Academic Ethics and Integrity
As an institution of higher learning, Rio Salado College promotes the principles of Academic Integrity with its associated ethics and values, namely: Honesty, Trust, Fairness, Respect, and Personal Responsibility. It is the duty of all stakeholders--including students, faculty, employees, and partners--to support the principles of Academic Integrity and incorporate them into all aspects of our mission.
Rio Salado College demonstrates its commitment to Academic Ethics and Integrity through an extensive set of programs and policies, including:
- Plagiarism warning preceding submission of written assignments
- Plagiarism detection software and department procedures for enforcing plagiarism policy
- Syllabus elements that attest to our valuing of academic ethics and integrity
- Syllabus elements that clearly state the potential consequences of academic misconduct
- Integration of academic ethics content into course material and assignments
- Academic ethics and integrity tutorials for students, faculty, and staff
- College-wide civility policy and enforcement that supports the principles of academic ethics, in particular mutual respect and civil behavior
- A conscientious and systematic review process through the department chairs and the academic vice-president for fair investigation and review of student concerns and complaints consistent with district policies
- “Tips to Protect the Integrity of Your Coursework” posted below to assist students in avoiding possible issues with online assignment submissions
Tips to Protect the Integrity of Your Coursework
Be sure that you are logged in to RioLearn with your own credentials before you submit an assignment. Take care not to submit an assignment if someone else is logged in to RioLearn on the same computer. If multiple students are sharing the same computer, we recommend creating individual folders on the computer to keep your coursework separate.
Do not copy/paste or upload another student's coursework and submit it as your own. That is plagiarism. Review your course syllabus for more information on what constitutes plagiarism, and consult the Rio Salado College Library for tips on avoiding plagiarism and properly citing your sources.
Do not share your coursework with other students or post it to homework-sharing sites. The originator of an assignment may also face academic sanctions if the same work is then submitted by another student.
Be aware that online assignments are automatically reviewed by our internal plagiarism detector. This will notify faculty when there is evidence that part or all of an assignment was previously submitted for grading. Instructors may also use Turnitin.com or other online services to verify that written submissions do not contain plagiarized material from online or literary sources.