Skip to Main Content

Manitoba Academic Integrity Network

The Manitoba Academic Integrity Network is excited to present a series of professional development opportunities related to academic integrity. Registration links are found within each session, and open to anyone working at or attending an educational institution. Email seelandjl@assiniboine.net with any further questions.

A PDF Certificate of Completion will be emailed to those who complete all five sessions in this series.

Sessions

Academic Integrity in Latin America: Regional Trends and the Challenge of Contract Cheating


Abstract:

Academic integrity research in Latin America has grown recently, yet important gaps remain in policy development and leadership. This session begins with a review of key insights from academic integrity scholarship across the region, highlighting advances, challenges, and persistent gaps. One such gap concerns contract cheating, a growing phenomenon that threatens the integrity of higher education. To address this, the session introduces preliminary findings from South American countries examining how contract cheating services present themselves online and their ethical implications. The study draws on systematic search strategies and abductive qualitative content analysis to unpack the promises they make and the disciplinary areas they target. Participants will be invited to reflect on how these findings can inform institutional and national strategies, while also contributing to the broader international conversation on contract cheating.


Learning Outcomes:

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

  1. Describe current trends, advances, and challenges in academic integrity research across Latin America.
  2. Identify why contract cheating represents a key integrity gap in the region.
  3. Analyze the marketing strategies employed by contract cheating services targeting students in South American countries.
  4. Evaluate the ethical implications of these strategies for higher education institutions.
  5. Reflect on how evidence from the South American context can inform broader institutional and international approaches to academic integrity.

Presenter Bio: 

Dr. Beatriz Antonieta Moya Figueroa is an Assistant Professor at the Instituto de Éticas Aplicadas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, and holds a Ph.D. in Educational Research from the University of Calgary, Canada. Her research integrates academic integrity with the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, focusing on leadership and equity in higher education. An active member of international research networks on academic integrity, Dr. Moya contributes to advancing culturally sensitive and context-specific strategies to safeguard educational systems.


Date: October 21, 2025

Time: 10:00 am (Central Standard Time)

Location: Online via Zoom

 

To take part in this event, please register using your educational institution email address (for example, ending in .edu or your school’s domain).

Registrations made with personal or non-school emails will be cancelled.

Centering Human Rights: A Rigorous Assessment of One Community College’s Academic Integrity System


Abstract: 

The purpose of the Academic Integrity Inclusivity and Accessibility Study, completed in 2024 at Bow Valley College, Calgary, was to rigorously assess academic integrity policy, procedure, and support using a Human Rights lens. Tools were created to assess the academic integrity system utilizing four frameworks: 1) equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI); 2) accessibility; 3) mental health; and 4) decolonization and Indigenization. Policy documents were qualitatively analyzed, and college community member experiences and perceptions of the system were captured with a mixed methods approach. In this presentation we share the methodology, assessment tools, and our learnings toward centering Human Rights at our institution in relation to academic integrity.


Learning Outcomes: 

  1. Discuss why Human Rights must be considered in relation to academic integrity systems
  2. Describe the research methodology employed to rigorously assess the system
  3. Outline the assessment tools for each framework
  4. Discuss key learnings from the research study

Presenter Bios: 

Corrine D. Ferguson is a sociology instructor at Bow Valley College in the School of Arts and Sciences and a member of the Contract Cheating Working Group for the Alberta Council on Academic Integrity. She co-facilitates the Academic Integrity Learning Network, a community of practice at the college. Current research projects focus on stress and academic integrity and assessing academic integrity policy and procedure using equity, accessibility, and mental health lenses. She is particularly interested in involving students as partners in research and making academic integrity education accessible and inclusive.

 

Margaret A. Toye, Ph.D., is an Associate Dean at Bow Valley College in the School of Arts and Sciences. She was a founding steering committee member of the Alberta Council on Academic Integrity. She has engaged in applied research projects on stress and academic integrity, contract cheating, predictors of Practical Nurse graduates’ success and failure in the licensing exam, language supports for nursing students, and the relationship between literacy and youth involvement with the law.


Date: October 31, 2025

Time: 12:00 pm (Central Standard Time)

Location: Online via Zoom

 

To take part in this event, please register using your educational institution email address (for example, ending in .edu or your school’s domain).

Registrations made with personal or non-school emails will be cancelled.

Talk is cheap


Abstract:

Generative AI challenges the very foundations of assessment validity in higher education. While many institutional responses rely on discursive changes - such as policy statements and usage frameworks - these approaches create what Corbin, Dawson, and Liu call an “enforcement illusion.” This session explores why structural assessment redesign is urgently needed to restore authenticity, integrity, and educational value. Participants will examine practical pathways for embedding validity into assessment architectures rather than depending on unenforceable rules. By moving beyond surface-level compliance, educators and institutions can ensure assessments remain meaningful measures of student capability in a GenAI world.


Learning Outcomes: 

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

  1. Distinguish between discursive and structural changes in assessment design and explain why the latter are critical in the age of GenAI.
  2. Evaluate current institutional approaches (e.g., traffic-light policies) for their effectiveness in maintaining assessment validity.
  3. Identify practical strategies for redesigning assessment tasks to embed integrity and authenticity into their very structure.

Presenter Bio: 

Thomas Corbin is a Research Fellow at Deakin University’s Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning (CRADLE). He is currently leading research on how students read and learn in an AI-driven world, while also exploring how universities can design more effective assessments for the AI era.

Thomas joined CRADLE from Macquarie University, where he was a lecturer in the Philosophy Department. His background in philosophy and critical thinking shapes his approach to the complex questions surrounding AI’s role in education—balancing practical challenges with deeper considerations about teaching, learning, and the future of assessment.

His current work contributes to CRADLE’s two-year research program, “Assessment in a Time of GenAI,” which investigates how generative AI is transforming education and the nature of academic assessment.


