrity often feel biased as there are many formal processes that keep students accountable for their acts of academic misconduct, but very little or no processes that keep professors or administrators accountable for their actions. Students too often feel the consequences of academic punishment and to some extent it is warranted, as we are the ones preparing for our careers; but where is the accountability for professors and administrators who are in their careers? I think the William & Mary case shows us that there is a need for processes that also hold professors and administrators accountable. It seems that one stepping down from their position is the standard repercussion, but where is the lesson learned? At UB, students go through remediation to learn from their mistakes and understand how their acts of academic misconduct affect different people in their lives. When Samantha Huge stepped down, did she learn how her actions may have impacted students? I highly doubt it.
When students see acts of academic misconduct performed by professors and administrators it makes it difficult to create a culture of academic integrity on campus because these actions confirm the “everyone does it” phenomenon. “Everyone does it” is a common reason for cheating reported by students. Under normal circumstances, maintaining academic integrity when one sees their classmates cheating is difficult, but this William and Mary case could make it even more difficult for students. Imagine being a student that is struggling with an English assignment and is constantly pressured by their parents to receive high grades. After reading the article, one may consider that cheating or plagiarism is OK, because a school’s administrator did it, and many more may have also done it. For this reason, professors and administrators should all join the effort to create a culture of academic integrity on college campuses, not just as enforcers of policies, but also as followers. If academic integrity were more transparent and held all parties accountable, students would probably be more willing to abide by academic integrity policies because the standards are shared by all members of the academic campus.
Amid financial concerns, W&M to discontinue seven sports following the 2020-21 academic year. (n.d.). William & Mary. Retrieved November 16, 2020, from https://www.wm.edu/news/stories/2020/amid-financial-concerns,-wm-to-discontinue-seven-sports-following-the-2020-21-academic-year.php
Statement regarding communications about the future of Division I athletics at William & Mary. (n.d.). William & Mary. Retrieved November 16, 2020, from https://www.wm.edu/news/announcements/2020/statement-regarding-communications-about-the-future-of-division-i-athletics-at-william-mary.php
Section VI: Honor Code Violations. (n.d.). William & Mary. Retrieved November 16, 2020, from https://www.wm.edu/offices/deanofstudents/services/communityvalues/studenthandbook/honor_system/section_VI/index.php
