Developing, implementing and experiencing a student academic integrity champion model: foregrounding the student voice as influencer in the role and activity

Working closely with students on institutional approaches to academic integrity has become more important than ever in recent years with AI challenges and concerns around assessment. Building on prior studies that highlight the benefits for academic integrity of student peer promotion, this study presents student focus group data from one institution which contributed to a multi-institutional project development of an eight-stage Student Academic Integrity Champion (SAIC) model. Co-authored by two project members (the project lead staff member and a student SAIC), the paper aims to examine the roles, responsibilities and activities within the SAIC model based on the student participants’ perspectives and to explore the student experience as SAIC. Key findings suggest that SAIC roles need to be defined according to institutional contexts, highlight the importance of training, a pilot stage and active opportunities for engagement, and emphasise the need for maintenance of the role. The student voice provides an enlightening lens on how students may make sense of the SAIC role as an influencer impacting student behaviour. Thus, the paper offers insights to assist other institutions in both implementing a student champion role and understanding how students in this role perceive their contributions to academic integrity.