CSNN Distance Education – Artificial Intelligence and Academic Integrity

1. Policy Statement

CSNN Distance Education takes academic integrity seriously. The diplomas we issue state that the person named on them has done the work, understands the material, and is ready to practice. That is the whole point of a credential.

AI tools write on behalf of whoever is using them. That is what they are built to do. It is also what makes them incompatible with our assessments. If an AI produced the answer, we have not evaluated the student; we have evaluated the software. And we do not credential software.

This policy sets a zero-tolerance standard for AI use in graded work. Our approach follows the academic misconduct frameworks used by major Canadian universities. The University of Toronto, McGill, Queen’s University, and the University of British Columbia all treat unauthorized AI use as a serious form of academic dishonesty. So do we.

2. Why This Policy Exists

We assess the student, not the program.

Every piece of graded work in our curriculum is there to answer one question: what does the student know, and what can the student actually do? When that work is handed off to an AI, the grade on the file no longer reflects the student. It reflects the software. The entire assessment falls apart.

Our graduates go on to advise real people on real health matters. We have an obligation to those people, to regulators, and to the profession to make sure every credential we issue was genuinely earned by the person holding it. This policy is how we meet that obligation.

3. Who and What This Policy Covers

This policy applies to:

• Every student enrolled in any CSNN Distance Education program, certificate, module, or continuing education offering, no matter how the course is delivered.
• Every graded element, including assignments, projects, case studies, essays, research papers, reflections, journals, graded discussion posts, quizzes, tests, midterms, final exams, presentations, practicum documentation, client reports, meal plans, protocols, and anything else that contributes to a course grade.
• Every form of submission, whether typed, uploaded, pasted, emailed, recorded, or presented out loud.
• Every student, with no exceptions for enrollment status, tuition balance, academic standing, accommodations, or personal circumstances.

4. Definitions

4.1 Artificial Intelligence Tool

Any software, service, app, plug-in, browser extension, or website that uses machine learning, natural language processing, or generative modelling to produce, rewrite, translate, summarize, outline, correct, or otherwise generate content based on a user’s input.

This includes (but is not limited to) ChatGPT, Claude, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Perplexity, Grammarly’s generative and rewriting features, QuillBot, Jasper, Notion AI, Sudowrite, and DeepL Write, along with any successor, replacement, or functionally equivalent tool. If a new product launches tomorrow that writes or rewrites on your behalf, it is covered by this policy.

4.2 AI-Generated Content

Any text, argument, citation, reference list, outline, summary, paraphrase, translation, or portion of any of those things that was produced, suggested, rewritten, or meaningfully influenced by an AI tool. It does not matter whether the student later edited the output. If AI had a hand in it, it counts.

4.3 Graded Element

Any part of a course that receives a grade, or that contributes to a course grade, progression, or credential.

4.4 Flag

A signal from our detection services, from an instructor, or from a third party suggesting that a submission may contain AI-generated content. A flag is what opens a review. It is not, by itself, a finding.

5. What Is Not Allowed

In connection with any graded work, you may not use AI to do any of the following:

• Write any part of an answer, essay, report, reflection, or case study.
• Produce an outline, thesis statement, topic sentences, transitions, or a structural frame.
• Paraphrase, reword, “humanize,” or otherwise disguise something that an AI originally produced.
• Translate content from another language using a generative AI tool and then submit that translation as your own work.
• Summarize your textbook, your readings, your lectures, or a journal article and submit the summary as your own understanding.
• Generate citations, reference lists, or APA formatting.
• Produce answers for quizzes or exams, or rationales for multiple-choice questions.
• Write or polish the script, narration, or speaker notes for a presentation.
• Generate meal plans, supplement protocols, client recommendations, or practicum documentation that will be graded.
• Use an AI tool to proofread or “polish” work in a way that changes word choice, sentence structure, or the argument.
• Copy AI output into any notes or drafts that later get turned into a graded submission.

6. The One Thing You Can Use AI For

There is exactly one use of AI we permit in connection with academic work:

7. How We Detect AI Use

Every submission is screened. We do not rely on a single tool, because no single AI detector is reliable enough on its own. What we use instead is a combination of signals:

• Several specialized AI-detection services, cross-referenced against each other.
• Stylometric and linguistic review by trained academic reviewers.
• Comparison against your own prior submissions, so that sudden shifts in voice, vocabulary, structure, or apparent subject-matter mastery get noticed.
• Structural red flags: hallucinated citations, fabricated quotations, uniform paragraph lengths, anachronisms, and the other classic tells of machine-written text.
• Academic interviews. If we need to, we will schedule a virtual meeting with you and ask you to walk us through your own work and explain it in your own words.

A finding of AI use is never based on one tool alone. It is based on the overall picture, weighed by Academic Affairs.

8. The Investigation

A single flag does not lead to a single consequence. A flag opens an investigation, and the investigation looks at everything.

8.1 What we look at

At a minimum, an investigation includes:

• A full re-review of every graded submission you have ever given us, using the detection methods described in Section 7.
• A plagiarism audit of those prior submissions against published sources, the open internet, and peer work.
• A review of your public-facing presence. This includes professional websites, social media, LinkedIn, practitioner directories, clinic pages, published articles, and promotional material. We are looking for misrepresentation of credentials, qualifications, scope of practice, or affiliation with the School.
• A review of your admissions file, prior-learning-assessment submissions, and any transfer credit documentation for consistency.
• Where it makes sense, a conversation with your instructors and academic advisors about any patterns they have noticed.

8.2 How the investigation is handled

Investigations are run by CSNN Distance Education Academic Affairs, with oversight from School administration. You will be contacted in writing that an investigation has been opened; while the investigation is underway, online access will be suspended. Investigations can take up to 6 weeks to complete. Time lost will be re-added to the user’s timeline, however; no additional time will be granted to complete any applicable re-writes.

