Academic Intregrity Updates, August 2026
Academic Integrity: Fall 2026 Updates
Changes to the code of Academic Integrity were recently approved by the Faculty Senate, effective August 24, 2026. The main changes are:
“Accepting Responsibility” is now available to all in-person classes at the undergraduate and graduate levels on the Ithaca and Cornell Tech campuses; and
the “Academic Integrity Registry,” a centralized reporting, recordkeeping, and communication tool for offers of Accepting Responsibility and Primary Hearings.
The Primary Hearing process and the Academic Integrity Hearing Board processes are unchanged. Decisions about violations and penalties remain up to the instructor.
Accepting Responsibility (AR): Warning and Workshop
Accepting Responsibility is a non-reportable warning and educational workshop offered to students whose instructors report minor violations of the Academic Integrity Code. Only students without past violations or who have not already used Accepting Responsibility are eligible.
The Accepting Responsibility approach, which was designed based on evidence from moral psychology and educational research, was first piloted in Spring 2024 by the office of the vice provost for undergraduate education. Data collected from 100 courses over the last five semesters show that students experience a sense of relief to be offered a non-reportable warning, the opportunity to reflect on their behavior, and the chance to discuss how to improve their future choices. Faculty note that being able to offer Accepting Responsibility to students saves them time compared to pursuing a full Primary Hearing and helps preserve their educational relationship with the student. There have been only four known cases of recidivism from the over 350 students who have accepted responsibility.
To initiate the Accepting Responsibility offer, instructors summarize their evidence, give a grade penalty that is limited to the assignment where a violation occurred, and submit the violation record to the Academic Integrity Registry (see below). Eligible students will have three days to make their decision whether to accept the offer or move forward with a Primary Hearing. Students who choose to accept responsibility waive their rights to an appeal. They then attend an Accepting Responsibility workshop and complete associated written assignments.
Find more information at FAQ Instructor Guidelines.
Academic Integrity Registry (AIR): Reporting Tool
The Academic Integrity Registry is a repository of violations of those students covered by Cornell’s Code of Academic Integrity (excludes Cornell Law School, Weill Cornell Medicine, and College of Veterinary Medicine). The AIR reporting tool gives instructors a single place to enter and update violations. The tool interface will feel familiar as its design is similar to the Academic Concern reporting tool and will be accessible via Canvas on the first day of class. Additionally, because AIR will replace manually distributed email chains, it will save substantial time and effort for faculty and staff and promote consistent recordkeeping across colleges and schools.
Starting Fall 2026, all instructors should report violations using the AIR reporting tool, which has been customized to allow instructors to enter violation details at each stage of the process. This will generate notifications to the relevant recipients (students, instructors, and college hearing board recorders and chairs). This information will be used for Accepting Responsibility eligibility checks and completion of the workshop as well as supporting the appeals process. To make Accepting Responsibility functional we need timely information from instructors – primary hearing plans, decisions, and penalties.
Find more information at FAQ Academic Integrity Registry. Subsequent updates will be posted on the Dean of Faculty Academic Integrity page.
This is a new process and there are bound to be questions and changes. Please send your thoughts, concerns, suggestions to AcademicIntegrity@cornell.edu.