Building a Culture of Academic Integrity in the Student Environment Case of Vinnytsia National Technical University (Ukraine)

Abstract

Since Ukraine has declared its intention to reform higher education aligned with the European standards, it has been stated that quality assurance of education in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) is one of the main conditions for trust, mobility, motivation, compatibility and attractiveness of higher education. One of the key components for the internal quality assurance system in the higher education institutions (HEI) is the establishment of the system of academic integrity at the institutional level allowing creation of a zero environment of tolerance to violations of academic integrity and ethics of academic relations; this justifies the relevance of the article. The aim of the article is to analyze Vinnytsia National Technical University (VNTU) experience in implementing the project “Building a culture of academic integrity in the student environment”. The project has been implemented within the framework of the Ukraine Higher Education Leadership Development Programme. To achieve this aim, methods of analysis, synthesis, comparison and systematization of a set of actions contributing to the project implementation have been used. The outcomes of the project have been described and it has been established that the implementation of policies and mechanisms to ensure academic integrity in teaching, learning and research needs to be shifted from penalty for violation of academic integrity to planning and implementing explanatory and educational activities. Steps for further development of the culture of academic integrity in VNTU have been outlined.