The goal of the Office of Academic Integrity at Stevenson University is to promote a proactive and positivesense of integrity throughout the student body, according to Theresa Gillis, Academic Integrity Officer.

Several initiatives the Office of Academic Integrity seeks is to engage students to become more aware of the importance of acting with integrity. With a new honor pledge in use throughout the university, students have the opportunity every day to incorporate the pledge’s ethical standards into their academic behavior.

Since the beginning of the 2014-2015 school year, according to Gillis, there has been a decline in the number of academic violations. Conversations with first-year students during Mustang Days and in First-Year Seminars have helped students to become more aware of the integrity standards, which has led to the decline in violations.

Students can get involved with the Office of Academic Integrity and help spread positivity throughout campus in many ways, said Gillis.

“There is a Student Academic Integrity Committee that any student can join and that meets once a month,” said Gillis. There are currently nine members on the committee, and more are encouraged to join. The committee helps with events around campus that promote integrity.

The Office of Academic Integrity is currently working with students in VCD 270, Corporate Communication Design, to create new posters on the topic of integrity to hang around the campuses. The current posters in classrooms were created by similar classes last year.

The Office of Academic Integrity will host several upcoming events, including a game night. With Relay for Life approaching, the office is also hoping to put together a team, according to Gillis. During finals and midterms, citation workshops are planned to help students writing papers or conducting research. During May finals, the office will offer coffee mugs filled with candy to promote academic integrity and encourage a positive approach towards honor on campus.