Standards of Conduct - Academic Behaviors

Policy On Academic Integrity

Academic integrity entails being truthful to oneself and to the larger College community, being original in thought and expression, and attributing honestly ideas and words taken from other sources. Originality of thought and expression is fundamental to academic discourse, as is honesty in giving credit to other thinkers when using their ideas and words. Academic integrity embodies the values of sound moral character and of excellence, social responsibility, and mutual respect which are upheld, in the College Mission Statement, as cornerstones of the College Community.

The academic integrity principle, broadly stated, means students have done or have prepared the work or research in or out of class that bears their names and that they have given proper acknowledgement for the use of materials and sources.

The Policy on Academic Integrity has been developed to provide students and faculty with guidelines to determine what conduct violates the academic integrity principle and procedures for dealing with conduct alleged to be in violation of the academic integrity principle. These procedures guarantee due process to all members involved in cases of alleged violation of academic integrity and protect the rights of faculty and students involved in such cases.

A violation of academic integrity takes place whenever anyone undermines the academic integrity of the College or attempts to take unfair advantage of others.

Academic integrity is not simply a matter of conforming to certain rules; it must be understood in terms of broader academic purposes of a College education. Examples of violations of academic integrity include but are not limited to cheating, submitting counterfeit work, plagiarism, research misconduct, and unauthorized reuse of work.

Disciplinary Procedure for Academic Misconduct

The Disciplinary Procedure for Academic Misconduct contains both an informal and formal process. The parties are entitled to privacy at each stage of the process, whether informal or formal. The faculty member who discovers the violation will determine whether attempting an informal inquiry is appropriate.

Students may not withdraw their registration from the course involved once the informal or formal inquiry process has begun. A formal inquiry must be initiated by the end of the semester following the semester in which the incident occurs.

A member of the faculty who discovers in a student’s work or conduct what they judge to be an act of academic dishonesty will address the matter as follows:

Informal Inquiry

A faculty member suspecting a student of a violation of academic integrity may attempt to address the situation in an informal manner. A faculty member may also decide to bypass the informal inquiry and to proceed directly to a formal inquiry.

The informal inquiry involves the faculty member discussing the situation with the student suspected of the violation and informing the student of the penalty sought to be imposed by the faculty member. If the student does not challenge the penalty, the matter is resolved.

If the matter cannot be informally resolved by the faculty member and the student, the matter will proceed to a formal inquiry.

Formal Inquiry

A formal inquiry is held when a suspected violation of academic integrity is not resolved through the informal inquiry process.

When a formal inquiry is necessary, the faculty member will report the matter to the Academic Standards and Integrity Committee (the “Committee”). The Chair of the Committee will invite the faculty member and student concerned to submit a statement in writing detailing the incident and any evidence pertinent to the matter. The faculty member and the student should submit a copy of any physical evidence referred to in their statements along with their statements if possible or explain why they cannot provide the evidence to the Committee. The statement and related evidence must be submitted to the Committee within seven (7) days of receiving the Chair of the Committee’s invitation.

The Committee will consider the statement, and the evidence submitted by both the faculty member and the student. The Committee may interview the involved student and/or faculty member but is not required to do so. The Committee also reserves the right to seek additional relevant information from other pertinent sources.

The Committee will determine whether the student has committed a violation of academic integrity and if found responsible, what, if any, sanction will be imposed for this violation. The Committee will inform the student and the faculty member of its finding within ten (10) business days of receiving the statements and evidence from both the student and the faculty member.

The decision of the Committee shall be final and binding on both the faculty member and the student. Records of student violations of academic integrity confirmed by the Committee will be maintained by the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Academic Dean.

Possible Sanctions

If the Committee determines that a student has committed a violation of academic integrity, it may impose any of the non-exhaustive list of sanctions below. The Committee may impose more than one of the below sanctions if deemed appropriate.

1. A grade of F on the paper, examination, or assignment.
2. Reduction of final course grade.
3. Assigning a grade of F for the course.
4. Disciplinary dismissal from the College for at least one semester following the semester in which the offense has occurred.
5. Immediate disciplinary dismissal from the College for not longer than the remainder of the current and the following semester.
6. Permanent disciplinary dismissal from the College.
7. Disciplinary dismissal from the College for at least one semester following the semester in which the offense has occurred.

Academic Standards and Integrity Committee

Organization: The Committee shall be composed of five faculty members, elected from each of the four divisional groups and one at-large, and two students (one from senior year and one from junior year) appointed by the Student Government.

Duties: To foster the values of academic integrity among students, faculty, administrators and staff. To act as a board of review in all cases concerned with violations of academic integrity and grade appeals in accordance with the College’s established policy and procedures on academic integrity.