Academic Integrity

MIT students are expected to act with full integrity in all academic endeavors. Members of the Institute community rely on honesty in individual and collaborative work. Any use of words, formulas or ideas that are not one's own must be acknowledged whether the source is a book, an article, the Internet, a lecture, or a peer. Providing or receiving unauthorized help on papers, exams or other academic work is also a violation of the Institute's policies on academic integrity.

The consequences of cheating, plagiarism, unauthorized collaboration and other forms of academic dishonesty are serious. Faculty members will decide how to handle violations of academic integrity on a case-by-case basis. Academic dishonesty may result in suspension or expulsion.

  • In some cases a faculty member will resolve the matter directly with the student. If academic dishonesty is proven, the faculty member may fail the student on the paper, problem set, or exam, or the faculty member may fail the student in the course.
  • Whether or not the faculty member assigns a failing grade on a specific piece of work or in a subject, the faculty member may write a letter that will be placed in the student's file. This letter specifies the nature of the academic dishonesty engaged in by the student. The student receives a copy of this letter and may appeal the letter to the Committee on Discipline (COD). If the student does not appeal, or if the appeal to the COD is unsuccessful, the letter stays in the student's file in the Office of Student Conduct until graduation. There is no notation on the transcript. However, if there is a subsequent case of academic dishonesty, the existence of the letter in the file means that the case will automatically be heard by the COD.
  • A faculty member may submit a formal complaint to the COD regarding any matter of academic dishonesty. The Committee will then adjudicate the case. Procedures to protect the rights of the student and the faculty member are in place and detailed guidelines to steps followed in every case may be found at the Committee on Discipline (COD).

Everyone is diminished by violations of academic integrity. Such violations damage not only the student's reputation, but that of the Institute.

A handbook for MIT students on Academic Integrity provides information on acknowledging sources correctly, collaborating on assignments, and writing original computer code.

More information on violations can be found in the MIT Bulletin in the section on Complaint and Disciplinary Procedures. A policy statement on Academic Dishonesty and Misconduct is available in section 10.2 of MIT Policies and Procedures.

Minimum Academic Standards and Ratings

Because of the individual nature of student academic performance and differences in academic and grading policies among departments, the Committee on Academic Performance (CAP) cannot set forth rigid standards of academic performance to be employed throughout the Institute. It is the responsibility of the CAP, however, to see that the action on specific undergraduates proposed by the individual departments is reasonably consistent throughout the Institute.

The CAP normally expects a minimum academic record reflecting the satisfactory completion of 36 units of credit with a term rating above 3.0 at the end of any regular term, unless the committee has specifically notified an individual student that a higher level of performance is required. The latter would only occur as a result of a previously poor performance.

The CAP considers each student's academic performance on an individual basis. Consideration is given not only to the grades received, but also to the total number of General Institute Requirements (GIRs) and units beyond GIRs completed (in relation to the norm for the student's class), the nature of the subjects themselves, and those factors in the student's personal situation which may have affected his or her academic performance in a given term. If a department feels that the performance of a particular student is below standard, it must recommend to the CAP some course of action within the guidelines set out below.

Students should be reminded that some scholarship-granting agencies (e.g., the ROTC programs) have stricter minimum academic standards than those of MIT itself.

Academic Review for Regular Students

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Students' academic performance is evaluated by their departments and then by the Committee on Academic Performance (CAP) at the end of the fall and spring terms. The Office of Undergraduate Advising and Academic Programming (UAAP) is the department for freshmen and undesignated sophomores.

Students are reviewed for possible academic deficiency as a result of poor grades or low units. Upperclass students are automatically marked for review if they have a term rating of 3.0 or less, or they are registered for 35 units or fewer at the end of the term. Because freshmen are on a special grading system, they are reviewed if they receive 39 or fewer units of credit; the number of subjects passed is also considered.

The Exploratory status of subjects may be considered in the CAP end of term review. The CAP may also consider petitions to revoke a CAP action if a student's status is changed by conversion of an Exploratory Subject to Listener.

