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The college is committed to the advancement of knowledge and learning and to the development of responsible individuals. In meeting this commitment, the college has an obligation to monitor academic integrity. Students are expected to uphold appropriate standards of academic integrity. The college assumes, and indeed views as indispensable to a student’s academic career, the principle that every student is honor-bound not to cheat or act dishonorably in or out of the classroom. Academic dishonesty is a serious offense because it undermines the bonds of trust and honesty among members of the campus community.
Academic Misconduct Rules
The college expects students will not engage in:
Cheating
The act or attempted act of deception by which a student misrepresents that he/she has mastered information on an academic exercise that, in fact, has not been mastered.
Fabrication
The use of invented information or citation in an academic exercise or the falsification of research or other findings.
Plagiarism
Occurs when a student:
- fails to place quotation marks around material copied word-for-word from another source, published or not, including web-based content (long quotes are indented and blocked, according to discipline documentation requirements.);
- neglects to attribute words and/or ideas to their author, whether the author is published or not;
- closely follows the original’s wording and sentence structure when attempting to paraphrase; and/or
- presents all or part of a paper from an essay-purchasing website or other source as his or her own work.
Ethical Misconduct
- Knowingly violating a standard of ethical conduct incorporated into a specialized program of study
Academic Dishonesty
- Changing or altering a grade or obtaining and/or distributing any part of a test that is to be administered, or inappropriate collaboration or other violation of the terms of an academic assignment as defined by the instructor and/or syllabus.
Facilitation of Academic Misconduct
- Intentionally and/or knowingly helping or attempting to help another to violate any provision of the student code for academic conduct
The following sanctions may be imposed for violations of the Student Code of Academic Conduct.
Sanctions Imposed by Faculty at the Informal Stage:
The faculty member in whose course the violation took place may impose one of the following sanctions:
- Warning or Grade Penalty
An instructor may determine that the violation of the Student Code of Academic Conduct was unintentional. If so, the instructor may warn the student orally or in writing about the violation and/or may impose a penalty to the grade for the assignment or the course as per the instructor’s outline.
- Academic Misconduct Referral
An instructor requests intervention by the appropriate associate dean of Academic Affairs. The following sanctions may be imposed.
Sanctions Imposed by the Dean at the Formal Stage:
The following sanctions may be imposed by the appropriate associate dean of Academic Affairs for violations of the Student Code of Academic Conduct:
- Warning
Oral or written notification of a violation of a specified rule and warning that further misconduct will result in more severe consequences.
- Probation
Continued classroom attendance is permitted subject to appropriate and specific restrictions.
- Suspension
Total exclusion from the college, its property and events for a specified and appropriate period of time, or until the satisfaction of conditions established at the time of the suspension.
- Expulsion
Permanent exclusion from the college, its programs, property and events as a full-time or part-time student.
Sanctions may be modified or additional restrictions may be imposed depending upon the merits of the individual case and the nature of the offense. Additional and/or alternative sanctions may be imposed which could include but are not limited to: exclusion from campus activities, temporary or permanent loss of electronic (computer and email) resources, reduced academic course load, referral to the counseling department and/or restitution and service to the campus.
Sanctions Imposed by the Dean at the Formal Stage:
Repeated violations of the Student Code of Academic Conduct may result in more severe sanctions. The student’s record of academic misconduct will be kept at least as long as the student is enrolled.
Procedures for Academic Misconduct
Informal Procedure
Faculty member discusses academic misconduct with student.
If the student admits to or is cleared of the academic misconduct, the matter can be resolved between the faculty member and the student.
If the matter is not resolved satisfactorily at the informal stage, it will be subject to formal procedures.
Formal Procedure
Step 1: Report the Allegation(s)
If a student denies the academic misconduct, the faculty member must notify the student, in writing, that he/she will be filing an allegation of academic misconduct with the appropriate associate dean of Academic Affairs and the campus dean of Student Development. The faculty member must complete the Academic Misconduct Report form and send it to the appropriate associate dean, the dean of Student Development and the student within two weeks of the infraction. The appropriate associate dean will oversee the conduct procedures.
Step 2: Review the Allegation(s)
Upon receipt of the allegation(s), the appropriate associate dean in collaboration with the campus dean of Student Development will conduct a preliminary investigation and may do any of the following:
- dismiss the allegation(s);
- if the student admits the violation, impose a sanction as prescribed by the Student Code of Academic Conduct; or
- if the student admits the violation, impose additional and/or alternative sanctions to those prescribed by the Student Code of Academic Conduct;
- if the student contests the allegation, refer the matter to the Conduct Hearing Board composed of one student, one faculty member and one administrator chosen by the appropriate associate dean of Academic Affairs. The hearing board will be convened by the appropriate associate dean who will assist the hearing board in the selection of a chairperson and inform the committee of proper hearing procedures.
The following due process procedures will apply during the hearing.
The student has the right to:
- receive adequate written notice of the specific charges and the hearing date at least three calendar days prior to the hearing. Such notice will include the information that evidence and/or testimony will be presented;
- have sufficient time to prepare a response;
- examine and respond to evidence and testimony; have witnesses appear on the student’s behalf; question any witnesses who appear at the hearing; and
- have any person(s) accompany the student during the hearing as an advisor, but not to actively participate.
All decisions will be made by a majority vote of the Conduct Hearing Board on the basis of whether the evidence showed a violation was more likely than not. The hearing board will forward its written recommendation to the appropriate associate dean of Academic Affairs in charge of the proceedings within 48 hours upon reaching a decision. The appropriate associate dean has the authority to accept, reject or modify the recommendation and will inform the student of his/her decision by certified mail.
Step 3: Right to Appeal
The student will have the right to appeal, in writing, the decision of the appropriate associate dean to the campus dean of Academic Affairs who will serve as the final authority. Such an appeal must be presented in writing by the student within three calendar days of the associate dean’s decision and should contain the specific reasons why the decision of the associate dean is being challenged. The campus dean of Academic Affairs will review the appeal and convey his/her decision to the student in writing within seven calendar days of the date the appeal was filed.
Academic Record
For tracking purposes, faculty report all violations of the Student Code of Academic Conduct at the formal stage, via an Academic Misconduct Report form, to the appropriate associate dean of Academic Affairs. The dean’s office is responsible for keeping an academic record of the violation.
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