In the fifth year of the Tracey Bretag Prize for Academic Integrity, Prof Judyth Sachs hosted a conversation with Prof Jason Stephens from the University of Auckland, Dr Lee Adam from the University of Otago and Dr Neil Ulrich from Massey University, to celebrate and discuss their award-winning Research on Academic Integrity in New Zealand (RAINZ) project.
WATCH the full recording here.
The panelists discussed the importance of higher education's approaches to upholding academic integrity, the collaborative efforts of New Zealand universities, and the key insights obtained from their research. As Judyth noted, Tracey Bretag remains the leading light, but also the conscience for all of us in the sector, in terms of ensuring that academic integrity is at the core of what we do.
The RAINZ project, a collaboration of eight New Zealand institutions, embodies this ethos by focusing on understanding and promoting academic integrity on a national scale.
A Collective Approach
Professor Jason Stephens, an educational psychologist from the University of Auckland, initiated the Research on Academic Integrity in New Zealand (RAINZ) project after observing successful national networks in Australia (e.g. AAIN) and the United States. During a 3am epiphany, he developed the acronym RAINZ and then sought collaborators for the first multi-institutional national study of academic integrity in New Zealand. Dr. Lee Adam said the project's motivation was to obtain data in order to lead change across New Zealand, and the individual institutions were also very interested in re-examining their own policy, processes, and in particular, what behaviours to look for. Dr. Neil Ulrich of Massey University echoed this, emphasising the opportunity he could see to make a real difference.
"I look at life from an opportunity and a possibility point of view, and to me, there was such a huge opportunity to do what we as universities do as our core business -- and that is to educate." - Dr Neil Ulrich
The project's initial phase involved a cross-sectional anonymous survey of students and faculty, with a second study planned to include questions on artificial intelligence (AI) launching later this year. The survey results, published in an open-access article, revealed significant findings. One key takeaway was the prevalence of student misconduct, with nearly two-thirds of students reporting engaging in at least one of the 24 misconduct behaviours identified. The data also showed that 'collusion' was the most common type of breach, which may be a lingering effect of the remote learning environment during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Untapped Potential: The Power of Peer Influence
Perhaps the most surprising and impactful finding was the minimal role of student organisations in promoting academic integrity. The survey found that less than 10% of students learned about academic integrity from student associations, despite peer influence being a known, strong predictor of behaviour. As Professor Stephens noted, this is a missed opportunity. The RAINZ team believes that empowering student bodies could shift the perception of academic integrity from a 'catch and punish' process to a system that supports student learning and ownership.
"There's a sense of the students like, we own this. This is for us, about us. And, you know, that's a really powerful thing, because then it's regulated from within rather than from on high." - Professor Jason Stephens
The panelists provided examples of how they are trying to harness this untapped resource within their institutions. Prof Stephens mentioned the University of Auckland's creation of Academic Integrity Ambassadors. Dr. Ulrich shared a successful initiative at Massey University where the student association hosted webinars on the "three AIs" (Academic Integrity, Artificial Intelligence, and Avoiding Investigations), which were well-attended and fostered a better relationship between staff and students.
This shift towards peer-to-peer learning and community-building is a central theme of the RAINZ project, which views itself as a 'community of practice' for really creating, implementing, and evaluating possibilities for promoting integrity.
Institutional Support and Future Direction
The project's success, despite minimal external funding, was largely due to the supportive leadership and collaborative spirit of the participating institutions. Dr. Adam's new role as Principal Advisor for Academic Integrity at the University of Otago is a direct result of the project's findings, which allowed her to argue for a full-time position to mitigate the institutional risk posed by academic misconduct. Similarly, Massey University used the data to revise its academic integrity policy from a punitive model to one focused on educative interventions. This included increasing the number of academic integrity officers from five to 33, decentralising the process and empowering academic staff.
Looking ahead, the RAINZ collective plans to continue its work, with a follow-up survey to assess changes in student behaviour, particularly concerning genAI. The panelists agreed that the main takeaway is the need for universities to address academic misconduct proactively, not punitively. As Prof Stephens concluded, it is up to institutions to create environments that promote integrity and discourage, and even actively prevent where possible, misconduct.
WATCH the full recording of the panel session here, or read the full transcript.