Decisions of the Committee on Academic Performance

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The department reviews each student's performance and prepares a recommendation for the Committee on Academic Performance (CAP). CAP discusses each student's performance and makes one of the following decisions:

No Action: The CAP takes no official action in the case, leaving to the student's department the choice of taking action, such as a departmental letter, or no action.

Warning: A CAP warning is appropriate in the case of a student whose performance during the past term is considered unsatisfactory and whose status at the Institute may be jeopardized if his or her performance does not improve during the next term. It is also the appropriate action when, in the opinion of the department and the CAP, the student is not making sufficient progress toward an academic degree. “Sufficient progress” includes completion of Institute and department requirements, as well as accumulation of credits at a reasonable rate.

This action should not be viewed as punitive, but rather as an expression of concern for a student's performance or progress. A warning does not appear on the student's transcript, but it does appear on the grade report. It is entirely an internal action.

Students in academic difficulty would often like to make up for “lost time” or failed subjects by overloading on units and subjects in the next semester, but overloading usually hinders students' academic recovery. Therefore, the committee places a limit on the number of units for which a student may register during his or her next regular term at MIT following a warning. The usual limit is 48 units (51 units for upperclass students taking only four subjects), but at the time the warning is voted by the CAP, the department may request a higher or lower limit to fit a student's individual situation.

The letter notifying a student of his or her warning status specifies the exact credit limit voted. If such a student has a particular reason for wishing to exceed the credit limit, he or she may petition the CAP. Such petitions are rarely approved.

Required Withdrawal: This action is taken by the CAP when a student experiences serious academic difficulties over a period of one or more terms. Generally the CAP does not vote a required withdrawal for a student who has never been warned previously. Students who are required to withdraw are expected to take at least a year away from MIT.

A student who is required to withdraw from MIT should discuss a course of action with a dean in Student Support Services (S^3) and with his or her academic advisor, to facilitate possible readmission at a later date.

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A required withdrawal does not appear on a student's external transcript.

Students who have received financial aid should contact their student financial aid officers to discuss their obligations while not enrolled at MIT. If the student received financial aid that included student loans, or the student's parents borrowed from various parent loan programs, the student must meet with a loan counselor.

End-of-Term Meetings of the CAP

In reviewing students' academic performance, the Committee on Academic Performance (CAP) holds two sets of end-of term meetings: Institute grades meetings, attended by a representative from each department, and then approximately two weeks later, deferred action meetings, attended by faculty advisors, for consideration of required withdrawals and other cases requiring additional information or communication with the students. Students are not present when their cases are reviewed.

If, at an Institute grades meeting, the CAP feels that final action on a student's case should be deferred until further information is available, the student is informed in a letter from the committee that his or her performance will be reviewed at a deferred action meeting. The letter indicates the type of action being considered: warning or required withdrawal.

In its letter, the CAP advises the student to contact his or her academic advisor, ensuring that the final action taken by the committee is based on all available information. The student's advisor or other departmental representative must attend the deferred action meeting.

The deans in Student Support Services (S^3) and a representative from the Medical Department are always present at the deferred action meetings. They can provide valuable advice to a student and, with the student's permission, often act as liaisons between the student and the committee. If other members of the MIT community (such as an instructor, housemaster, graduate resident tutor, or MIT administrator) have additional information about a student's situation, then the student should ask him or her to relay this to either the student's academic advisor or to a dean in S^3, depending on the nature of the information to be given.

Other decisions, such as retroactive cancellation of registration, are sometimes recommended; such cases are usually referred to the deans in S^3 for review.

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In all cases it is the responsibility of the CAP to ensure that the recommended final action on each student is consistent throughout the undergraduate departments in the Institute, based on the individual circumstances of the student.

After the deferred action meeting the student and the advisor will be informed in writing of the action (if any) taken by the CAP.

End-of-Term Procedures for Special Students

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Because special students must be readmitted for each semester, the Committee on Academic Performance (CAP) does not usually take any action with regard to the academic performance of special students.