Academic Integrity and Procedures Regarding Violations of Code and Academic Integrity
THIS PROCESS IS CURRENTLY UNDER REVIEW AND MAY BE CHANGED.
Academic Conduct and Adjudication
Academic Dishonesty
Academic dishonesty is a serious form of misconduct in an educational community. It threatens the relationship of trust that must exist among members of that community. As such, it warrants the most serious of responses, including possible expulsion from the College. It is each student’s responsibility to become familiar with the information presented below as well as with related procedures and sanctions. In cases where academic dishonesty is suspected, both faculty members and students have an obligation to bring the matter to the attention of the Academic Integrity Officer for appropriate action.
NOTE: All students are held accountable to these rules, even if a professor does not explicitly specify rules regarding academic integrity in his/her syllabus or course policies.
Forms of Academic Dishonesty
Academic dishonesty can take many forms and though always serious can be assessed as a minor or major offense.
Minor offenses usually relate to more technical matters, are isolated or limited in scope, and are not committed for the purpose of academic advantage. Improper citation, failure to use quotation marks around a direct quote, or to acknowledge a source in-text or on a Works Cited page, when these instances are isolated and limited, are a few examples of minor offenses. How such offenses are sanctioned is usually determined by the individual instructor’s evaluation of the impact of these technical errors within the context of the structure and content of the particular course. Minor offenses are not required to be reported to school designee.
Major offenses relate to anything that constitutes an action that results in an unearned academic advantage or inexcusable gross negligence. These include, but are not limited to:
Plagiarism: This consists of offering as one’s own work the words, ideas or arguments of another. Appropriate citation (including page numbers) with quotation marks, references or footnotes, is required when using another’s work; the failure to do so constitutes plagiarism. Copying homework and answers on an exam or report, submitting a term paper from the archives of a group or from another student, procuring a paper from any source (electronic or otherwise) and submitting it as one’s own are further examples of plagiarism.
False citation: Providing false information about a source is academic dishonesty. This includes citing a title, author and page as if it were from one source when, in fact, it is from a different source, or including information that did not come from the cited source.
Cheating on exams.
Forgery: Signing any faculty member or administrator’s name to a College form or document without express permission.
Falsification: Altering any official College document, paper or examination to mislead others; or, any deception (written, oral, or electronic) of a College official in an attempt to circumvent College academic policy.
Computer abuse: For all assignments for computer-related courses, students are required to acknowledge any information, from word texts to full programs, that is not their own. In addition, infringing on the rights of other students to gain access to the computer system, destroying or infecting files, copying files or programs without permission are considered academically dishonest.
Destruction, theft or displacement of library materials.
Multiple submissions: Work done for one course cannot be submitted for another course without the express permission of the professor.
Unauthorized collaboration on academic assignments.
Aiding another student in the commission of academic dishonesty.
Procedures Regarding Violations of Academic Integrity
The primary responsibility for finding plagiarism and determining the penalty in terms of the grade for the plagiarized assignment and the course lies with the instructor of the course. For proven or uncontested major acts of academic dishonesty, either of the following sanctions may be imposed by the instructor: Failure of the assignment or failure of the course. When an instructor has found what he/she considers to be a major offense (or if someone witnesses what he/she considers to be a major offense), the Academic Integrity school designee is contacted. The instructor (or other person witnessing or suspecting academic dishonesty) and the Academic Integrity designee will decide together whether the offense is of a serious nature. If the designee and Instructor cannot agree on a penalty, the Chair of the Board on Academic Standards will determine the penalty. If it is determined that a major offense has occurred, the instructor or Academic Integrity designee will contact the student and inform him/her of the findings and the penalty that will be imposed within the course, and will be informed that him/her must meet with the School designee.
All further disciplinary procedures will proceed in the following manner:
For a first offense:
The student and instructor may meet to discuss the matter. The student is required to meet with the Academic Integrity designee. If the student accepts responsibility for the offense and the penalty imposed by the instructor, no further sanction beyond that imposed by the instructor will be made. However, the student waives his/her right to a formal hearing by the Board on Academic Standards on the matter and consents to the instructor’s penalty.
The Admission of Academic Dishonesty form will be filed with the Academic Integrity designee and is retained until the completion of the degree; if there are no further violations of the Code of Academic Integrity, the agreement will be destroyed at such point when the College is legally allowed to do so. The student, should he/she reconsider his/her consent to the agreement, may void the document within ten (10) days of signing the agreement, and request a hearing by the Board on Academic Standards (BOAS) to review the penalty imposed by the instructor.
Where the student disputes the finding of the instructor, the student may choose to not sign the Admission of Academic Dishonesty form and must contact the Academic Integrity designee. The student must submit a formal written appeal to the Chair of the Board on Academic Standards within 48 hours of notification of the sanction. The BOAS Chairperson may uphold the finding and sanction, overturn the finding and sanction, or impose an alternative sanction, as appropriate, based on their examination of the matter.
Where the student disputes the decision of the BOAS Chairperson, the student may ask for a formal review by the full Board on Academic Standards. The BOAS may uphold the initial sanction, impose a lesser sanction, or impose a more severe sanction as a result of the appeal.
If the penalty involves a change in a grade for a course, the student has the right to appeal the grade through the procedures outlined under GRIEVANCE PROCEDURES under ACADEMIC ISSUES.
If the sanction imposed or upheld involves suspension or expulsion from the College, the student may appeal the sanction to the appropriate dean within 48 hours of notification of the decision. Such an appeal will only be considered on the basis of procedural unfairness or new evidence that might have resulted in a different decision.
For a second or later offense:
The student and instructor may meet to discuss the matter. The student is required to communicate with the Academic Integrity designee regarding the offense. The course instructor will submit the Admission of Academic Dishonesty form to the Academic Integrity designee, who will then forward it to the Board on Academic Standards for investigation and possible disciplinary action. All second or later offenses are forwarded to the BOAS Chairperson for review. The student will be asked to appear before the BOAS. The BOAS will impose one or a combination of sanctions depending on the severity of the infraction and the student’s prior academic integrity record.
If the penalty involves a change in a grade for a course, the student has the right to appeal the grade through the procedures outlined under GRIEVANCE PROCEDURES under ACADEMIC ISSUES.
If the sanction imposed or upheld involves suspension or expulsion from the College, the student may appeal the sanction to the appropriate dean within 48 hours of notification of the decision. Such an appeal will only be considered on the basis of procedural unfairness or new evidence that might have resulted in a different decision.
Sanctions that may be imposed for a second or later offense are as follows:
Disciplinary probation for academic dishonesty (this disqualifies the student from academic or departmental honors, including honor societies, study abroad candidacy, Dean’s List, and the Castle Honors Program and will require the student to work with an Advisor in the Office of Academic Advising who will monitor the student for further academic integrity violations and assist the student in rectifying any underlying academic weaknesses which may have contributed to the initial violation).
Suspension from the College for one or more semesters, effective immediately or at the conclusion of a particular semester as determined by BOAS. Students are entitled to apply for readmission to the College at the end of their suspension. While a suspension is in effect, students may not attend classes or be processed for the conferral of a degree, even if the student completes remaining degree requirements at other institutions.
Expulsion from the College, effective immediately or at the conclusion of a particular semester as determined by BOAS. Students are not entitled to readmission to the College. Additionally, once expelled, students will not be awarded a degree from the College.