Academic Integrity Code

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(This code was inspired by similar examples at other institutions of higher learning, including the University of Maryland, and Vanderbilt, Yeshiva, Wright State, Shippensburg, and George Washington Universities.)

We, the students and faculty of the University of Maine at Farmington, dedicate ourselves to upholding the highest standards of academic integrity. Academic integrity means that one's work is the product of one's own effort, and one neither receives nor gives unauthorized assistance in any assignment. Because advanced academic work depends on the sharing of information and ideas, academic integrity at the college level includes rigorous adherence to the conventions for acknowledging one's use of the words and ideas of other people, and instruction in this fundamental skill of college life is available to all UMF students. As members of the UMF community as well as the broader community of seekers of knowledge and truth, we affirm academic integrity as a central value because we recognize the following: 

The purpose of education is to attain knowledge and develop skills, and this purpose is achieved only through academically honest work. When students create academically dishonest assignments, they do not receive the full benefits of their courses; moreover, they prevent instructors from accurately gauging the capabilities of their students and, thus, prevent instruction from being offered at an effective level.
   

Education flourishes in a climate of trust. Students, in devoting time and energy to their academic assignments, need to know that their peers are not seeking an unfair advantage over them, and instructors, in devoting careful attention to their students' work, need to know that the work is that of their students. Only academically honest actions establish and sustain trust among students and between students and faculty.
  

Education flourishes in a climate of respect for intellectual and artistic labor, and the rigorous adherence to the standards of academic integrity, especially the conventions for acknowledging one's use of others' words and ideas, is essential to such a climate. 
  

The reputation of UMF and the value of a UMF diploma depend on the genuine accomplishments of UMF graduates and, thus, on the academic integrity of the entire UMF community. 
  

Clearly (as the above items make evident), an act of academic dishonesty jeopardizes all members of our community, not just the perpetrator. Thus, in no circumstance is academic dishonesty acceptable. 
  

Although dishonesty may seem prevalent in some educational and even professional settings, we, by steadfastly adhering to the highest standards of academic integrity, strive for excellence and fashion ourselves true leaders.