Editing Herzing Issues: Academic Integrity (section)

=== HU-051: HESI exam question sharing occurs systemically across multiple Herzing cohorts and programs ===
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%"
! style="width:14em" | Severity
| High
! style="width:14em" | Status
| CONFIRMED
|-
! Issue type
| Systemic Exam Security Failure, Cross-Cohort
! Date added
| 2026-05-04
|-
! Owner
| colspan="3" | Senior Director Academic Operations / Program Chair / Elsevier
|}
'''Finding.''' HESI exam question sharing occurs systemically across multiple Herzing cohorts and programs (MSN-DE, BSN, ASN): students share questions and answers in real time via GroupMe; third-party platforms (NAXLEX, YBG, Studocu) contain verbatim or near-verbatim HESI exam questions; this pattern is documented across at least four separate program GroupMes spanning 2024-2026.

'''Evidence.''' Health Assessment NSG121 GroupMe (March to April 2025) and Herzing MSNDE 2026 GroupMe (January to April 2025). Source Group: Multiple GroupMe Archives: Herzing Nursing 2027; Herzing MSNDE 2026 (Jan to Jun 2025); Health Assessment NSG121 (Jan to Apr 2025); Herzing ProctorU Students; Herzing MSN-PNP Summer 2025.

'''Reported statement.''' Student AO reported that Quizlet questions used for review matched the material tested on the health assessment exam. Student AK reported that a specific exam contained questions from Naxlex. Student X reported hearing that some questions on Studocu were on the exam. Student AP shared specific question details immediately after testing.

'''Standards.''' HESI/Evolve copyright protections (Elsevier); Herzing Student Code of Conduct; ACEN Standard 4; 17 U.S.C. §§106, 501 (copyright). The breadth of this pattern indicates a systemic institutional failure rather than isolated student misconduct. The institution has an affirmative obligation under its Elsevier licensing agreement to protect HESI exam content.

'''Impact.''' If HESI exam content is systematically shared across cohorts, exam scores cannot be treated as valid measures of student nursing competency at Herzing University. Graduates who benefited from pre-knowledge of exam content may enter clinical practice without the assessed competency the HESI was designed to certify. This creates a direct patient safety risk.

'''Notes.''' This issue extends and expands {{HU|HU-037}} (MSN-DE cohort specific) and {{HU|HU-026}} (HESI answer posting). The cross-cohort scope is significant: the same behavior appears in BSN (NSG121), ASN (MSN-DE Dec 2026), and direct-entry MSN cohorts.

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