Academic Dishonesty

Note: Students may not drop, change course grading to S/U or withdraw from the course once a report of alleged academic dishonesty has been submitted and/or resolved.

Lying

Lying is communicating untruths or misrepresentations in order to gain an academic or employment advantage. It includes, but is not limited to: falsifying information on documents, such as résumés, applications, or references on social media sites (e.g., LinkedIn); misrepresenting one’s own research; providing false or misleading information in order to be excused from classes or assignments; or intentionally underperforming on a placement exam.

Cheating

Cheating is the act of wrongfully using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information, study aids, or the ideas or work of another.

It includes, but is not limited to:

• plagiarism (defined further below) on any assignment;
• giving unauthorized aid to another student or receiving unauthorized aid from another person on tests, quizzes, assignments, or examinations;
• using or consulting unauthorized materials or using unauthorized equipment or devices on tests, quizzes, assignments, or examinations;
• using, consulting, and/or maintaining unauthorized shared resources including, but not limited to, test banks, solutions materials and/or unauthorized use of artificial intelligence (AI) software (spelling and grammar checkers are permissible unless stated otherwise by course instructor);
• altering or falsifying any information on tests, quizzes, assignments, or examinations;
• using any material portion of a paper or project to fulfill the requirements of more than one course unless the student has received prior faculty permission to do so;
• working on any examination, test, quiz, or assignment outside of the time constraints imposed;
• the unauthorized use of prescription medication to enhance academic performance;
• submitting an altered examination or assignment to an instructor for re- grading;
• failing to adhere to an instructor’s specific directions, including but not limited to a course syllabus and with respect to the terms of academic integrity or academic honesty.

“Plagiarism” occurs when a student, with intent to deceive or with disregard for proper scholarly procedures, presents any information, ideas, or phrasing of another as if they were the student’s own and/or does not give appropriate credit to the original source. Proper scholarly procedures require that all quoted material be identified by quotation marks or indentation on the page, and the source of information and ideas, if from another, must be identified and be attributed to that source. Students are responsible for learning proper scholarly procedures.

Plagiarism may include:

• copying from published sources without adequate documentation ([1] use of quotation marks around verbatim text, or a block quote if verbatim text exceeds 40-50 words; and [2] in-text references or footnotes, both for verbatim text and paraphrased words/ideas);
• citing an incorrect source for attributed work;
• paraphrasing words or ideas of another without giving credit;
• using the same logic/flow/sentence structure of another without giving credit;
• unauthorized use of artificial intelligence software in any course submission, without proper citation or prior approval (spelling and grammar checkers are permissible unless stated otherwise by course instructor);
• submitting as your own someone else’s unpublished work, either with or without permission;
• paying someone else to write a paper for you;
• or, purchasing a pre-written paper.

The term “assignment” includes any work, required or volunteered, submitted for review, academic credit, and/or disciplinary sanction.

All academic work undertaken by a student must be completed independently unless the faculty member or other responsible authority expressly authorizes collaboration with another.

Stealing

Stealing is the act of intentionally taking or appropriating the property of another, including academic work, without consent or permission and with the intent to keep or use the property without the permission of the owner or the rightful possessor.

Academic Freedom

Freedom of inquiry and the free exchange of ideas are essential for the fulfillment of the university’s mission. Academic freedom is a right and responsibility of students as well as faculty. Students who believe that their academic freedom has been abridged should submit a written complaint to their academic dean. The dean may enlist the faculty in establishing the merits or extent of the complaint by appointing a disinterested two-person subcommittee of the Faculty Hearing Committee to provide advice. Reports not resolved by the dean may be brought to the attention of the provost. Students may also seek advice of the student ombudsperson in resolving a complaint.