Information for Students
Contents
How To Get Help
Contact the instructor of your course for general questions about Accepting Responsibility (AR) and Academic Integrity (AI). If you are accused of an AI violation, you have the right to consult with a Respondents’ Code Counselor. You can also contact your academic advisor or your college’s Student Services office for advice. For higher-level questions, contact the Bowers CIS Associate Dean for Education.
Accepting Responsibility versus Academic Integrity
The Accepting Responsibility (AR) process is a supplement to the standard Academic Integrity (AI) process. The AI process is still available to all students and faculty participating in the AR pilot. Students may decline to accept responsibility and proceed with a primary hearing. The AR process is designed to offer the following potential benefits over the AI process.
AR Focuses on Educational Outcomes Rather Than Punitive Outcomes
With AI, you can receive a grade penalty of failing a course, and your violation can potentially be disclosed by Cornell to future employers or educational programs. With AR, your grade will be affected only on the assignment involved, which limits the grade penalty while indicating that learning on that assignment was compromised. And with AR, the academic record Cornell keeps is a non-reportable warning that Cornell will not disclose to future employers or educational programs.
AR Explicitly Helps You Learn From Mistakes
Although that can also happen through the AI process, and hopefully does, the AR process adds a new feature: you attend a workshop that focuses on values, habits, and decision making. Through that experience, you can gain insight as to what led to an event, as well as how to avoid such events in the future.
AR Is Built to Be Less Stressful than AI
When you are offered AR, the consequences are known up front: the grade penalty is stated in advance by your instructor, and you are guaranteed that Cornell will not report the violation to future employers or educational programs. No hearings are held, thus eliminating the potentially tense nature of such meetings.
Eligibility for the Accepting Responsibility Process
To be eligible for Accepting Responsibility (AR), you must meet all of these criteria:
- Your instructor has opted-in to the AR pilot and has stated so in the course syllabus.
- In the context of a particular event, your instructor has offered the AR process to you. Note that your instructor has the right to stipulate the Academic Integrity process instead — as do you.
- You have never agreed to accept responsibility before, and you have never attended an AR workshop before.
- You have never been found guilty of violating the Code of Academic Integrity.
How the Accepting Responsibility Process Works
Your Instructor Detects a Violation
Your instructor will investigate to find evidence, and to determine whether to use the standard Academic Integrity (AI) process, or this new Accepting Responsibility (AR) process. The investigation might involve informal conversations or emails with you, but it also might only consist of analysis of the work you submitted.
If your instructor opts to use the AR process, you will receive a Violation Notification with these details: a description of the violation, a summary of the evidence the instructor has found, and a provisional grade penalty on the assignment (or paper, project, etc.) That grade penalty will be at most a zero on the assignment.
You Choose Whether to Accept Responsibility
After receiving the Violation Notification, you have three business days to choose whether you want to accept responsibility or to proceed with an AI Primary Hearing. During that time, your instructor can answer questions about the AR process or clarify the details provided in the Violation Notification. You are free to offer additional information as part of these informal conversations. You have the right to consult with a Respondents’ Code Counselor. You can also speak with your academic advisor or your college’s Student Services office for advice.
If you elect to accept responsibility, the AR Recorder (who is faculty/staff in the Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education) will check your eligibility for AR. If you are eligible, the AR process will continue.
If you attempt to accept responsibility but are ineligible, the AR Recorder will inform you that you must instead choose the AI Primary Hearing process. Your instructor will not be informed of your ineligibility — that is, of your prior violation. The AR process is concluded. Your instructor will send you an AI Primary Hearing letter and continue according to the AI code. As part of the AI process, your instructor is free to consider higher grade penalties than the provisional grade penalty stated in the Violation Notification.
If you decline to accept responsibility, the AR process is concluded. Your instructor will send you an AI Primary Hearing letter and continue according to the AI code. As part of the AI process, your instructor is free to consider higher grade penalties than the provisional grade penalty stated in the Violation Notification.
You Accept Responsibility
When you accept responsibility, you will sign an agreement stating that you do not contest that your actions violated the Code of Academic Integrity, that you accept the provisional grade penalty, that you commit to attend an AR workshop within a given timeframe (generally two weeks), and that you waive your right to a future Primary Hearing or a hearing by an Academic Integrity Hearing Board for this event. The AR Recorder will then work with you to schedule you into an upcoming AR workshop.
