All students, as future optometrists, committed to the rule and spirit of the Optometric Oath of Practice, are expected to conduct themselves ethically in every clinical situation and every didactic course. The administration, faculty, staff and fellow students at the UM-St. Louis College of Optometry expect that all work you submit is your own.
Dishonesty is a broad category defined in the University of Missouri Code of Student Conduct, which includes, but is not limited to:
1. Plagiarism: taking credit for anything that is not your own original work, including copying another person or using artificial intelligence.
2. Cheating: copying answers from another person, soliciting answers, both written and verbal, from another student (or from any unauthorized information source), accepting and/or utilizing questions or answers from an unauthorized source (not sanctioned by the instructor), or knowingly permitting another student to copy your work.
3. Stealing: unethical use or distribution of secured exam questions (with or without answers) or any other protected course information to others outside one’s class (such as “passing along” assignments or exam questions via written or verbal methods), unauthorized use and/or distribution of copyrighted materials such as textbooks (print or digital) and the like.
4. Unauthorized Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tools: use of generative AI tools (e.g. ChatGPT, Dall-e, etc.) for completion of course assignments, assessments, or other work, without explicit permission from the instructor. Any permitted use of AI tools must be properly documented and cited in order to stay within university policies on academic honesty. Spelling and grammar checks of a student’s original work are generally permitted.When in doubt about permitted usage, students should seek clarification from the instructor.
5. Violation of Clinical Ethics: fabrication or alteration of clinical records, forgery of preceptor, patient or intern signatures, violation of patient confidentiality (with or without intent) or removing any clinic properties from the clinic floor without expressed permission from a faculty member.
Students must diligently adhere to the strict principles while completing all assignments, quizzes, projects or patient records. Regardless of performance in other portions of the affiliated course, anyone who engages in academic dishonesty will normally be given a score of zero for that assignment and be referred to Academic Affairs for a sanction. As described in the Collected Rules , sanctions for academic dishonesty may range from probation to expulsion from the university.
After the university determination, because professionalism and integrity are academic requirements for the O.D. degree, the Student Committee and when appropriate the Clinic Committee will review the case and rule on its academic impact on the student’s ability to complete the program. Students can appeal decisions of the Committee to the dean.
Original January 2002
Revised October 2007, October 2024
