Academic Integrity Policies and Regulations

Based on the principles of upholding the scientific and professional ethical values ​​encouraged by our noble religion, the Professional Opinion Training Center continuously strives to promote these values ​​within its training environment. This is achieved through a constant emphasis on adhering to the highest standards of academic integrity, whether by trainers, center staff, or trainees. The Professional Opinion Training Center is responsible for fostering an environment characterized by high levels of academic integrity. This is accomplished by establishing standards and regulations for the training process that ensure academic integrity at every stage, from trainee registration to the training itself, and including the assessment and results phase. The Professional Opinion Training Center believes that promoting academic integrity is an essential component of the trainee’s personal and intellectual growth. Furthermore, increasing awareness among trainees, trainers, and staff regarding issues related to academic integrity, through fostering an atmosphere of trust, honesty, and high ethical standards, plays a key role in the progress and prosperity of society. This is achieved by graduating qualified individuals capable of shouldering the responsibility of advancing and elevating the nation, thanks to their high ethical values.

Examples of violations of academic integrity include:

Cheating: This involves copying the work of others and using any information or training materials without authorization in academic exams or other assigned tasks.

Plagiarism: This involves using the work of others as one’s own without acknowledging the original author.

Exploiting collaboration: This involves a trainee relying on another trainee within their group to complete a joint assignment or task, or exploiting another trainee to complete individual assignments.

Falsification and forgery: This involves a trainee altering or fabricating information available to them in an exam or academic assignment, or submitting a forged medical certificate to be absent.

Receiving any assistance during exams, providing information to another trainee, bringing external materials into the exam, or obtaining information not provided by the exam administrators.

Obtaining or providing unauthorized assistance in exams, or fabricating information to support lab results or any other academic work.

Impersonation: This refers to a trainee claiming to be someone else in class, during a test or exam, or in any type of academic assignment. In this case, both the impersonating trainee and the trainee who instigated the impersonation will be penalized.

Mechanisms used to prevent cheating include:

Issuing multiple versions of the exam through a question bank.

Using multiple-choice exams to prevent copying and pasting.

Limiting the exam time appropriate to the format, with each question not exceeding 60 seconds.

Hiding all course content during the exam using a technical method to prevent students from accessing it.

Using the Safe Exam Browser (SEB). This software transforms any device into a secure workstation with a browser that prevents the trainee from navigating or controlling their device, including opening files, browsers, or even disconnecting the internet. The device can only be used normally after the exam is submitted. The exam is displayed on a screen that cannot be changed until the exam is submitted, and copying, pasting, and screen sharing are disabled. Mechanisms Used to Prevent Identity Theft:

When a trainee logs into the website, they enter their username and password.

A virtual classroom is held, and the camera is turned on during the exam. A proctor is present to verify the student’s identity.

The proctor requests the trainee’s ID or residency permit to verify their identity.

Penalty Policy

If a student is caught cheating during the exam or impersonating another person by taking the exam, the following procedures will apply:

A detailed violation report will be prepared, along with the necessary evidence. This report will then be presented to the supervisor, who will in turn present it to the relevant specialists to determine the appropriate penalties.

A penalty will be issued to the offending trainee based on the findings of the report prepared by the specialists, and will be in accordance with the penalties outlined in the academic integrity policies and regulations.

Penalties for offending trainees include:

Dismissal from the training course.

Exclusion from a subsequent course.

Non-refund of fees paid

In case of fraud or manipulation of academic content (“academic theft”):

A detailed report of the violation will be prepared, along with supporting evidence, and then presented to specialists for appropriate disciplinary action.

Penalties for violators include:
Expulsion from the training course
Banning the trainee from enrollment in a similar training course for a minimum of 3 years
Refusal to refund fees paid
Compensation if the training materials are used and sold to another party
Referral of the offending trainee to the relevant authorities