Academic Integrity

Dear Ryerson Student Family Member,

We are pleased that a member of your family has chosen to attend Ryerson University. Ryerson is a unique place. Ryerson prides itself on its career oriented education and its degrees are highly regarded.

Ryerson students, as all students, must spend many hours at their studies in order to attain the education they need for their future. Often the conflicting demands of study, work and home cause them to fall behind in these studies. This can lead to disastrous results. In this day and age of almost unbounded technology, it is sometimes tempting to take what seems to be a short-cut to academic success – plagiarism and cheating. But you and your student family member should be aware that Ryerson University takes these matters very seriously and that any form of academic misconduct will be penalized. Students could be given a failing grade on assignments, or an “F” in their class. Any academic misconduct results in an automatic Disciplinary Notice (DN) on their record. Students can be suspended, withdrawn from their programs or even expelled from the University.

There are many resources available to help students so that they know the rules and have the tools they need to succeed. This website was created just for the purpose of showing students what they should do to maintain their integrity, and it links a student to many of the campus resources at their disposal. Please take some time and review the website so that you can help guide them if they need you.

You should also be aware that often students cheat because they have not used their time wisely and they are overburdened. You can help your family member by being supportive of their need for study time and, particularly if they are living at home, helping to find them a suitable space for that study. You can’t write their papers or take their exams, but you can do other things to help them so that they can do those things for themselves.

Thank you for your support of academic integrity at Ryerson. I look forward to seeing you at your family member’s commencement ceremony. If everyone takes integrity seriously, we can all be proud of all of their degrees.

Sincerely,

Academic Integrity Officer
Ryerson University