The Office of Academic Integrity (OAI) at Abu Dhabi University (ADU) has had no other recourse but to expel 32 of its students due to proven and documented cases of academic dishonesty. The OAI has issued 480 disciplinary investigations against students suspected of violations of its academic integrity policy (AIP) since its inception 2 years ago, resulting in various probationary disciplinary measures issued against minor offenders and the unfortunate expulsion of 32 students for serious offences against the university’s strict adherence to academic standards.
H.E. Said Bin Harmal Al Dhaheri, Chairman of the ADU Executive Board, pointed out that the university has always been committed to perform its academic and social duty towards the UAE community without compunction and with due diligence in order to ensure that ADU graduates are imparted with impeccable, transparent, and reliable credentials. As a result the OAI was established in March 2009, when the official ADU policy was revised and the OAI was called into life to provide students, faculty and staff with definite and clear guidelines and procedures where instances of such academic misconduct might be suspected. The OAI has drafted the necessary policies and guidelines that clarify its responsibilities, violations of its code, authorities and persons to make related decisions, actions to be taken in case of such violations, and penalties for each case based on the severity of the violation.
Dr. Jehan Zitawi, Dean of the University College and acting Chair of the OAI, noted that the efforts to raise student awareness of proper academic conduct remain a continuous, collaborative effort and a mutual responsibility between students, faculty, staff and the OAI. During the current academic year, in addition to the regular information sessions of the OAI, the Office visited all classrooms in the university, comprising of over 500 classrooms on both the Abu Dhabi and Al Ain campuses. The objective of these visits was to explain the procedures of the policy and the actions to be taken in case of violations – whether during exams, submission of projects, group assignments, or the writing of assignments at the end of the semester.
Dr. Nabil Ibrahim, ADU’s Chancellor, noted that ADU continuously strives to prevent dishonest academic practices and TURNITIN has been adopted as the university’s system to detect, prevent and eventually eradicate plagiarism.