The AR workshop will be an interactive, in-person session with a small group of other students who have also agreed to accept responsibility. It will be facilitated by a Cornell faculty member who has extensive experience with AI. The workshop will focus on values, habits, and decision-making skills relevant to AI.
After you attend the workshop, the AR Recorder will notify your instructor that you have satisfied the workshop requirement of your agreement. Your instructor will record the agreed grade penalty. The AR process then concludes. You will not be eligible for AR in the future.
If you fail to complete the workshop, then you are in default of your agreement. The AR process concludes. You will not be eligible for AR in the future. The AR Recorder will notify your instructor. Your instructor will send you an AI Primary Hearing letter and continue according to the AI code. As part of the AI process, your instructor is free to consider higher grade penalties than your previous agreement.
Additional Guidance about the AR Process
Process Subject to Change
The Accepting Responsibility process may change as the pilot is developed. This page may be updated with new information throughout the pilot.
Group Work
If your event involves group work, your instructor will investigate all members of the group. That may lead to different outcomes for each group member, depending on the nature of their involvement in the event and the evidence that is found. Your choice about whether to accept responsibility is independent from the decisions of others in your group.
FAQs for Students
Why are we doing this pilot?
We want to investigate a model for academic integrity in which educational outcomes are prioritized over punitive outcomes. We also want to reduce the stress experienced by students who commit small, first-time offenses.
What does it mean to accept responsibility?
To accept responsibility means to agree not to contest the violation, to accept the penalty, and to commit to soon attending a workshop about Academic Integrity.
What are the consequences of having an Accepting Responsibility violation on my record?
Your Accepting Responsibility violation results in a non-reportable warning. That means it will not be reported by Cornell to external entities such as law schools, medical schools, other professional programs, potential employers, or awards programs.
You will be ineligible to participate in Accepting Responsibility again. That means any future or concurrent violations will have to be handled through the Academic Integrity process.
What are the consequences of having an Academic Integrity violation on my record?
While you are at Cornell it may preclude you from some jobs or positions. You may need to report it to future educational programs such as law school, medical school, and other professional programs. Some employers also require disclosure of violations during college. Typically disclosure forms offer an opportunity to explain the situation.
What grade penalty can an instructor assign as a result of the Accepting Responsibility process?
The instructor can assign a grade penalty that is at worst a score of zero on the assignment (or paper, project, etc.).
What grade penalty can an instructor assign as a result of the Primary Hearing process?
The instructor can assign a grade penalty that is at worst a grade of F in the course. In addition, the instructor can refer the case to an Academic Integrity Hearing Board and request additional, higher penalties such as community service, suspension, or expulsion.
I was sent a Primary Hearing notice for an Academic Integrity violation but I would prefer to do the Accepting Responsibility workshop instead. Does my instructor have to offer me a choice to accept responsibility?
No, your instructor does not have to offer you a choice to accept responsibility. If your instructor has chosen to use the Academic Integrity process, then that is what must happen. Note that this is the same right you have: if you decline to accept responsibility and wish to proceed with an Academic Integrity process, your instructor would have to respect that choice and could not use the Accepting Responsibility process.
I received a Violation Notification but I know I'm innocent. What should I do?
You are free to provide additional information to your instructor after you receive the Violation Notification. If that exonerates you, your instructor can retract the notification without impacting your future eligibility for AR. If your instructor does not choose to retract the notification, you may wish to opt for the AI process instead. That way you have the opportunity to make your case at a Primary Hearing and, if needed, an Academic Integrity Board Hearing. Throughout all of these choices, you have the right to consult with a Respondents’ Code Counselor. You can also contact your academic advisor or your college’s Student Services office for advice.
I received a Violation Notification and I know I'm guilty. What should I do?
Here is an excerpt from the student guidelines to the Code of Academic Integrity:
If you know you violated the Code, the problem is not that you were caught but that you felt the need to cheat at all. Hopefully, you will take this incident to heart and resolve never to do it again. Faculty and students must work together, in an environment of trust and curiosity. If you violate this trust, you hurt yourself in that you harm your own credibility and you may harm other students.
