The following communication practices have supported academic integrity in faculty and graduate student instructors' classes.

Consider you beliefs about students and their motivations for engaging in academic misconduct, as these beliefs shape how we communicate with them. Dr. Yvette Alex-Assensoh's  L.A.C.E. framework offers a helpful structure for this reflection. It aligns with the principles of the International Center for Academic Integrity and allows us to examine the wider context of our desired relationships with students and their relationships with each other and with scholarly work.

Discuss academic integrity proactively and repeatedly. Define it clearly and explain its significance both to you and to your field of study. Encourage students to reflect on its importance to them personally. Refer to the University of Oregon's Student Conduct Code or the ethical guidelines of your discipline, especially if students will enter professional fields related to that discipline. Provide concrete examples of academic integrity and the consequences of misconduct within your field. Express your personal reasons for emphasizing integrity. Finally, foster student reflection on its relevance, possibly in a group setting where they can hear peers' perspectives.

Make the purpose of coursework transparent. This is relevant for learning broadly and in deterring all types of academic misconduct, but it may be particularly relevant in deterring unwanted use of generative artificial intelligence tools. 

Help students distinguish between practices that uphold academic integrity and those that violate it, and encourage them to ask questions. Common areas of confusion include citation practices, collaboration with peers, and understanding boundaries. Katy Larkin, Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Student Conduct and Community Standards, advises instructors to:

• Clarify the extent of permissible collaboration among students.
• Clearly outline permitted resources for assignments and assessments.
• Specify whether students can record class sessions.

Given students' desire for more practice in academic discourse aligned with university standards, consider integrating a discipline-specific activity on academic integrity into your class or assigning the library's Exploring Academic Integrity tutorial. Reach out to the Teaching Engagement program or your subject librarian for assistance with implementation.

Tell students explicitly that you believe they can and will succeed with preparation and make the path for success transparent. Students are more likely to act with integrity if they believe that they can achieve their goal without cheating. Emphasizing assessment difficulty and failure rate is counterproductive. Additionally, structuring assignments with transparent design makes the path to success visible.  

Deemphasize competition, which is one of the driving forces for academic dishonesty. While integrating competition into learning activities can be effective, there is little indication that competition in assessment performance enhances learning. 

Make consequences of academic misconduct practices clear, and let students know you file reports when you suspect integrity breaches. If you have questions about the process of reporting misconduct or are seeking guidance about a particular situation, please contact the student conduct coordinator.

In addition to the practices above, the Director of Student Conduct and Community Standards also recommends instructors, when possible: 

• Do what they can to reduce pressure and anxiety for students; please read this Inside Higher Education article. 
• Consider ways to get to know students and for them to get to know you; partnership in the pursuit of learning, grounded in trust, is the most effective mechanism to promote academic integrity. 
• Refer students of concern to the Office of the Dean of Students for support.