Date: November 18, 2025

Time: 9:00 am (Central Standard Time)

Location: Online via Zoom

 

To take part in this event, please register using your educational institution email address (for example, ending in .edu or your school’s domain).

Registrations made with personal or non-school emails will be cancelled.

Learning First: Reimagining Assessment in a GenAI World


Abstract:

Generative AI is reshaping the landscape of assessment, teaching, and academic integrity in higher education. This panel brings together diverse institutional voices to explore how educators, leaders, and support staff are navigating both risks and opportunities. Moving beyond detection and prohibition, panelists will share practical approaches that prioritize learning, equity, and fairness while addressing concerns about workload, policy, and student support. Participants will gain insight into innovative assessment designs, institutional strategies, and ethical considerations that balance integrity with innovation. The conversation invites us to imagine a sustainable, values-driven approach to assessment in a GenAI world.


Learning Outcomes:

  1. Evaluate common concerns and misconceptions about GenAI and academic integrity in higher education.
  2. Apply assessment strategies that emphasize evidence of learning, reduce ambiguity, and promote ethical tool use.
  3. Envision institution-wide approaches that balance innovation with fairness, transparency, and sustainability in the long-term integration of GenAI.

Panelist Bios: 

Nataliya Kharchenko is an Educational Developer at the Centre for Learning and Program Excellence at Red River College Polytechnic. She holds a PhD in Education from the University of Manitoba, where she also worked as a sessional instructor before joining RRC Polytech in 2022. With over 20 years of teaching experience, she has developed course materials and designed assessment tools for face-to-face and online courses at the University of Manitoba and McMaster University. Nataliya’s recent work explores the opportunities and challenges GenAI poses for teaching, learning, and assessment. Over the past two years, she has led faculty development sessions across RRC Polytech, encouraging instructors to experiment with AI to reimagine assessment and better prepare students for success in an AI-enabled world.

 

Brian Cox has more than 20 years of experience in education, spanning public schools and post-secondary institutions. He taught in the public school division for four years before joining Assiniboine College, where he spent 15 years in the School of Business teaching Communications and technology-related courses. During this time, he led an Active Learning pilot program in a high-tech learning lab. For the past two years, he has served as Chair of Early Learning in the School of Health and Human Services. He also holds an MBA in Community Economic Development from Cape Breton University.

 

Claudius Soodeen is the Faculty Development Consultant in the Centre for Learning and Program Excellence at Red River College Polytechnic, where he has worked since 2010 in roles including Instructional Designer and Educational Developer. He also teaches at the University of Winnipeg, and coordinates the Grad Studies Academic Integrity course at U of Manitoba. He previously worked in distance learning and media services. Holding an EdD from the University of British Columbia along with degrees and diplomas from UWinnipeg, Athabasca, Queen’s, and York (Osgoode), Claudius focuses on internationalization of higher education, academic integrity, artificial intelligence, teaching development, inclusive teaching, and educational technology.

 

Francois Jordaan is the Academic Integrity Coordinator at the University of Manitoba, where he supports the promotion and protection of a culture of integrity across the institution. Drawing on a background in anthropology and heritage studies, he brings expertise in data analysis, research, and community engagement to the development of policies, resources, and educational initiatives that strengthen academic integrity. Currently completing a PhD in Anthropology at the University of Manitoba, Francois has also conducted extensive research on Indigenous communities and material culture in South Africa.


Date: January 15, 2026

Time: 10:00 am (Central Standard Time)

Location: Online via Zoom

 

To take part in this event, please register using your educational institution email address (for example, ending in .edu or your school’s domain).

Registrations made with personal or non-school emails will be cancelled.

A Relational Approach to Advancing Academic Integrity


Abstract:

This session will discuss relational approaches to academic integrity using the example of ongoing collaboration between the Office of the Ombudsperson for Students and the Academic Integrity Hub at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. It will explore how the collaboration between two central units advances academic integrity initiatives at a large institution and will share concrete examples of collaborative projects and strategies to promote wellbeing, fairness, and a holistic approach to academic integrity. It will review the respective mandates of the units and shared values guiding the partnership. It will discuss making connections to a university’s strategic commitments and plans, and emphasize the importance of dialogue and collaboration in supporting academic integrity in a higher education setting.  


Learning Outcomes: 

  1. Understand the respective mandates of the Ombudsperson for Students and a central academic integrity hub in a large university
  2. Formulate ideas for promoting fairness, wellbeing and collaboration around academic integrity matters. 
  3. Develop ideas to make connections between academic integrity and strategic priorities and commitments at an educational institution
  4. Discuss practical takeaways for institutions with and without central ombuds and academic integrity offices

Presenter Bios: 

Shirley Nakata is UBC’s first Ombudsperson for Students, establishing the Office in 2009.  She was called to the B.C. Bar in 1989, following a B.A. degree and LL.B from UBC.  She practiced law at Russell & DuMoulin (now Fasken Martineau) before moving to the Canadian Human Rights Commission and then worked as the Director of Professional Conduct at the BC College of Teachers, where she managed the conduct of investigations and hearings. 


Ainsley Rouse is the Associate Director, Academic Integrity in the Provost’s Office at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. She leads the Academic Integrity Hub and its work supporting students, instructors and Faculties. Ainsley studied French literature and book history, attending the University of Toronto (BA), the Université de Montréal (MA) and Princeton University (PhD). She has worked in the higher education sector in Canada and internationally and has experience teaching at the undergraduate level. 


Date: March 12, 2026

Time: 11:00 am (Central Standard Time)

Location: Online via Zoom

 

To take part in this event, please register using your educational institution email address (for example, ending in .edu or your school’s domain).

Registrations made with personal or non-school emails will be cancelled.