A model academic ethics and integrity policy for computer science departments

For decades, US universities and colleges have had policies pertaining to the conduct of their students at the institutional level. These policies are referred to as Academic Integrity Policies or Codes of Conduct. The Code of Ethics, instituted by Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) has been the standard for the computing sciences profession for over 15 years. However, the traditional institution-wide academic integrity policies have not adapted to the complexities that arose from rapid progress in information technology (IT) and thus either fail to address or are in conflict with the nature of problems in computer science education. In this paper, we propose a model for development and implementation of an academic ethics policy (ethics is a broader concept that includes integrity) that addresses the challenges imposed by information technology vis-á-vis the best modern teaching practices in computer sciences and engineering. Implementing policies that are more in line with the methods of industry and compatible with newer educational pedagogies should make the whole educational environment more engaging to students.