Course Certification and Academic Integrity

Course Certification and Academic Integrity

The William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies is not an accredited degree-granting institution. Upon successful completion of its courses and seminars, the Center will issue a certificate of completion and/or attendance, depending on the type of course or seminar that was given, and the overall level of participation exhibited by the attendee. Depending on the environment (virtual, in-person, or hybrid), this certificate may be issued electronically as a PDF document, or as a hard copy.

To request a certificate for a course or seminar completed in the past, or if you have any questions concerning certificates or proof of completion, please contact the Perry Center Registrar at chdsregistrar@ndu.edu

To foster an environment of openness and candid exchanges during seminars and other events, the Perry Center follows the Chatham House Rule. The Rule is simple: “When a meeting, or part thereof, is held under the Chatham House Rule, participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), nor that of any other participant, may be revealed.”

Breaches of academic integrity are not tolerated. Breaches include, but are not limited to: falsification of professional or academic credentials; obtaining or giving aid on an examination; having unauthorized prior knowledge of an examination; doing work or assisting another student to do work without prior authority; unauthorized collaboration; multiple submissions; and plagiarism.

Falsification of professional or academic credentials: Students are required to provide accurate, documented, and verifiable information on their educational and professional background. A student admitted to the University on the basis of false credentials is subject to sanctions up to and including disenrollment.

Unauthorized collaboration is defined as students working together on an assignment for academic credit when such collaboration is not authorized in the syllabus or by the instructor. This includes papers submitted that were created by another person, agency, or essay writing service.

Multiple submissions are instances in which students submit papers or work (whole or multiple paragraphs) that were or are currently being submitted for academic credit to other courses either within National Defense University or at other institutions. Such work may not be submitted for academic credit at National Defense University without the prior written approval of the instructor of the course for which the paper or work is being submitted.

Plagiarism is the theft of the intellectual work of another person and passing it off as one’s own, or the use of the intellectual work of another person without providing proper credit to that person. While most commonly associated with writing, all types of scholarly or academic work, including but not limited to computer code, speeches, slides, music, scientific data and analysis, government publications, and electronic publications are intellectual work, the use of which requires proper credit to the original source.

Specific examples of plagiarism include:

  • Using another person’s exact words without quotation marks and a footnote/endnote.
  • Paraphrasing another person’s words without a footnote/endnote.
  • Using another person’s ideas without giving credit by means of a footnote/endnote.
  • Using information from the internet, a web page, or a government publication without giving credit by means of a footnote/endnote. (For example, if a student copies or uses material from Wikipedia into a paper, even if that material is not copyrighted, that section must be properly cited to show that the original material was not the student’s.)

National Defense University is committed to establishing, maintaining, and enforcing a high level of academic integrity throughout the entire University community. For any suspected violations of this policy, the component in which the case originated will notify the Office of General Counsel and the Office of Academic Affairs immediately and consult with both prior to taking any action as well as during the processing of the case.

When the identification of a breach to the academic integrity directive is made after a student departs the University, the Office of Academic Affairs will consult with the Office of General Counsel and the component to decide on the appropriate course of action.

Sanctions for violating the academic integrity standards include but are not limited to disenrollment, suspension, denial or revocation of degrees or diplomas, a grade of no credit with a transcript notation of “academic dishonesty;” rejection of the work submitted for credit, a letter of admonishment, termination of employment or other administrative sanctions. Additionally, members of the United States military may be subject to non-judicial punishment or court martial under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.