Section VIII - Faculty & Instruction

VIII A 9

Faculty - Academic Integrity

To state the policy, practices, and sanctions for violating academic integrity

Randolph Community College expects the utmost integrity in student academic endeavors and behavior. Students are expected to conduct themselves in accordance with these high standards of academic honesty. Consequently, Randolph Community College will not accept any incident that threatens the integrity of the academic learning environment.

VIOLATIONS

Violations to the Academic Integrity Policy include, but are not limited to:

  • Cheating
    • The taking or acquiring possession of any academic material from another without permission
    • Receiving or giving help during tests, quizzes, or other assignments
    • Copying or attempting to copy another person’s test, quiz, or other assignment
    • Allowing another to copy one’s test, quiz, or other assignment
    • Unauthorized use of materials or electronic devices during a test. The intentional communication with another student on specific questions of a quiz/test/exam prior to that student taking said quiz/test/exam
    • Taking a quiz/test for another student
    • Paying another person to write or edit an essay or assignment
    • Submission of an essay or assignment in more than one class unless approved in advance by the instructor
  • Plagiarism – the use of another’s original words or ideas as though they were your own
    • Turning in another’s work as one’s own
    • Copying a phrase, sentence, or passage from another person or source (Internet, print media, etc.) without proper citation o Failing to put a quotation in quotation marks
    • Giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation
    • Copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the majority of one’s work, whether one gives credit or not
    • Downloading or buying a research paper, essay, or assignment from the Internet and submitting it as one’s own work
*Please note that the list of examples above is not exhaustive. There may be other instances of cheating and/or plagiarism that would violate this policy.

SANCTIONS

The following sanctions for violation of the Academic Integrity Policy will be imposed by the Instructor, Department Head, Associate Dean/Director/Coordinator, Dean, or Vice President of Instructional Services:

  • First offense – a grade of 0 on the test, quiz, or assignment
  • Second offense – a grade of “F” for the course and academic probation for one semester
  • Third offense – suspension from the College

With each violation, the Vice President of Instructional Services will be notified in writing.

These sanctions are not on a per course or per semester basis, but rather for your entire academic career at Randolph Community College.

APPEALS PROCESS

The appeals process varies depending on the offense. For the first offense, a student wishing to contest the penalty would follow the procedure outlined below.

  1. Student appeals to the Instructor of the course in which the violation occurred to discuss the violation and determine fault.
  2. If student contests the Instructor’s decision, the Department Head for the curriculum program in which the course is offered hears both parties and corroborates, modifies, or dismisses penalty. NOTE: This step is only for students in curriculum classes
  3. If student contests the Instructor’s decision (Department Head for curriculum students), the Associate Dean/Director/Coordinator for the division in which the course is offered, hears both parties and corroborates, modifies, or dismisses penalty.
  4. A student may appeal to the Dean to contest the decisions of the Associate Dean/Director/Coordinator. The decision of the Dean is final.
For the second and third offenses, the student may contest by following the above procedure and further appealing to the Vice President for Instructional Services. The Vice President will hear all parties involved and corroborate, modify, or dismiss the penalty. The decision of the Vice President for Instructional Services is final.

Since the third offense results in suspension, the student may submit a written request to the President to overturn the penalty. This request must be submitted to the President within five working days of the decision of the Vice President for Instructional Services. The President will approve, modify (including penalty of expulsion), or overturn the decision of the Vice President for Instructional Services and notify the student in writing of the decision within ten working days of the appeal. The decision of the President is final.

“What is Plagiarism?” Plagiarism.org. n. d. n. pag. web. 18 May 2017 https://www.plagiarism.org/article/what-is-plagiarism

Syllabus Statement:

Academic Integrity

Randolph Community College expects the utmost integrity in its students’ academic endeavors and behavior. Students are expected to conduct themselves in accordance with these high standards of academic honesty. Consequently, Randolph Community College will not accept any incident that threatens the integrity of the academic learning environment. Violations to the Academic Integrity Policy include but are not limited to instances of cheating and plagiarism. The following sanctions for violation of the Academic Integrity Policy will be imposed by the Instructor, Department Head, Associate Dean, Dean, or Vice President of Instructional Services:

  • First offense – a grade of 0 on the test, quiz, or assignment
  • Second offense – a grade of “F” for the course and academic probation for one semester
  • Third offense – suspension or expulsion from the College
These sanctions are not on a per course or per semester basis, but rather for your entire academic career at Randolph Community College. The appeals process varies based on the offense. For the first offense, a student may appeal to the Instructor and then the Department Head. For the second offense, a student may further extend the appeal process to the Associate Dean and then the Dean. For the third offense, the student may further extend the appeal process in writing to the Vice President of Instructional Services within 5 working days of the Dean’s decision. Note: For specific examples of cheating and plagiarism, as well as, a more detailed explanation of the appeals process, please refer to the RCC website for the Academic Integrity Policy in its entirety.

 

Adopted: 07/15/2010

Revised: 07/14/2011