To:            All students

From:       Chair, Mathematics Department

Subject: City Tech Math Department’s Statement on Academic Integrity

As we are approaching the final exam, please be reminded the importance of practicing academic integrity and honesty, for the sake of learning and advancing your knowledge and skills, and not resorting to cheating.

We have received troubling information from Chegg that City Tech students are asking Chegg tutors to solve problems from exam questions.  Chegg has agreed to cooperate fully with the City Tech math department in a full investigation on any violations of Chegg’s honor code https://www.chegg.com/tutors/honor-code/.

We have also found students using online math solvers such as Photomath, Wolfram Alpha and Symbolab to solve exam questions and copy the step-by-step procedure.  The reason we know this is the online solvers use highly unusual algorithmic procedures, rather than the simple algebraic or calculus procedures, to solve the problem. It is easy for math faculty to tell the difference.

In either case, the mathematics department considers an act of cheating to use an online tutor or a math solver during an exam or on the final exam.  These acts severely undermine the learning process and discredit the work.  The mathematics department will report all cheating to the Academic Integrity Committee. In addition, all violators will receive an academic sanction.

As stated in the

CUNY POLICY ON ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

Academic dishonesty is prohibited in The City University of New York. Penalties for academic dishonesty include academic sanctions, such as failing or otherwise reduced grades, and/or disciplinary sanctions, including suspension or expulsion.

Cheating is the unauthorized use or attempted use of material, information, notes, study aids, devices or communication during an academic exercise (i.e. exams).

Examples of cheating include, but are not limited to:

  • Using an unauthorized resource (such as Chegg or tutors or math solvers) during an exam.
  • Taking someone else’s work as one’s own, including copying answers from another student, copying solutions from the internet, or plagiarizing.
  • Assisting someone to cheat, including allowing another student to copy one’s work or doing work for another student.

During the final exam, we ask you pay attention to the following procedural details:

  1. You will be asked to declare the integrity of your work that it is your own work without any outside help.
  2. All final exam answers must be supported by appropriate steps and work. Steps provided by online math solvers will not be accepted and will be reported as cheating.
  3. Only handwritten work will be accepted.  Typed work will not be accepted.
  4. The work must be submitted on time. Late work will not be accepted.
  5. When submitting the final exam work, you may be asked to attach a copy of your City Tech photo ID on the handwritten work. Only City Tech photo ID will be accepted.  Do not attach any other personal ID.
  6. The mathematics department takes academic integrity seriously and will pursue full investigations on any violations.  The college’s academic integrity policy can be found: http://www.citytech.cuny.edu/academics/docs/academic_integrity_policy.pdf

We are committed to supporting your learning and your pursuit of an education and a degree.  I commend you for completing a another difficult semester and wish you good luck on the final exams. Stay healthy, stay well.