Understanding Wyzant's Academic Honesty Policy

This article originally appeared on the Wyzant Tutor Blog on 8/7/2020.

Wyzant connects tutors and students who are seeking tutoring services. We don’t facilitate cheating, requests for which can appear in lots of different forms, including:

• Asking for help taking a quiz or test
• Seeking a tutor to write a paper
• Requesting that a tutor perform project-related tasks
• Work completion

We take integrity in education seriously, so we want to address one of the most common reasons a student’s request may not be legitimate: violation of Wyzant’s Academic Honesty Policy.

What is the Academic Honesty Policy?

Wyzant’s Academic Honesty Policy (AHP) is included in the platform’s Terms of Use. If a tutor assists a student in a way that violates the AHP, it puts all parties—student, tutor, and Wyzant—at risk for a liability claim. This is why academic honesty is clearly outlined in our Terms of Use and is prohibited on our platform.

As a tutor, it’s important you understand the types of assistance that are not permitted in accordance with the AHP. We’ll outline common types of these requests below so you’re better able to spot them. In any case, with any type of request or communication from a student using the Wyzant platform that may violate the AHP, the important question to ask is, “Does this student want me to do work for them?”

If the answer winds up being “yes," tutors listed on Wyzant should not continue to provide assistance to the student in question, and have the option to report the communication to Wyzant Customer Support (though this is not a required step).

What happens when the Academic Honesty Policy is violated?

When a student violates the Academic Honesty Policy, it puts the student, the tutor, and Wyzant at risk. We have the Academic Honesty Policy in place to minimize that risk. It’s a tutor’s responsibility to ensure that the services they are providing are in accordance with Wyzant policies.

Because of the seriousness of these kinds of violations, included in the policy is Wyzant’s right to deny, revoke, or limit access to the platform to students or tutors who do not abide by the AHP. To avoid being in a position of violating the AHP, when a student asks for assistance that may run against the AHP, we suggest to decline the request.

Does this student want me to do the work for them?

When Wyzant is made aware of a request through the platform that conflicts with our posted Academic Honesty Policy, the student’s account is closed. Tutors in contact with the student are notified at that time of the student’s “illegitimate inquiry.”

Identifying AHP issues

Our team errs on the side of caution when there is the appearance of cheating on the platform. We encourage tutors to do the same. Here are the most common types of requests that violate the AHP:

Assisting in taking a quiz, test, or exam

Completing a test or quiz on behalf of a student is, clearly, a violation of academic honesty. But let’s say a student indicates that they do not want a tutor to complete a test, exam, or quiz for them, but instead wants a tutor to assist them while they are taking it. Would this be a violation of our Academic Honesty Policy?

The short answer is, “Yes.” Assisting a student with taking a test or quiz in any form is cheating and a violation of the AHP.

Assisting with “open-book” tests or quizzes

Would helping a student with an open-book test be considered a violation of the AHP? Yes. Since it’s difficult to determine if the “open-book test” is actually an open-book test, this example would fall under a violation of the AHP policy.

Helping complete practice exams

This is similar to the previous example. Wyzant considers assisting students in taking practice exams a violation of the AHP. This request cannot be facilitated through the Wyzant platform. Tutors have absolute discretion as to whether they want to help a student prepare or study for a practice test, but assisting a student during a practice test itself is considered a violation of the AHP.

Completing study guides or assignments on a student’s behalf

Sometimes a student may have a study guide provided by their teacher to help them study for an upcoming test or assignment. Students can schedule a session where the concepts and material on the study guide are discussed and reinforced with their tutor. However, if they request that their tutor simply provide them with answers to questions, either asynchronously or as part of a session, it is considered to be work completion, which is a violation of the AHP.

Writing a student’s paper, or a portion of it

Tutors may provide students with proofreading and editing assistance, but here’s a good rule of thumb: if a tutor is expected to write or rewrite any part of a student’s existing assignment, it is considered academic dishonesty.

Performing data analysis on a student’s behalf

In this example, a student requesting a tutor perform data analysis, interpretation, or other kind of task for a project on their behalf falls under a request to complete an assignment or research. This is considered a violation of the AHP and should not be facilitated.

Reporting Academic Dishonesty

We encourage you to contact Wyzant Customer Support if you have any concerns about a student’s tutoring request, or just need further clarification or guidance. We are always happy to help.