
Hope through love and service
News 23 AprilA message from the Provost Professor Julie Cogin.
06 September 2023
Share
The Student Academic Integrity and Misconduct Policy and Procedures have been updated. Learn more about the changes including clarifying the use of file-sharing websites, and updates to the notification procedure.
Under ACU’s Student Academic Integrity and Misconduct Policy, both contract cheating and collusion are forms of academic misconduct. The key difference between these forms of misconduct is that collusion involves collaborating in an unauthorised fashion, while contract cheating involves the student arranging for someone else to do the work for them.
The policy has been updated to clarify that, depending on how they are used, both contract cheating and collusion may involve exploitation of share sites. Share sites are websites that traditionally have encouraged students to upload and share university teaching materials. Students may pay to access other people’s materials; or they may be encouraged to upload their own materials, in exchange for downloading someone else’s. Some of these websites include StuDocu, Chegg and CourseHero, which are blocked on the ACU server.
If a student uses a file-sharing site to access material that is commissioned for them, this would be contract cheating. If they used the site to access a past assessment, that they then re-purposed for themselves, this would be a form of collusion.
Examples to help distinguish between contract cheating and collusion are in the table below:
Collusion | Contract Cheating |
---|---|
I access an old essay online and submit it as my own |
I pay someone online to write an essay for me |
My mum reads an essay I wrote, and re-writes 2 paragraphs for me |
My Mum writes my essay for me |
I get together with two friends; we divide the worksheet up, do our assigned section, and then swap answers |
My friend writes my worksheet answers for me |
My friend has finished their essay early; I ask to look at their work ‘just to get an idea’; I change the name on the file and submit it as my own |
My friend has finished their essay early; I ask them for help. They write another version of the essay for me |
There has also been a recent change to the Student Academic Misconduct Procedures. Course Coordinators are no longer required to be included in communication of outcomes where a determination of academic misconduct has been made.
This was in place in the previous Policy and Procedures, where a broader range of staff were involved in the decision-making process. The continued requirement to include this staff member in the outcome letters is quite onerous, as there is no central record of all of these roles.
All other staff that currently receive these communications will continue to do so; if specific schools wish to continue to inform their relevant Course Coordinators of academic misconduct determinations, then they may develop their own processes for doing so.
If you have any questions, please contact academic.integrity@acu.edu.au.
A message from the Provost Professor Julie Cogin.
Join us for an online session designed to help you get the most out of EndNote when working on your thesis or publications.
Include an additional survey item in the Student Evaluation of Learning and Teaching (SELT) survey for units that are offered in Semester 1 (202530) and Professional Term 3 (202515).
Curious about how ACU is turning its equity commitments into real-world impact? Explore how teams across the university are creating meaningful change through widening participation projects.
The Digest from Academic Board meeting 01/2025, held on 19 February 2025, is now available.
All ACU staff and students are invited to a commemorative prayer service at your local campus ahead of Anzac Day. Please join us at your local campus to remember and honour our service men and women w...
As we move towards the celebration of Easter, Pope Francis reminds us of the meaning and joy of the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
Register to attend the first Aquero Lecture of 2025.
A message from the Chief Operating Officer, Patrick Woods.
As ACU positions itself as a leading university in human flourishing, it is important to consider the value of community-engaged practices. The ACU and DePaul conference provides a perfect opportunity...
Please be aware of the following changes to payroll processing dates next week.
As reported in various news outlets, a recent cyber incident has impacted a number of Australian Superannuation funds. UniSuper has confirmed that they are not impacted by the incident but remain vigi...
Advance your career in teaching and learning with the Graduate Certificate in Higher Education. Enrol by 14 April 2025 to get started in Professional Term 4.
Applications for the 2025 Teaching Development Grants and Citations and Awards programs open soon. Register for an information session to learn how to be recognised for your contributions to teaching ...
ACU Library’s Research Engagement team is running their Research Essentials skills sessions again in 2025. Metrics Week 1 aims to introduce you to the types of metrics you can use in grant application...
A message from Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise) Professor Abid Khan: ACU is integrating our research excellence within a comprehensive framework focused on human flourishing.
Thank you to everyone within our ACU community who engaged with Respect at Uni Week 2025. This year we focused on Shining a Light on Respect.
The Student Administration teams have been extremely active during the first quarter of 2025.
ServiceNow will now be used for receiving and referring complaints, as well as communicating with stakeholders regarding complaints and feedback received. Learn more about this and the recent changes ...
Student Communications (MER) compiles, edits and sends a monthly Student News and Events bulletin. This bulletin is sent to all students, nationally, and includes a broad cross-section of news, announ...
Visit Service Central to access Corporate Services.