Professional and Academic Integrity

Students’ Rights and Responsibilities

IUSSW students in the B.S.W., M.S.W., and Ph.D. programs have a right to participate in decision-making activities about the school. Students regularly contribute to the continued development and growth of our programs. Indeed, the school values students’ input in several critical areas: faculty and course evaluation, school committee work, student field placements and others.

All students enrolled at the School of Social Work have an opportunity each semester to evaluate their courses and instructors. At the end of each course, students are given standardized faculty evaluation forms to complete. These evaluations are confidential, and the results are computer generated. The evaluations are returned to the faculty to use for strengthening content, teaching, and learning methods to improve instruction.

Through their elected and/or volunteer representatives, students provide input to and learn from B.S.W., M.S.W., and Ph.D. program committees and various others that might be convened throughout the year. Student representatives are viewed as valuable members of these committees.

Each student has the opportunity to have input into the selection of his or her field practicum assignments. The field practicum coordinator in each program works closely with students to negotiate suitable placements.

Students have the right to provide feedback about school policies and procedures as well as the behavior of faculty and staff members. In providing either positive or critical feedback, students are expected to follow professional social work norms, values, and ethics. For example, students who believe that a faculty or staff member’s behavior is discourteous or ineffective should discuss the concern directly with the person or people in question. Students who have reason to believe addressing the person directly would place them in some jeopardy should register the concern with the director or campus coordinator of the program, who will address and respond to the issue.

Students who believe that they have been treated unfairly or unprofessionally by a faculty or staff member, or that a policy or procedure is unjust or unwise, may submit in writing a formal grievance petition to the dean of the school. Grievance petitions are reserved for those issues or incidences that warrant formal investigation and full exploration. Such petitions should be submitted in a professional manner, consistent with social work norms, values, and ethics.

Student complaints regarding discrimination, sexual harassment, racial harassment, and harassment on the basis of sexual orientation have established complaint procedures available in the Indiana University Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct.

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Academic and Scholarly Guidelines

Students admitted to the Indiana University School of Social Work have already demonstrated potential for superior academic work. Most students are therefore very familiar and comfortable with high academic and scholarly standards. Obviously, students are expected to attend face-to-face, online, and classroom and practicum course meetings. Regular attendance is viewed as the responsibility of each social work student. Active participation in course activities is the expected norm. In participating, it is expected that students reflect interest in, and respect for, their colleagues in a manner that is congruent with the values, ethics, and skills of the profession, and those of the Student Code of Conduct.

In written assignments, students are expected to prepare documents in a scholarly and professional manner. Submissions should be typewritten in double-spaced format and carefully edited for spelling and grammar. All direct quotations, paraphrases, empirical research findings, and other restatements of the research, scholarship, or creative work of others must be appropriately annotated using the standard bibliographic citation methods set out in the most recent edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA). The APA manual serves as the guide for style and format of all papers submitted in the School of Social Work.

Both labor studies and social work graduates require well-developed and refined communication skills, including the use of the written word. Writing well helps graduates communicate information accurately and concisely. For this reason, formal writing assignments in social work courses are evaluated on the basis of both the quality of the scholarly content and the quality of its presentation.

Electronic Communication

Students are expected to follow appropriate e-mail etiquette when communicating with faculty, staff, and peers. Correct grammar is expected at all times. Inappropriate use of e-mail will be grounds for student review. For specific guidelines, please visit informationpolicy.iu.edu/policies/.

