Code of Conduct
Departmental Policy on Academic Dishonesty
Cheating is defined as fraud, deceit, or dishonesty in an academic assignment, or using or attempting to use materials, or assisting others in using materials that are prohibited or inappropriate in the context of the academic assignment in question. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Providing answers to or receiving answers from others for any academic assignment without the instructor’s knowledge and express approval;
- Using notes, information, calculators, or other electronic devices or programs during exams or for assignments for which the items have been expressly or implicitly prohibited;
- Improperly obtaining or using improperly obtained information about an exam or assignment in advance of its availability to other students, or assisting others in doing so;
- Putting one's name on another student’s exam or assignment, or placing another student’s name on one’s exam or assignment;
- Altering previously graded work for purpose of seeking a revised grade; or
- Collaborating with others on an assignment, such as sharing information or discussing the assignment, without the authorization of the instructor.
Plagiarism is defined as the use of intellectual material produced by another person without acknowledging its source in the submission of formal or informal academic assignments. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Copying from the writings or works of others into one's academic assignment without proper attribution, or submitting such work as if it were one's own;
- Paraphrasing the characteristic or original phraseology, metaphor, or other creative, artistic or literary device of another without proper attribution;
- Using the views or insights of another without proper attribution; or
- Copying, paraphrasing or otherwise using the research data, results, codes, formulae, or algorithms of another without proper attribution.
A student involved in an incident of cheating or plagiarism will be notified by the instructor, and the following policy will apply:
- The instructor may take actions such as:
- require repetition of the subject work,
- assign an ‘F’ grade or a 'zero' grade to the subject work,
- for serious offenses, assign an ‘F’ grade for the course.
- The recommended action for cheating on examinations or term papers is assigning an 'F' grade for the course.
- The instructor must inform the student and the Department Chair in writing of the incident, the action taken, if any, and the student's right to appeal to the Chair of the Department Grievance Committee or to the Director of the Office of Student Conduct.
- The instructor must retain copies of any written evidence or observation notes.
- The Department Chair must inform the Director of the Office of Student Conduct of the incident, the student's name, and the action taken by the instructor.
- The Office of Student Conduct may choose to conduct a formal hearing on the incident and to assess a penalty for misconduct.
- The Department will recommend that students involved in a second incident of cheating be dismissed from the University.