Individuals are more likely to act with integrity if faculty members have administrative support when they pursue a complaint against a student for plagiarism or other forms of academic dishonesty.

Faculty members are responsible for establishing clear definitions about what constitutes cheating as well as the penalties for cheating. And they must have documentation to support any charge of cheating. Unfortunately, even when these two criteria are met, a faculty member might not impose prescribed penalties for fear that they will not have the backing of the administration. Administrators need to support faculty and to make sure that penalties are consistently enforced.

Although students rightly have due process rights, Herberling (2002) argues, “the administration needs to assure the faculty that they will not be put on trail or endure a bureaucratic nightmare for simply maintaining ethical standards in their classroom.”