Graduate students are expected to uphold the highest standards of academic integrity as members of a scholarly and professional community. They are responsible for understanding and adhering to academic integrity expectations within their disciplines and as part of Southern Adventist University as a whole.
Academic dishonesty at the graduate level represents a serious breach of ethical conduct and professional responsibility. Any form of plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, cheating, unauthorized collaboration, or misuse of academic tools—including artificial intelligence—may result in significant academic penalties, including the following:
Some departments/schools, because of the nature of their programs, may have additional integrity policies which have the same force as those published here. Such policies will be presented to students before implementation.
The Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 [viewable here; see p. 3325] requires Southern Adventist University to authenticate the identity of all students who enroll in distance education courses offered by the university. Southern requires students enrolled in an online course or program to authenticate their identity at the time of initial registration in their first semester at Southern in order to ensure that a student who is enrolled is the same student who completes and submits work and assignments in that course or program. This process helps protect the integrity of the education provided by Southern Adventist University.
If authentication is required, the student will receive a personal email outlining the steps to complete the authentication.
The student should authenticate their identity by using ONE of the following options:
1. Authenticate in person at Southern Adventist University.
2. Authenticate online with a secure identity verification partner chosen by Southern Adventist University.
Students who do not authenticate their identity during their first semester in which they are enrolled in online classes will receive an incomplete in these course(s). If they do not complete their authentication by the end of the following semester, their final grade will automatically convert into an F. The student will not be allowed to register for further online classes until the authentication process is completed. In addition, non-compliance with the authentication policy may make the student subject to discipline according to the Procedures for Handling Academic Dishonesty in the Southern Adventist University Graduate Catalog.