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Academic integrity is a matter we often hear our professors discuss in the midst of a syllabus overview on the first day of class. Much like most things on that day, we file it in the 'to be considered later' folder. Unlike your assignment instructions or due dates, we are seldom reminded of academic integrity after that initial discussion. It begins to collect dust in our mind and does not get recalled until it might be too late.

Okay, so now you're thinking, "obviously you shouldn't cheat and copy assignments, how can you forget that?" You're not wrong - it is fairly obvious. However, a lot of times under pressure, when you find yourself in a situation where you are desperate to meet a deadline, you might be tempted to take a shortcut. You might forget to include an important citation because that assignment is due in ten minutes and you haven't printed it yet. This is how students tend to land themselves in trouble. You might still be aware that cheating is wrong, but often what constitutes for cheating is forgotten.

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It isn't always as simple as not copying another person's work. There are several violations under the mandate of academic integrity that students should be aware of. Some of these examples include incorrect or missing citations, re-submitting your own past assignments, and using assignments purchased online. All of these are grave mistakes to make and can lead to penalties that could have a negative effect on your academic record. We know our students are hardworking and are always hustling to succeed - we don't want them to suffer because of one mistake.

In order to better understand academic integrity, we talked to Seneca College's VP of Academics, Laurel Schollen and SSF President* Charanpreet Deu on the topic on this week's episode of Unscripted.  Laurel and Charanpreet are both dedicated to making sure students are more aware of potential acts of academic dishonesty.  They talk about what constitutes for academic integrity and the resources available to students that will better educate them on the topic.

*SSF President from May 2018 - April 2020