Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) has established the Academic Integrity Responsibilities Office (AIRO) to support academic integrity initiatives and committees across the university. The office will also assume administrative responsibilities for handling academic integrity cases at 14 University College campuses.
The launch comes as universities respond to changes in academic integrity challenges following the COVID-19 pandemic and the wider availability of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools. Andrew Peck, assistant dean for academic integrity at Penn State, noted that the university had received increasing requests from campus leaders and faculty for assistance managing allegations and determining whether student conduct violated academic integrity policies.
Beginning in the current semester, AIRO will coordinate academic integrity claims across the 14 University College campuses. Its responsibilities will include managing cases through the Digital Academic Integrity System (DAISY) and ensuring that committees have sufficient members to review cases when students challenge an instructor’s allegation or proposed academic outcome. The committees will include faculty members and students from the relevant campuses, with the aim of maintaining consistent and equitable procedures.
Peck’s responsibilities at Penn State have expanded over time, from serving on academic integrity committees in the College of the Liberal Arts to leading integrity initiatives at the college level and working in Undergraduate Education. His current position as assistant dean focuses full-time on academic integrity.
AIRO will monitor national developments in academic integrity and changes in the legal landscape. It will also work with the Administrative Council on Undergraduate Education as the university reviews relevant policies in the coming months and years.
AIRO has added a staff member responsible for coordinating claims in DAISY and ensuring that academic integrity committees have sufficient membership when cases arise at University College campuses. Once a committee is formed, the office will provide guidance and outline options permitted under university policy, while the committee retains responsibility for determining the outcome.
Peck emphasized that protecting the value of a Penn State degree requires maintaining academic integrity and supporting educators, administrators, and students through consistent procedures.
Nesbitt recalled that when she arrived at Brandywine in 2023, faculty were beginning to experience the widespread effects of artificial intelligence. Since then, faculty members have worked to clarify when AI use is appropriate, while students have become more deliberate in evaluating and using the technology. She added that advances in AI will continue to create challenges for academic integrity as its use becomes more difficult to detect.
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