Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the representation of someone else’s words or ideas as one’s own, or the arrangement of someone else’s material(s) as one’s own. Such misrepresentation may be sufficient grounds for a student’s receiving a grade of E for the paper or presentation involved or may result in an E being assigned as the final grade for the course.

Any one of the following constitutes evidence of plagiarism:

1. direct quotation without identifying punctuation and citation of source;
2. paraphrase of expression or thought without proper attribution;
3. unacknowledged dependence upon a source in plan, organization, or argument.

Student Academic Dishonesty Policy And Procedures

Academic dishonesty includes cheating, knowingly providing false information, plagiarizing, and any other form of academic misrepresentation. Should incidents of academic dishonesty occur, the following procedures will be followed:

I. A faculty member suspecting dishonesty will confer with the student so accused, within a reasonable time after the alleged offense has been discovered.
A. If the student denies responsibility and the faculty member is convinced that the student is not responsible, the matter is dropped.
B. If the faculty member is convinced that the apparently unethical behavior was unintentional, the faculty member will help the student to understand what was done wrong and how to avoid doing so in the future. Unintentional violations should be reported by the faculty member in accordance with Section III below.
C. If the student admits the act of dishonesty, the penalty will be an “E” on that assignment/test, a final grade of “E” for the course, or other appropriate penalty, as determined by the faculty member depending on the severity of the infraction and the significance of the assignment. When an “E” is levied on an individual assignment/test, the faculty member may require the student to complete additional work in order to continue in the course. Violations should be reported by the faculty member in accordance with Section III below. If the faculty member believes that the dishonesty is severe enough to warrant suspension or dismissal from the College, he or she should refer the case to the College Judicial Committee. If the student wishes to appeal the severity of the grade assigned by the faculty member, the student will follow the procedures stated in the College academic policy for appeal of grades.
D. If the student denies responsibility and the faculty member is not convinced that the student is not responsible, the case is referred, with supporting documentation, to the College Judicial Committee for action. The faculty member will delay assigning a grade for the course or the assignment until the College Judicial Committee makes a determination of responsibility or no responsibility and takes appropriate College disciplinary action. Appeal of the disciplinary action is explained in the College
Disciplinary Procedures. The faculty member will assign a grade after considering the findings of the Committee.
E. If the student wishes to appeal the severity of the grade assigned by the faculty member, the student will follow the procedures stated in the College academic policy for appeal of grades.
F. A student suspected of academic dishonesty may not withdraw from the course until the charges have been resolved. A student who receives an “E” in the course for academic dishonesty cannot obtain a “W” from that course.
II. The College Judicial Committee will be convened to hear cases of academic dishonesty when any of the following occurs:
A. The student denies responsibility and the faculty member is not convinced that the student is not responsible.
B. The faculty member is not convinced that the admitted violation was unintentional.
C. The faculty member believes that the violation is severe enough to warrant suspension or dismissal from the College.
D. The student has been involved in a previously documented incident of academic dishonesty.
III. Whenever academic dishonesty occurs, a faculty member will provide the department chairperson, the dean of academic planning and advising, and the student with a written report of the violation, any penalty imposed and the counseling provided by the faculty member. In order to insure that a pattern of misconduct is not established, the dean of academic planning and advising will notify the dean of students who will place a copy of the faculty member’s statement in the academic dishonesty file in the Dean of Students Office. This statement will be
destroyed no later than three months after the student’s graduation. Decisions of the College Judicial Committee will be placed in the student’s personnel file. Materials placed in the academic dishonesty file may not be released to outside agencies. Contents of the student’s personnel file may be released only as stipulated in the College Records Policy.
IV. If a student witnesses an act of academic dishonesty, s/he should report it to the faculty member of the course involved. That faculty member will handle the matter according to the steps as outlined above.
V. For the purpose of this policy, plagiarism shall be considered to be deliberate representation of someone else’s words or ideas as one’s own or the deliberate arrangement of someone else’s material(s) as one’s own.
VI. Any one of the following constitutes plagiarism: (1) Direct quotation without appropriate punctuation and citation of source; (2) Paraphrase of expression or thought without proper attribution; (3) Dependence upon a source for a plan, organization or argument without appropriate citation.