School of Law Memorandum on Academic Integrity

To: All Students
From: Maggie Wittlin, Acting Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
RE: Academic Integrity

This memorandum outlines our obligation to academic integrity as an aspect of professional responsibility and notes some important policies regarding final examinations and papers.

Examinations

You will be required to certify your adherence to the following honor code for every examination:

By taking this exam, I certify that:

  • All information provided on this form and in the Exam4 application is accurate.
  • During the exam, I will not collaborate with or share information with others, or use unauthorized materials, including AI tools or machine-learning tools. 
  • I agree not to include identifying or personal information.
  • If any concerns arise, I will notify the proctors immediately.  

I understand that I am bound by the rules set forth in the Code of Academic Responsibility. Any person found violating the code will be sanctioned for compromising the trust and honor of the academic community. Violations will be thoroughly investigated by the Office of Student Affairs.

The following guidelines apply during the examination period:

  • Do not contact your professors for any exam-related reason during the exam period.
  • Emergency Situations: If you are facing a personal emergency, please submit an Exam Emergency Request Form for the Office of Student Affairs to review before your scheduled exam. Submission of this form is NOT an automatic approval to have your exam(s) rescheduled. Should you encounter any difficulty during the final examination period, you should contact the Office of Student Affairs at [email protected] or (212) 636-7155.
    • It is imperative that you contact OSA prior to the start of your exam; absent extraordinary circumstances, students who contact OSA after the exam or who do not contact the office risk not being accommodated.
    • In order to receive an accommodation based on an emergency, you will be required to provide documentation explaining the emergency (e.g., a letter from your treating physician or the facility on letterhead indicating the date you were seen, your diagnosis, and that as a result of your illness you are unable to sit for the scheduled exam).
    • If you are approved for a make-up examination, do not inform your professor to preserve blind grading.
    • Absent extraordinary circumstances, make-up exams are not rescheduled beyond the exam period.
  • Technical Assistance: For technical assistance, such as issues with accessing, downloading, or uploading, please contact the Law Help Desk at (212) 636-6786 or [email protected].
  • Exam Procedures: Contact the Office of the Registrar at (212) 636-6800 or [email protected].
  • You are reminded not to discuss examinations with anyone except the Office of Student Affairs or the Office of the Registrar until the end of the final exam period.

Papers and Other Assignments

All final papers are due on or before the last day of your class. If you need an extension to submit your final paper, your professor may but is not required to grant you an extension until the last day of the exam period. Any further extensions must be sought from Dean of Students Kimathi Gordon-Somers or Acting Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Maggie Wittlin.

Under the University’s Standards of Academic Integrity, you are expected to complete all papers and other assignments on your own without assistance from external resources, including artificial intelligence, unless directly authorized by your professor. It is your responsibility to read, understand, and adhere to the rules regarding the authorized use of artificial intelligence and other external resources in each of your courses. Some faculty members may require students to certify compliance with course policies by including an attestation when submitting their work. Even if your professor does not require you to submit an attestation, the University and Law School standards apply. 

Please read Fordham Law School’s Code of Academic Responsibility and Academic Regulations, and pay particularly close attention to sections VI, XXIII, and XXIV of the Academic Regulations, which concern final exams, papers, and related subjects. I also direct your attention to the University’s Standards of Academic Integrity, which discuss cheating and plagiarism.

Rule 9 of section XXIV of our Regulations requires any student who observes cheating to report the incident to a proctor or the Registrar as soon as is practicable. And Article IV, Section 1 of the Code of Academic Responsibility permits any member of the University community to file a written complaint with the Dean accusing a student of cheating on an exam or plagiarizing a paper, including by presenting the work of generative artificial intelligence as their own, when not expressly permitted. If after a hearing, the student is found to have violated the Code, sanctions may be imposed. The Law School is strongly committed to enforcing these rules as part of a commitment to academic integrity.

Article IV, Section 8 of our Code authorizes a range of sanctions. In prior years, sanctions for violations have included a failing grade for the class, suspension, and expulsion from the Law School. If there is a determination that a student has violated the Code of Academic Responsibility, a notation appears on the transcript and disclosure must be made to any jurisdiction in which admission to the Bar is sought.

Complaints of violations trigger an investigation by the Office of Student Affairs. If probable cause is found, the Dean’s designee will review the case and propose sanctions. If the student does not accept that proposal, a hearing is held at which the student may have counsel. If the Hearing Committee finds a violation, it may impose any sanction noted in Article IV, Section 8.

To reiterate, any form of cheating is a violation of our policies and will be subjected to disciplinary action. Our respect for the profession, the school’s values, and our community compels us to take these matters seriously. As a matter of principle, this is an important rule to observe. As a practical matter, you have invested far too much to take such a big risk for such a transient and likely illusory advantage.

Reminder: During the final examination period, do not hesitate to contact the Office of Student Affairs [email protected] (212) 636-7155 or the Registrar’s Office [email protected] (212) 636-6800 if you have a question about your exams or observe cheating.

Thank you for upholding the academic integrity of our school and the ethics of our profession.