8.3 The standard we use

Findings are made on the balance of probabilities. That is the same evidentiary standard Canadian post-secondary institutions use in academic misconduct cases. We are not asking for proof beyond a reasonable doubt. A personal denial, on its own, is not enough to overturn a finding supported by detection tools, analytical review, and the judgment of Academic Affairs.

9. Consequences

When a finding of AI use is substantiated, the following consequences apply:

9.1 On the grade

• A grade of zero (0) on the entire course in which the violation happened. The zero is final. It goes on your permanent transcript.
• Any additional work identified during the investigation as containing AI-generated content also receives a zero in its course. Each one counts as a separate violation for the purposes of Section 10.

9.2 Financial penalties

The following administrative penalties are added to your student account:

What it covers	Amount (CAD, plus applicable taxes)
The first flagged submission	$250.00
Each additional piece of AI-generated work found during the investigation	$100.00 per item
Rewrite administration fee, if a rewrite is granted under Section 11	As set out in the current fee schedule
Proctoring Service for future submissions	$60.00 per applicable session

Penalties are applied to your account at the close of the investigation and must be paid before any further engagement with the School, including new coursework, transcript issuance, or conferral of your credential.

9.3 If you have misrepresented yourself publicly

If the investigation turns up a case where you have misrepresented your credentials, qualifications, standing, or connection to CSNN Distance Education in public (for example, claiming a designation you have not earned, a graduation date that has not happened, or a scope of practice your credential does not authorize), we may also do any of the following, on top of the sanctions above:

• Send a formal cease-and-desist demanding immediate correction.
• Report the misrepresentation to applicable regulators, associations, and platforms.
• Revoke any credential previously issued on the basis of work later found to contain AI-generated content.
• Pursue any other remedy available under provincial or federal law.

9.4 Proctoring on all future submissions

After a substantiated first finding, every graded submission you make from that point forward is proctored through ProctorFree, on the same terms as your final exam. This applies to assignments, quizzes, and anything else that would normally be completed on your own time. The requirement stays in place for the remainder of your studies at the School. It is not optional, and it does not lift.

ProctorFree is a paid service. Each proctored session is billed to your student account at $60.00 plus applicable taxes, payable before the session is scheduled. Unpaid proctoring fees will hold any further coursework, transcripts, and credential issuance until settled.

10. Second Offence: Expulsion

A second substantiated finding of AI use on any graded work, after warning, (whether it is in the same course or a different one) ends your enrollment. It is not a warning; it is the end of your time at CSNN Distance Education.

Expulsion means:

• You are immediately removed from every active course, with no refund of tuition.
• Your transcript carries a permanent notation identifying the reason as academic misconduct.
• You may not re-enrol in any CSNN program, certificate, or continuing education offering. Ever. This includes other CSNN branches.
• You forfeit any outstanding academic credit, practicum hours, or credentials tied to the affected courses.
• All outstanding penalties remain owed.

11. The Rewrite — An Exception, Not a Right

A rewrite is not a right. It is a last-resort option, and it exists for exactly one situation.

After a first substantiated finding, Academic Affairs will check whether you can still finish your program with a zero on the affected course(s) sitting on your transcript. If the math works out and you can still graduate, no rewrite is offered. The zero stands. That is the end of it for that course.

If the math does not work out — meaning a zero on that course makes it impossible for you to graduate — we may offer a single rewrite. The conditions are strict:

• Rewrites are only granted if the 0 undoubtedly affects the student’s ability to graduate.
• The rewrite is completed under conditions set by Academic Affairs. That may include live proctoring, handwritten submission, or in-person completion.
• The highest grade you can earn on a rewritten piece is the minimum passing grade for the course. No higher.
• Every financial penalty under Section 9 still applies. A rewrite does not wipe those out.
• A rewrite administration fee is charged.
• If anything else comes up — before, during, or after the rewrite — it counts as a second offence and triggers expulsion under Section 10.

12. Appeals

If you disagree with a finding, you may appeal it in writing to the Director of Academic Affairs within ten (10) business days of receiving written notice. The appeal has to set out, specifically, what you are challenging and why, and it has to be accompanied by any evidence you want us to consider — drafts, research notes, version histories, or anything else that speaks to authorship.

The decision on appeal is final. We do not re-open appeals based on personal assurances, hardship, how much tuition has been paid, how close to graduation you are, or disagreement with the policy itself.

13. Recordkeeping and Post-Graduation Reference

We keep a permanent record of every academic integrity finding. That includes the original flag, the investigation file, the evidence reviewed, and the finding itself. These records are retained indefinitely.

If, at any point after graduation, a complaint is made to CSNN about professional conduct, or a possible breach of the code of ethics or scope of practice applicable to your designation, the disciplinary committee reviewing that complaint is entitled to pull your academic integrity file and consider its contents as part of its review.

In other words: an integrity finding does not end with your time as a student. It stays on file, and it can be referenced whenever your professional conduct is under review.

14. Updated Cheating and Plagiarism Provision

This policy is read together with the School’s general cheating and plagiarism policy. That policy is now updated to read as follows:

15. Your Acknowledgement

By enrolling at CSNN Distance Education and continuing your studies, you are acknowledging this policy, agreeing to it, and accepting that it applies to you. We will ask you to confirm that you have read and understood it at registration, at re-enrollment, and, where it makes sense, before specific graded elements.

If you are ever unsure whether a tool, resource, or a specific kind of help is allowed, ask Academic Affairs before you submit. Asking beforehand is fine. Saying you were not sure, after the fact, is not a defense.