Student Blog: Academic Integritea

What is academic integrity? 

Academic integrity is often defined as an expectation that within school one will act fairly and honestly. This can be anything from acting honestly on an exam, to not cheating on homework, and more. Ultimately it's making sure that you're holding yourself accountable and responsible to do work as best as you can. It's important to know what academic integrity is and how to uphold it so that you can remain a hardworking and honest person. In the arts, it's especially important to have that academic integrity so that each project or work is acknowledged properly and that ownership or liscencing isn't so easily dismissed. 

My cup of academic integritea

For me, academic integrity means being fair to all of my classes and projects. Something I initially struggled with upon starting college was balancing some of my classes, especially when I started to get more into my program specific classes. In my mind, I felt like I had to prioritize certain classes and projects over others, which is far from the case. As I've grown into my work I've learned ways to adapt and make sure I'm keeping myself accountable so that all of my work gets finished and to make sure it's done well. 

There have been a few ways that have helped me to be more honest to my work and that's been to keep myself as organized as possible. Something I've found is that the more disorganized you are, the harder it is to have that academic integrity. Same could be said for the opposite side of things, the more organized you are, the easier it is for you to have academic integrity. When I started getting more organized with my calender and my scheduling, it allowed for me to have more time for projects and work and to be more detailed with more work. 

Showing academic integrity 

There are a few ways to show academic integrity, not only as a student, but also as a worker or even an artist in general. Don't be afraid to ask questions or to clarify things, Make plans in advance, and Give credit where credit is due. These are a few core values that can help. 

All of this is to say that having academic integrity is important for a variety of reasons. By showing academic integrity in the workplace, you not only solidify yourself as a trusted worker, but also somebody that others can count on. Everybody wants to be given credit for work that they do, and if you show that you have that integrity, and that others can count on you to be honest, then overall, you will be viewed as a reliable person.