By accepting responsibility, you work toward restoring that trust and your own credibility. The AR workshop will be an opportunity to grow and improve.
Remember that you have the right to consult with a Respondents’ Code Counselor. You can also contact your academic advisor or your college’s Student Services office for advice.
I received a Violation Notification and I'm confused about whether I'm guilty or innocent. What should I do?
You are free to ask your instructor questions about the AR process and the details provided in the Violation Notification. You can also review policies about plagiarism and collaboration that are stated in the Code of Academic Integrity, the course syllabus, assignment handouts, and so forth. If you cannot reach a conclusion, you may wish to opt for the Academic Integrity Primary Hearing process instead. That way you have the opportunity to make your case at a Primary Hearing and, if needed, an Appeals Board Hearing. Throughout all of these choices, you have the right to consult with a Respondents’ Code Counselor. You can also contact your academic advisor or your college’s Student Services office for advice.
Am I eligible for Accepting Responsibility?
To be eligible, you must not have any previous Academic Integrity violation on record. You must also not have participated in Accepting Responsibility before.
What if I already have an Academic Integrity violation on record?
Then you are ineligible for Accepting Responsibility. When asked, you should opt for an Academic Integrity Primary Hearing instead. If you attempt to participate in Accepting Responsibility again, your choice will be denied by the Accepting Responsibility Recorder.
Do I have to report Accepting Responsibility to future employers or educational programs?
It depends on what they ask — for example, whether you were merely accused, or found guilty of a violation, or have a reportable violation on your record. Accepting Responsibility results in a non-reportable warning of an Academic Integrity violation. That means your instructor has found you guilty of violating the Code of Academic Integrity, but that Cornell will not report it to external entities.
If I accept responsibility am I eligible to become a Bowers CIS undergraduate teaching assistant or consultant?
You will need to disclose your violation of the Code of Academic Integrity on the application form. As part of that disclosure, you are encouraged to explain how Accepting Responsibility has affected you.
If I accept responsibility will my violation be internally reported to my college?
No. Your violation will not be reported to college record keepers, AI Hearing Boards, or awards selection committees.
I've forgotten whether I have a prior Academic Integrity violation. How can I find out?
Your home college has an Academic Integrity Hearing Board, which has a recorder who is identified on the Hearing Board page. Contact that recorder. If there is no recorder identified, contact the board chair.
What happens if my violation occurs too late in the semester for me to attend a scheduled workshop?
You cannot get a grade in the course if you do not attend a workshop. If you are not planning to graduate at the end of the current semester, you will attend a scheduled workshop when you return to campus next semester. If you are graduating, then you must attend a workshop, possibly remotely, that will focus on workplace ethics.
What happens in the workshop?
We talk about values, situations, habits and skills. It’s a combination of individual assessment and small group interaction.
Is the workshop private?
No, it is a small-group workshop in which you will discuss issues with other students. Each participant agrees to hold the discussion and participant names confidential. You will be asked to sign an agreement that includes privacy expectations.
Do I have to do anything before the workshop?
Yes, you will have a Canvas course assignment that enrolls you in the workshop and gives you the pre-workshop assignment.
Do I have to do anything after the workshop?
Yes, you will have to respond to a short reflection prompt. After you complete that response, your instructor will be notified that you have satisfied the workshop requirement and may be given a grade on the assignment and in the course.
After I have completed the workshop and the post-workshop response, do I have to do anything else?
No. After you have completed the workshop and the response, your instructor will be notified. You don’t have to do anything else.
I agreed to attend the AR workshop but failed to do so. What happens next?
You are in default of your agreement to accept responsibility, and now an Academic Integrity Primary Hearing process will begin. If there are extenuating circumstances you should contact us.
I agreed to accept responsibility even though I was innocent, and later evidence came to light that exonerated me. Can I repeat the Accepting Responsibility process again if I am suspected of a violation?
No, even if you were exonerated, you may not go through the Accepting Responsibility process more than once. Repeating the workshop is not an option.
How long is the record of my violation maintained by Cornell if I choose to accept responsibility?
The record of your violation is retained for AR eligibility purposes only. It will be removed from Cornell's records after you graduate.