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Student Misconduct

1. Academic Misconduct
   Indiana University School of Social Work and/or the university may discipline a student for academic misconduct defined as any activity that tends to compromise the academic integrity of the institution and undermine the educational process. Academic misconduct includes, but is not limited to, the following:
1. Cheating
1. A student must not use external assistance on any “in-class” or “take-home” examination, unless the instructor specifically has authorized such assistance. This prohibition includes, but is not limited to, the use of tutors, books, notes, and calculators.
2. A student must not use another person as a substitute in the taking of an examination or quiz.
3. A student must not steal examinations or other course materials.
4. A student must not allow others to conduct research or to prepare any work for him or her without advance authorization from the instructor to whom the work is being submitted. Under this prohibition, a student must not make any unauthorized use of materials obtained from commercial term paper companies or from files of papers prepared by other persons.
5. A student must not collaborate with other persons on a particular project and submit a copy of a written report that is represented explicitly or implicitly as the student’s own individual work.
6. A student must not use any unauthorized assistance in a laboratory, at a computer terminal, or on fieldwork.
7. A student must not submit substantial portions of the same academic work for credit or honors more than once without permission of the instructor to whom the work is being submitted.
8. A student must not alter a grade or score in any way.
2. Fabrication
   A student must not falsify or invent any information or data in an academic exercise including, but not limited to, records or reports, laboratory results, and citations to the sources of information.
3. Plagiarism
   A student must not adopt or reproduce ideas, words, or statements of another person without an appropriate acknowledgment. A student must give due credit to the originality of others and acknowledge an indebtedness whenever he or she does any of the following:
1. Quotes another person’s actual words, either oral or written
2. Paraphrases another person’s words, either oral or written
3. Uses another person’s idea, opinion, or theory
4. Borrows facts, statistics, or other illustrative material, unless the information is common knowledge
4. Interference
1. A student must not steal, change, destroy, or impede another student’s work. Impeding another student’s work includes, but is not limited to, the theft, defacement, or mutilation of resources so as to deprive others of the information they contain.
2. A student must not give or offer a bribe, promise favors, or make threats with the intention of affecting a grade or the evaluation of academic performance.
5. Violation of Course Rules
   A student must not violate course rules as contained in a course syllabus or other information provided to the student.
6. Facilitating Academic Dishonesty
   A student must not intentionally or knowingly help or attempt to help another student to commit an act of academic misconduct.

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Indiana University School of Social Work Policy Regarding Individuals Convicted of Sex Offenses against Children

Policy Statement

It is the policy of the School of Social Work that no students or applicants who have been convicted of sex offenses against children shall be eligible for matriculation into the B.S.W., M.S.W., or Ph.D. programs.

Procedure

1. Responsible Office.
   The Office of Student Services, in conjunction with the Admissions Committee of each program, shall administer the Sex Offenders Screening Policy as it relates to student admissions and transfers.
2. Periodic Review.
   Periodically the Student Services Committee will review the policy and will make recommendations to the dean of the school regarding any possible changes to the policy and procedures for implementation.
3. Preadmission and Transfer Screening.
   Applicants will be asked to self-report any history of convictions of sexual offenses against children. As well, once students are accepted into the program, their names will be forwarded to the Office of the Registrar for screening against the registry. Any applicant or new admit whose name is on the registry will be ineligible for admission or transfer and shall be notified of nonacceptance or termination from the respective program.
4. Students in Affected Programs.
   Any student who is already in an IU School of Social Work Program and whose name appears on the registry during the time of matriculation, or who has been convicted of an offense for which the student can be listed on the registry, shall be ineligible for continuation or completion of the affected program. Any faculty member, student, field instructor, or other person within the school who becomes aware of such a situation should bring it to the attention of the respective program director for appropriate action.
5. Notice.
   The school bulletin shall include a statement giving notice to potential applicants that criminal convictions may render persons ineligible for certain practica.
6. Nonexclusive Policy.
   Nothing in this policy shall be deemed to preclude the school from taking other appropriate action in such cases, or in the case of applicants or students involved in other conduct or criminal activities not covered in this policy.
7. Right to Appeal.
   Any applicant or student already admitted to an IU School of Social Work program who is deemed ineligible for admission or continuation based upon a record of criminal conviction may appeal to the dean of the school for reconsideration if he or she believes there are extenuating circumstances that might mitigate the findings. The dean will appoint a review panel of three full-time faculty members to consider the student’s appeal. The review panel, in consultation with the Office of University Counsel, will consider all pertinent information and make a ruling that shall be considered final.

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