Students are expected to maintain the highest standards of honesty in their college work; violations of academic integrity are serious offenses. Students found guilty of any form of academic dishonesty -- including, for instance, forgery, cheating, and plagiarism – are subject to disciplinary action.

 

Forgery includes the alteration of college forms, documents, or records, as well as the signing of such forms or documents by someone other than the proper designee.

 

 

Cheating is the dishonest or unauthorized use of materials for academic work. Examples of cheating include:

• Copying another’s papers or notes during an exam

• Talking about a test or looking at another’s paper during an exam

• Altering a graded exam or paper without informing the instructor and resubmitting it for re-grading

• Gaining unauthorized access to past exams from a course

• Removing tests from a classroom or office without prior consent

• Discussing an exam you have taken with other students, either from your class or from another section of the same course, who have yet to take that exam

• Providing false or exaggerated excuses to postpone due dates

• Lying to an instructor or college official to improve your grade or to get special privileges

• Submitting work done in another class without prior permission of both instructors

• Having or allowing another person do your work for a course (including unauthorized collaboration)

 

 

Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of another person’s work (words, ideas, data, etc.) in a graded or published piece or in a speech. The following are examples of plagiarism:

 

• copying all or parts of another person’s paper, article, or notes and representing it as your own

• submitting a paper copied in full or in part from one purchased from a paper writing service or obtained electronically

• failing to fully cite (author, article title, book or journal, page number, date of publication) each instance where you have incorporated another's ideas or quoted words into your own written or oral work.

 

While instances of forgery and cheating are often clear cut, cases of plagiarism can be more complicated. Plagiarism can be intentional, as when a student knowingly submits as one’s own work a purchased paper, or a paper that was written entirely or in part by another student or of another author other than him or herself. But plagiarism may also be the result of misuse of sources, which occurs when writers cite information incorrectly or incompletely. In this case, the author may make a good faith effort to acknowledge the sources, but because this is a learning process, a student author may make errors in documentation and integrating quotes and paraphrases into their own work. While unintentional, the misuse of sources is still plagiarism. It is very important, therefore, for students to make sure they understand how to properly cite sources, to take advantage of the research and writing assistance provided by student advisors, and to confer with their instructors when they are unsure if they are using sources appropriately.

 

PROCEDURES AND SANCTIONS

 

When a faculty member suspects a student of academic dishonesty, the faculty member should consult the student about the suspected violation.

 

1. After this consultation, if the matter appears to be a violation, the faculty member is responsible for gathering the pertinent and necessary information and reporting the violation to the Director of the academic program.

2. The Director of academic program then meets with the student, confirms the violation, and determines the appropriate sanction depending on whether it is a first, second, or third violation.

           a. A first violation typically results in a grade of zero for the assignment in which the violation was found.

           b. A second violation typically results in suspension for a semester. The suspension may occur at any point during the semester and will                    result in the student being withdrawn from all classes. The student remains responsible for all fees associated with the semester.                          re-admission to the College is possible after the suspension period.

           c. A third violation typically will result in dismissal from the College. Dismissal entails the same aspects of separation from the college as                  suspension; however, readmission is not possible. A dismissed student is permanently excluded from the College and forfeits all                             rights and degrees not already conferred at the time of dismissal.

 

Students may appeal decisions regarding academic integrity policy violations and sanctions. Appeals will be considered on the basis of: procedural errors that unfairly and/or materially affected the outcome of the case; actions taken that are arbitrary, unreasonable or unsupported by the evidence; or, new information that was not available at the time of the original decision.

 

1. Appeals must be written and sent to the Director of the academic program. After ensuring the appeal includes all of the relevant facts pertinent to the decision, and articulates a rationale for appealing, the Director will send the appeal to the Academic Board.

 

    2. The Academic Board, minus the Director of the academic program, is the final body responsible for acting on the appeal. If the Board finds            no grounds for the appeal, the violation and sanction will stand.