Code of Conduct

All graduate students need to pay close attention to university regulations and procedures, especially regarding the Student Code of Conduct, rights to privacy, and sexual harassment. Information on the Student Code of Conduct is found online. Teaching assistants in particular need to maintain a sense of professionalism and adhere to the university’s privacy policies regarding students’ personal information. Among other things, this includes maintaining the confidentiality of any student’s health issues, disability status, and grades, whether for a course, lab, or assignment.

Personal Relationships, Sexual Misconduct, and Reporting Processes

Personal relationships with faculty, or with students who you supervise, should not occur. According to the university’s statement on sexual misconduct, “consensual romantic or sexual relationships in which one party retains a direct supervisory or evaluative role over the other party are unethical, create a risk for real or perceived coercion, and are expressly a violation of this policy.” Such interactions can compromise your ability to teach or learn effectively, participate fully in our program, and realize your professional goals. You should read the university’s policy on sexual misconduct in full.

With the exception of the confidential resources named below, all faculty and staff (including Teaching Assistants) of Ohio University are obligated to report complaints of sexual misconduct or behavior they observe and believe to be sexual misconduct to the Office of Equity and Civil Rights Compliance (ECRC). A staff member from ECRC will then contact the survivor to inform them of the resources and options available to them through the University. For a full explanation of the rights a survivor has through this process (including the right to request alternate housing or academic arrangements, and information regarding amnesty for personal alcohol or drug use at the time the sexual misconduct occurred) please see our Sexual Harassment and Other Sexual Misconduct Grievance Process.

A list of confidential resources, meaning they are exempt from reporting complaints of sexual misconduct to the Office Equity and Civil Rights Compliance, can be found on ECRC's Resources page.

Academic Misconduct, Plagiarism, and the Use of Artificial Intelligence

Plagiarism and other forms of academic misconduct are unacceptable forms of behavior for graduate and undergraduate students. When a faculty member judges that plagiarism or another form of academic misconduct has taken place, action will be taken against the student or students committing the offense. Additional action by the graduate committee is possible. Academic misconduct may result in failing an assignment or course, referral to the OHIO Office of Community Standards and Student Responsibility, and the possibility of being dropped from the program. For more information on what constitutes academic misconduct, refer to the Student Code of Conduct (Part D: Prohibited Conduct).

The Code of Conduct defines plagiarism as follows: “Plagiarism: Using another’s work, in whole or in part, without acknowledging the source and presenting that material as one’s own academic work. This includes, but is not limited to: i. Reproducing another person's work, whether published or unpublished (this also includes using materials from companies that sell research papers) ii. Using another's ideas or written words without properly acknowledging the source. iii. Quoting a source word for word without providing quotation marks and citations. iv. Copying words or ideas from a source without appropriate citations. v. Submitting work that is substantially identical to another source in content and/or organization without appropriately citing the source. vi. Using other intellectual property in a work without appropriate citations, permissions, or rights (when applicable). Intellectual property includes but is not limited to images, videos, software programs, computer code, or pieces of music.”

Graduate students in our program are required to engage deeply in reading, evaluating, synthesizing, and contributing to scholarship in their fields of specialization. Graduate education requires that students learn to critically engage with contemporary geographic scholarship. This engagement requires that students develop the skills that enable them to search for and identify relevant sources, synthesize these materials, and evaluate geographic processes and trends. It requires that students learn to draw on and further develop their own creativity in forming new research questions that extend existing knowledge. Artificial Intelligence (AI)1 should not be used to bypass traditional learning processes that are essential to individual intellectual development. In most cases, the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies (e.g., ChatGPT, Gemini) is permissible only for background research and narrowing down the scope of topics. Under no circumstance should generative AI technologies be used for generating or altering content for any type of deliverable for which the student will be assessed for originality and for which they will earn academic credit. Examples of such deliverables include, but are not limited to, maps or other geovisual products, essays, papers, theses and other written assignments.

Although AI will increasingly be incorporated into geographic research methodologies as the technology evolves, the use of AI to generate content that is passed off as original work by a student is not permitted. Any student who submits AI-generated material as though it were their original creation in order to satisfy coursework, thesis, project, or practicum requirements is in violation of the Student Code of Conduct. Any use of AI to complete academic requirements must be clearly acknowledged by the student and explicitly approved by the course instructor or evaluated and approved as a formal part of a research methodology by members of a project, practicum or thesis committee. AI technology should not be cited as a source of ideas and prior knowledge; all citations must include the human originators. Additionally, students must comply with all current university-wide policies, guidelines, and regulations governing the use of AI technology.

Any unauthorized or unethical use of AI to satisfy coursework, thesis, capstone, or practicum requirements will be reported to the university judiciary for investigation as academic misconduct, and subject to consequences, such as failing the assignment, failing the course, or further disciplinary action depending on the scope and severity of the actions taken. If you have any questions regarding this policy, please consult your instructor, academic advisor, and/or the graduate chair. When a student is accused and judged guilty of plagiarism or other forms of academic dishonesty, they may follow the established appeal process. For more information, contact the department chair and consult the information available online at the Office of Community Standards and Student Responsibility.