UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State has launched a new Academic Integrity Responsibilities Office (AIRO) to support academic integrity efforts and committees across the University.
Academic integrity claims often revolve around plagiarism from online sources, test-sharing and fears of smartphone use, according to Andrew Peck, assistant dean for academic integrity at Penn State, who added that the landscape has dramatically changed since the widespread introduction of generative artificial intelligence.
"After the COVID-19 pandemic and the widespread access to artificial intelligence tools that followed, sentiment shifted at the University," Peck said. "University leadership began hearing more from campus leaders and faculty who wanted help managing the academic integrity claim load and determining when a student was in violation of our academic integrity standards."
In addition to providing general leadership to the University around academic integrity, starting this semester AIRO also will coordinate academic integrity claims for the 14 campuses of the University College. This will include managing claims in the digital system and ensuring that academic integrity committees have a quorum when a student challenges an instructor's allegation or proposed academic outcome during the academic integrity process. The committees will consist of faculty and students from the campuses, with the goal of keeping the process equitable and consistent, Peck said.
Peck's role in academic integrity at Penn State has evolved over the years from serving on committees in the College of the Liberal Arts, to leading academic integrity efforts at the college, then serving in an interim role within Undergraduate Education, to now a full-time role in academic integrity as assistant dean.
AIRO will follow academic integrity issues nationally and the evolving legal landscape, Peck said, and it will work closely with the Administrative Council on Undergraduate Education as academic integrity policies come up for review in the coming months and years.
Kathy Bieschke, senior vice provost and interim dean of Undergraduate Education, said it is vital that Penn State establishes an office to support academic integrity efforts across the University, which ultimately helps students be more successful in life. Penn State also is expanding AI literacy and skill-building opportunities for students across the University. Beginning this fall semester, all Penn State students have access to AI Essentials, a self-paced online AI literacy course, and AI Studio, a suite of AI services.
“Students need to know where they stand when they use technologies and resources for their coursework,” Bieschke said. “They also deserve an avenue of appeal if they believe they’ve been misunderstood. Similarly, our faculty deserve consistent processes and administrative organization that help them meet the modern challenges of teaching.”
AIRO recently added one staff member whose role will be to coordinate claims in the Digital Academic Integrity System (DAISY) and ensure there are enough people for an academic integrity committee, as needed, for campuses in the University College.
Peck stressed that once an academic integrity committee is formed, AIRO will take on a supporting role. The office will provide guidance when asked and offer the committee options within policy boundaries, but the committee will be responsible for rendering a judgment.
"Our students' futures rely on employers and the public knowing that graduates of Penn State are acting honorably and honestly in their studies,” Peck said. “Taking seriously the value of a Penn State degree means taking issues of academic integrity seriously for the frameworks we create to support educators, administrators and students. This new office will give support to the hard work that has been underway at all colleges and campuses and help to facilitate processes."
Jennifer Nesbitt is the associate dean for faculty affairs in the University College and was previously campus chief academic officer at Penn State Brandywine. She said the new process would create a shared set of standards across campuses and build a sense of joint purpose in pursuing academic excellence for Penn State students.
When Nesbitt arrived at Brandywine in 2023, the campus was experiencing the first widespread impacts of artificial intelligence. Since then, she said faculty have worked to better define when it is appropriate to use and students have become more careful consumers.
“Like any technological evolution, artificial intelligence will continue to challenge academic integrity as its use becomes even more undetectable, but the Penn State community continues to build a culture of academic excellence in which artificial intelligence can take its rightful place,” Nesbitt said.
To learn more about academic integrity at Penn State, visit airo.psu.edu. The Academic Integrity Responsibilities Office is part of Penn State's Office of Undergraduate Education.