Academic Integrity Matters Ambassadors at Macquarie University

Tricia Bertram Gallant at UC San Diego in 2009. AIMA members are passionate about the answer to this question! Ask any of us and we will tell you that academic integrity matters because it encapsulates the following 6 values and expectations that help make students' time at university a positive and rewarding experience: trust, honesty, responsibility, respect, fairness and courage (ICAI, 2014). ARE BREACHES OF ACADEMIC INTEGRITY REALLY A PROBLEM? We think so! Here are some reported rates from around the world and in Australia. In the US: 64% (McCabe & Trevino, 1996,), 70% (Whitley, 1998), 90% (Graham, Monday & O’Brien, 1994) and 92% (Roberts, Anderson & Yanish, 1997). In the UK: 88% (Franklyn-Stokes and Armstead, 1996)

In Australia: 69% to 85% (Sheard, Dick and Markham, 2002), 72% (Brimble and Stevenson-Clarke, 2005), 25% to 81% (Marsden, Caroll and Neil, 2006)

Europe (Scandinavia): 91.9% (Bjorklund and Wenestam, 1999)

55% of Macquarie University students selected ‘agree’ when asked if they thought breaches were a serious problem at universities (Nayak et al., 2013). BUT WHAT EXACTLY IS THE HARM OF ACADEMIC INTEGRITY BREACHES? Academic integrity matters because in the absence of these values, the following can occur:
- Program effectiveness and delivery is hampered
- Damages the reputation of your university, your program and you fellow students
- Tutors and lecturers cannot appraise students’ work effectively if AI breaches are prevalent
- Good scholarship is undermined.
- Lack of academic integrity breeds distrust among students and a lack of trust in universities’ academic integrity policies
- It’s unfair! WHAT DO ACADEMIC INTEGRITY AMBASSADORS DO? The Ambassadors at Macquarie University aim to improve academic integrity culture by participating in the dissemination and promotion of academic integrity among their peers. By participating in university process that do not typically involved students as facilitators, Ambassadors aim to highlight student experiences, concerns and underscore the positive aspects of academic integrity. It’s not all about penalties and punishments! Here are some examples of the ROLES that the Ambassadors will take on:
- Advise
- Referral
- Conduit for feedback and information from students to the university
- Lead
- Support
- Sounding Board
- Role Model

And here are examples of ACTIVITIES that the Ambassadors will undertake:
- Conduct surveys of student attitudes
- Presentations, workshops and seminars
- Competitions
- Awareness campaigns
- Create and share academic integrity resources
- E-newsletter
- Community outreach (speaking at high schools and other universities)
- Host debates
- Rewarding good academic integrity practice
- Social activities

WHAT MAKES A GREAT ACADEMIC INTEGRITY AMBASSADOR? An AIM Academic Integrity Ambassador is someone who is passionate about the topic of academic integrity. They see the value in promoting and encouraging positive academic integrity cultures, which in turn improves the quality and reputation of the programs at their university, and the student experience in general. Academic Integrity Ambassadors are successful networkers and organisers who take pride in their membership of an international team of likeminded students. They view their university as a community with the same common goals, and they desire to make the educational experience at their university a worthwhile, valuable and enriching experience for students. SO AIMA IS JUST LIKE A REGULAR UNIVERSITY STUDENT SOCIETY, ISN’T IT? AIMA is in the process of registering to become an affiliated student group at Macquarie University, but we are also funded and supported by the ‘Academic Integrity in Australia’ project, an Australian Government Office of Learning and Teaching study. To find out more about this multi-institutional project, please visit the project website at: http://web.science.mq.edu.au/academic-integrity/index.html

Additionally, the roles and purpose of AIMA have been informed by the Academic Integrity in Australia project’s research into how Australian university students want to engage with academic integrity, and what university staff members who deal with student academic integrity issues across nearly 20 institutions have recommended. I’M PASSIONATE ABOUT ACADEMIC INTEGRITY, TOO! HOW DO I SIGN UP TO BECOME AN AMBASSADOR OR START AN AIM CHAPTER AT MY INSTITUTION? If you’re a Macquarie University student, please email Sonia Saddiqui, AIMA Chair at [email protected] and she will be in touch with you shortly. If you’re a student or member of staff from another institution and want to start an AIM chapter just like we have, you can email Dr Tricia Betram Gallant at UC San Diego at [email protected]