Criterion 2 - 2.E.

The institution’s policies and procedures call for responsible acquisition, discovery and application of knowledge by its faculty, staff and students.

2.E.1.
Institutions supporting basic and applied research maintain professional standards and provide oversight enduring regulatory compliance by its faculty staff and students.

Broad institutional guidelines for research integrity and scholarly practice are outlined in Indiana University policy ACA-30 (24-0166) and are promulgated by the IU Office of Research Administration (ORA); for a list of services, see 24-0167. At IU Southeast, the Dean for Research and Graduate Studies coordinates with the ORA to ensure that guidelines are respected, and the campus publishes its own institutional research policy manual (24-0168).

Besides research integrity, the ORA handles compliance for many areas including biosafety, radiation safety, conflict of interest, and export control (24-0169). ORA manages compliance for animal and human subjects through the Institutional Research Board (IRB). The Dean for Research sits on the Indiana University Executive Committee, and there is also a dedicated IRB liaison on campus.

Research

IU has research policies which govern the administration of all IU research endeavors:

• ACA-30: Research Misconduct (24-0166)
• RP-11-004: Research with Human Subjects (24-0170)
• RP-11-001: Care and Use of Vertebrate Animals in Research and Education (24-0171)

All student and faculty researchers follow the protocols set by the IRB. The process for undergoing review is described for students and faculty and accessible on the Academic Affairs website (24-0172). Faculty and students who conduct research are expected to complete Human Subjects Training (24-0173) and complete a conflict-of-interest form (24-0174) before their proposal undergoes review (24-0175).

Animal research is conducted following U.S. government guidelines as formulated in the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2131 et. seq.) and other legislation, as well as principles established by the Institute of Laboratory Animal Resources of the National Academy of Sciences. IU Southeast also has an animal research review board which evaluates studies involving the use of animals. The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) meets monthly to review any research involving animals on campus. The IU Southeast Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) is mandated by the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare of the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). IU Southeast is registered with the USDA as required when regulated species are the subject of research. All researchers on our campus follow ethical protocols necessary for humane research.

2.E.2.
The institution provides effective support services to ensure the integrity of research and scholarly practice conducted by its faculty, staff, and students.

At a global level, the Student Learning Outcomes for Written Communication at IU Southeast require that students “develop, assert and support a focused thesis with appropriate reasoning and adequate evidence;” “demonstrate proficiency in reading, evaluating, analyzing, and using material collected from electronic sources;” and “use and cite the work of others appropriately, avoiding plagiarism, misquoting, and misreading” (24-0044). Those courses are part of the General Education core in Written Communication (24-076) and are evaluated regularly by the Faculty Senate General Education Committee (described in 3.B.1) and ensure that students are provided with the skills and intellectual framework to be ethical researchers.

The Dean for Research provides support for research and creativity activity among both faculty and students. The Dean for Research’s office provides internal grant funding for student research fellowships, student assistants for faculty research projects, and a variety of faculty research and creative projects. The office also provides faculty development services in research by sponsoring workshops on finding funding sources, academic publishing, and connecting with IU-wide research resources such as Foundation Relations. Faculty and staff can access grant writing assistance through our professional staff grant consultant or through IU Proposal Development Services. The Dean for Research and the grant consultant aid faculty in preparing and submitting proposals and meeting funding requirements. In addition, the research office provides guidance to faculty and students on research compliance such as studies with human subjects.

Library faculty and Writing Center staff are committed to assuring that students understand the ethical use of information, to avoid charges of plagiarism but also as a fundamental aspect of effective scholarship. Information ethics are embedded in the core of the Library Information Literacy Instruction Program, which is also part of the General Education curriculum. This effort helps students develop skills that enable them to identify, access, critically evaluate, and ethically use appropriate information resources in response to specific information needs (24-0178), thereby allowing students to participate in multiple information landscapes (academic, professional, personal) more thoroughly. Outcome 1.B. of the program’s learning outcomes assesses whether “students can identify information needs; locate, use and evaluate information ethically” (24-0044). More specifically, Information Literacy programmatic learning outcomes include the Information literacy instruction sessions are taught in First-Year Seminar (FYS), and a few other courses (24-0177).

2.E.3.
The institution provides students guidance in the ethics of research and use of information processes.

The IU Southeast policies and definitions of academic dishonesty and plagiarism are available in multiple places on the campus website (24-0179). Resources are available to introduce students to the basics of academic integrity, including enrollment in an IU Expand course focused on Learning with Integrity (24-0180). Additionally, students can enroll in a Canvas course to enhance their understanding of Plagiarism. In addition, the School of Business has an honor code “to reinforce for School of Business students the importance that our school places on ethical conduct as well as the increasing emphasis being placed on ethical behavior within the business community” (24-0181). The School of Nursing abides by the ANA code of Ethics for Nurses (for overview, see: 24-0539).

2.E.4.
The institution enforces policies on academic honesty and integrity.

Article II.1 of The Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct is devoted to policies on academic honesty and integrity (24-0182; 24-0183). In addition, the IU Southeast Faculty Manual encourages instructors “to foster the intellectual honesty…of students,” and to “explain clearly the meaning of cheating and plagiarism as they apply in the context of specific courses” (24-0088, p.55). While faculty have discretion to attend to instances of academic dishonesty in ways they consider appropriate, a larger framework exists to assure consistency in response to infractions. Additionally, The Writing Center and Librarians have developed a workshop which they regularly implement throughout the school year. The workshop teaches students strategies that improve their writing and reduce chances of plagiarism (24-0179; 24-0608).

Institutional Effectiveness adheres to the AIR Code of ethics as a part of their work (24-0184). These principles guide their analysis, considering the importance of accurate and representative data used to make important decisions on campus.