Show Your Integrity
Understand UM’s expectations and get the information you need for success
Academic integrity is fundamental to the whole academic framework. The University of Manitoba is committed to maintaining academic integrity within the campus community. Learning, teaching, and conducting research, with integrity, are all crucial to fostering success at the university.
“Academic integrity is everybody’s responsibility,” says Loie Gervais, UM’s academic integrity coordinator. “Having an understanding of what it looks like across different contexts and applying principles like honesty, trust, fairness and respect involves everybody on campus, whether you are a student, instructor, or researcher.”
Gervais co-coordinates academic integrity support programs and resources with a variety of units including the Academic Learning Centre, the First Year Centre, the Libraries, Student Advocacy, and more. In addition, students can access many self-directed resources that can inform them about different types of academic misconduct. These include plagiarism, inappropriate collaboration and cheating on exams, amongst other examples.
Many cases of academic misconduct are often unintentional, particularly when students aren’t familiar with the expectations of academic integrity and when expectations vary for each class.
Gervais explains: “No one comes to university and immediately knows how to complete all of their academic work perfectly. It’s a learning process, which takes skill and time to develop.”
The University of Manitoba takes an educational approach to academic integrity. It’s critical that students have opportunities to receive help in understanding how they can work with integrity. With help from a number of on-campus support units, students can be assisted in developing skills that will help them in University and beyond, and prevent them from engaging in different types of misconduct.
Gervais also works with students who have faced challenges with academic misconduct, helping them identify the issues that led to the situation and helping them equip themselves for success moving forward.
Gervais notes that the concept of working with integrity is not always simple to understand. “It requires thinking critically about each situation and knowing when to seek help or clarification, especially in a remote learning environment, when we aren’t as well-connected to the university and each other,” she says.
Academic integrity isn’t only about complying with university policy. It directly applies to understanding the best practices that allow students to thrive in the academic environment and beyond.
Be informed: Here are some resources to check out:
- Find out what is and isn’t academic misconduct
- Sign up for an Academic Learning Centre workshop
- Read some tips to help you navigate online exams
- Learn more about studying and taking online exams
For more information on academic integrity at the University of Manitoba and different resources available to you, visit the Academic Integrity website.