III.
Procedures
RULES and PROCEDURES
All students will be informed of the Academic Integrity Policy and Code
and the procedures concerning its violation through the College
catalogue, the student handbook, the College website, by academic
departments and the faculty and in course syllabi, the new student
orientation courses, and materials made available at
academic advisement,
registration,
and the Instructional Support Services Center (ISSC).
Academic departments
Each academic department has or will
establish a policy that would either set a department-wide standard or
permit individual faculty to establish a policy for violations of
academic integrity and penalties or sanctions to be imposed including
and limited to failure in the course.
After detecting a violation, faculty
members will take actions they believe appropriate (within the
guidelines for violations and sanctions) and send the appropriate
notifications to the student and to the academic department chairperson.
That notification will communicate to students their right to appeal and
the consequences of multiple violations of the Academic Integrity Code.
Students requesting a review of the faculty member’s action with regard
to their grades would request such from the department chair within
thirty days of the receipt of notice of a violation. The department
chairperson will
review the grade or other action taken by the
instructor in response to the suspected violation of academic integrity.
If the procedures for violations of academic integrity have been
followed the instructor's action shall stand. The chair will consider
the student’s appeal, evaluate any documents involved, confer with the
instructor, and come to a decision regarding the violation of academic
integrity. Based on its deliberations, the departmental chairperson
shall either confirm the
decision of the instructor or have the grade changed as deemed
appropriate. If the student appeals the decision of the instructor
and the review of the chairperson then a departmental committee will
review the entire matter and have evidence presented by both the
instructor and the student. Such committee shall have the authority to
accept or deny the action of an instructor or to take another action in
response to the violation that the committee then believes has taken
place including changing a grade.
Students requesting a review or an
appeal of the department’s action would be directed to the vice
president for Academic Affairs, whose review would be confined to
assuring that the department’s policy was followed and due process
observed. Such review will not be authorized to involve the
rejection of the current penalty or imposition of another penalty.
If the procedures of the college are determined to have been violated
then the vice president shall direct that the entire process be repeated
in full observance of the college's procedures.
Faculty
All members of the faculty
will include in their course outlines a clear reference to a statement
of the College policy on academic integrity, department policy or
of their own policy (if there is no department-wide policy) and the
penalties and sanctions for violations of academic integrity.
Violations of academic integrity
The instructor of the class in which the violation occurred or in
reference to which case the violation is relevant shall handle
violations of the Academic Integrity Code. The instructor has the
authority to adjust the offender’s grades as deemed appropriate,
including assigning an F to the assignment or exercise or, in more
serious cases, an F to the student for the entire course. In certain
cases, the instructor may also file a formal complaint with the chief
student affairs officer, who after review may refer the case to the
Student-Faculty Disciplinary Committee.
All cases for which an
instructor has taken an enforcement action, such as an F for a paper or
for a course, shall be reported on a form (1) provided for this purpose and sent to the
student and to the chairperson of the academic department in which the
class is offered.
Upon receipt of the report of a violation of the Academic Integrity Code
the chairperson of the academic department shall send a notice to the
student by registered or certified mail and by regular mail and a copy
to the Office of Student Affairs. This notice (2) informs the
student of the right to appeal the action of the instructor to the
Chairperson of the Academic Department within thirty (30) days. That
notification will also inform students of the consequences of multiple
violations of the Academic Integrity Code. A copy of such letter will
be sent to the Office of Student Affairs for the purposes of
establishing and maintaining records and to review if repeated patterns
of violations of academic integrity emerge (see below).
The Office of Student Affairs
shall monitor reports of violations of academic integrity. The Office
of Student Affairs will counsel and advise violators that, should
there be an additional violation, they will be subject to disciplinary
action, which may include suspension or expulsion.
Students who wish to appeal the decision of an instructor concerning the
action taken due to a violation of the Academic Integrity Code shall do
so with the chair of the department. The
chair will consider
the student’s appeal, evaluate any documents involved, confer with the
instructor, and come to a decision regarding the violation of academic
integrity. Based on its deliberations, the departmental chairperson
shall either confirm the
decision of the instructor or have the grade changed as deemed
appropriate. If the student appeals the decision of the instructor
and the review of the chairperson then a departmental committee will
review the entire matter and have evidence presented by both the
instructor and the student. Such committee shall have the authority to
accept or deny the action of an instructor or to take another action in
response to the violation that the committee then believes has taken
place including changing a grade.
The decision of the departmental chairperson or the departmental
committee on academic integrity shall be final.
Students requesting a review or an
appeal of the department’s action shall be directed to the vice
president of Academic Affairs whose review would be confined to assuring
that the department’s policy including due process for students was
followed.
If
the chief student affairs officer or
faculty member or department chairperson
determines that the violation by the student has been egregious enough
that it transcends the confines of the classroom and affects the student
population at large, then the faculty member
or chairperson
shall refer any and all documents to the Office of Student Affairs for
disciplinary action. Such egregious violations may include, but are not
limited to, selling papers to students,
stealing examinations, or coercing students
to supply answers to examinations or papers or unauthorized assistance.
Violations referred to the Office of Student Affairs shall then be
considered as disciplinary and shall be pursued in compliance with due
process procedures and Article XV of the University Bylaws.
All cases, whether disciplinary or academic, will be reported to the
Office of Student Affairs for the purposes of maintaining accurate
records of the frequency of violations on campus. It will be this
office alone that will determine whether or not a student has committed
multiple violations of either a disciplinary or an academic nature.
Though the procedures for due process under disciplinary violations are
already clearly stated, the procedures for multiple or egregious
violations of the Academic Integrity Code shall be as follows:
When the Office of Student Affairs has knowledge that a student has
committed two non-coincident violations of the Academic Integrity Code,
the chief student affairs officer or designee will take disciplinary
action following the procedures of Article XV of the University Bylaws
that may lead to suspension or expulsion of the student after it has
been ascertained that:
§
Official notices were sent to the student informing that
student of an infraction of the Academic Integrity Code.
§
The student has either waived appeal to the academic
department or has had the action of the instructor upheld upon appeal to
the academic department.
§
The student has either waived appeal to the vice president
of Academic Affairs or the vice president for Academic Affairs has
determined that all departmental actions have been deemed appropriate
and in compliance with the policies and procedures of the College.
The Office of Student Affairs shall refer the case to Student-Faculty
Disciplinary Committee. Copies of the notices and reports in such a
case shall constitute sufficient evidence for an action by the
Student-Faculty Disciplinary Committee, as the students will have
exhausted the right of appeal at the departmental level prior to the
filing of the charge of multiple violations by the chief student affairs
officer. If the student has a record of previous violations of academic
integrity on file in the Office of Student Affairs and the student has
been duly notified of those violations including having the opportunity
to appeal, those records will be used at the sanctioning phase of the
disciplinary hearing.
Sanctions
Any additional violations
of the Academic Integrity Code committed by a student after that student
has already received a notice of a violation of the Academic Integrity
Code may qualify as an offense that constitutes sufficient grounds for
suspension. One additional violation during or after suspension may
constitute sufficient grounds for expulsion. These determinations will
be made by the Student-Faculty Disciplinary Committee, following the
procedures as outlined in the Bylaws of the Board of Trustees.