Policy Violation
The concept of academic integrity is based on the idea that students and all other actors in an educational environment perform according to the principles of honesty, responsibility, respect, fairness, and trust. As a result, the conduct of students is expected to address the university policy, and academic dishonesty should be avoided as it is prohibited in educational contexts. Much attention should be paid to focusing on academic integrity principles to ensure that students’ conduct is correlated with norms accepted in the academic community.
Each higher education institution has the clearly stated academic policy to follow by the faculty and students. However, if students have not reviewed important university and academic policies in detail, there are high risks of violating these rules unintentionally (“University and academic policies,” 2020). The reason is that some types of policy violations are less obvious and cannot be easily recognized in comparison to others. Cheating, fabricating information, and submitting another person’s work as one’s own can be clearly defined and recognized in practice (“Examples of policy violations,” n.d.).
Thus, these practices can be easily avoided by students in their activities. The problem is that some issues can arise when students unintentionally plagiarize other people’s work because of poor skills in citing and referencing sources, for instance. Another problematic situation can be observed when a student provides his peer with login details to access a textbook because of some technical issues. In this case, the violation of copyright laws is observed.
Other examples can include unsanctioned collaboration when working on individual assignments because students have not understood this rule properly. Therefore, it is important to act professionally not only when performing as a specialist in the working context but also when being a student to adhere to professional standards (“Early childhood development & services,” 2011; Follari, 2015; White, 2014). From this perspective, violations of the academic policy can unexpectedly arise during an academic career even if a student is aware of academic integrity.
The discussed types of policy violations are directly related to the concept of academic integrity because these examples demonstrate how this concept can be ignored or misunderstood in many cases. Academic integrity is violated when students do not support the principle of respect for other people’s work and do not demonstrate honesty, responsibility, and fairness through their activities. Thus, the discussed examples of academic policy violations through cheating, plagiarizing, unauthorized assistance, and sharing one’s work among others accentuate the activities to avoid by students to follow the idea of academic integrity in an educational context.
Title IX
Title IX (Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972) is an important federal mandate associated with protecting individuals’ rights regarding their access to education. This law prohibits any variant of sex discrimination in an educational context. It is important to note that this act protects both females and males, and it is not solely related to students’ involvement in athletic programs (“Title IX,” 2020). Students need to be aware of their rights granted according to Title IX to feel protected and comfortable in an educational setting even if they study online.
When discussing Title IX, it is possible to notice some misunderstanding of the role of this mandate in forming security in higher education institutions because of the direct association of the act with sexual discrimination. Still, it should be noted that this law coverage is broader than the provision of equal access to different programs and courses: Title IX prohibits gender-based discrimination in relation to student recruitment and admission, the provision of scholarships and financial aid, and hiring of employees among other aspects (“Title IX,” 2020). Additionally, one should note that the mandate protects students’ interests in relation to a wide area of sex discrimination, including cases of sexual misconduct and any gender-related harassment and violence.
From this perspective, Title IX affects students when providing them with the necessary protection in their activities while granting that all cases of sexual harassment and other discrimination will be addressed without violating individuals’ rights and regardless of participants’ sex.
In this case, Title IX influences students positively, and the reason is in protecting from not only severe gender discrimination but also any disrespectful conduct. For example, this law covers such areas as discriminating comments, aggressive gender-oriented messages, and stalking in an online environment (“University and academic policies,” 2020). Any gender-related verbal or physical misconduct is prohibited, and students can take action to protect themselves in an educational environment and feel the support of authorities.
It is possible to conclude that Title IX has a critical impact on students and the protection of their basic rights. Female students can feel more supported in an educational environment because the law provides them with tools to address sexual discrimination. Male students can feel secure because their certain interests and problems are not ignored due to prejudice associated with gender-related behaviors and public expectations. In this context, the introduction of Title IX has a positive impact on the academic community.
References
Early childhood development & services: Human services careers. (2011). Web.
Examples of policy violations. (n.d.). Web.
Follari, L. (2015). Foundations and best practices in early childhood education: History, theories, and approaches to learning (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.
Title IX. (2020). Web.
University and academic policies. (2020). Web.
White, E. (2014). Philosophy and pedagogy of early childhood. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 46(8), 821-832.