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Academic conduct code
Academic integrity is the responsibility of all VSU faculty
and students. Faculty members should promote academic
integrity by including clear instruction on the components
of academic integrity and clearly defining the penalties for
cheating and plagiarism in their course syllabi. Students
are responsible for knowing and abiding by the Academic
Integrity Policy as set forth in the Student Code of Conduct
and the faculty members’ syllabi. All students are expected
to do their own work and to uphold a high standard of
academic ethics.
A. Academic Integrity Violations
Cheating and plagiarism are academic integrity violations. Additional violations may be added as deemed appropriate. The following academic integrity violations are not to be considered all-inclusive:
- No student shall use or attempt to use unauthorized materials or devices to aid in achieving a better grade on a component of a class.
- No student shall receive or give or attempt to receive or give assistance not authorized by the instructor in the preparation of an essay, laboratory report, examination or other assignment included in any academic course.
- No student shall take or attempt to take, steal, or otherwise procure in an unauthorized manner any material pertaining to the conduct of a class, including but not limited to tests, examinations, laboratory equipment, and roll books.
- No student shall sell, give, lend, or otherwise furnish to any unauthorized person material which can be shown to contain the questions or answers to any examinations scheduled to be given at any subsequent date in any course of study offered by the University, without authorization from the University.
- No student shall engage in plagiarism, which is
presenting the words or ideas of another person as
if they were the student’s own. Essays, term papers,
laboratory reports, tests, online writing assignments,
and other similar requirements must be the work of the
student submitting them. Some typical examples of
plagiarism are:
- Submitting an assignment as if it were one’s own work when, in fact, it is at least partly or entirely the work of another.
- Submitting a work that has been purchased or otherwise obtained from an Internet source or another source.
- Incorporating the words or ideas of an author
into one’s paper without giving the author due
credit, e.g., when direct quotations are used,
they must be indicated, and when the ideas of
another are incorporated in the paper they must
be appropriately acknowledged.
B.
Academic Integrity-Academic Response
Valdosta State University policy is that a violation of Appendix A, Section I may and should be handled by the
professor, the student, and possibly the department head or
academic dean concerned with the offense. Sanctions for an academic integrity violation should be outlined in the course syllabus.
Any faculty member who has documentation and/or
suspects that academic dishonesty has occurred shall
(1) gather all pertinent information, and (2) meet with the
student or students involved, and (3) inform the student or
students of the academic response to an alleged violation
of academic integrity. The faculty member will notify his/her
department head and/or dean of these decisions and may
also contact the Student Conduct Office in the Dean of
Students Office for procedural clarification if desired.
The most severe action that may be administered by
any faculty member is a grade of “F” in that particular
course. This is an academic response and not a
disciplinary recommendation. A student who wishes to
appeal an academic response to an alleged violation of
academic integrity may follow the grade appeal process
(http://www.valdosta.edu/gradschool/documents/
VSUFinalCourseGradeAppealForrev2.doc).
C. Academic Integrity-Disciplinary Response
To initiate the disciplinary response process for an
academic integrity violation, a faculty member should submit
a Report of Academic Dishonesty, (http://www.valdosta.edu/
academic/documents/ReportofAcademicDishonesty.doc)
along with supporting documentation as noted on the report
to the Student Conduct Office in the Dean of Students Office.
This report shall be made part of the student’s disciplinary
record and shall remain on file with the Student Conduct
Office in the Dean of Students Office in accordance with
Board of Regents record retention policy. A student’s file on
academic dishonesty is not intended nor designed to allow
access by faculty members seeking historical information
or otherwise concerning a particular student. The purpose
of the file is for the Dean of Students Office to determine if
multiple cases of academic dishonesty have occurred during
a student’s academic career at Valdosta State University. If a
student is found to have cheated/plagiarized and withdraws
from the course prior to the awarding of a grade, the Report
of Academic Dishonesty will still be placed on file in the
Student Conduct Office.
After a second (or subsequent) Report of Academic
Dishonesty has been submitted to the Student Conduct
Office in the Dean of Students Office, official charges will be
drawn up and the disciplinary matter will be referred to the
Valdosta State University Disciplinary Committee. The VSU
Disciplinary Committee will utilize the disciplinary procedures
outlined in Appendix B, Sections II.-V. of the Student Code
of Conduct. The most severe sanctions such as expulsion
or suspension should only result from a VSU Disciplinary
Committee hearing and can be appealed via Appendix B,
Section V of the Student Code of Conduct.
Faculty members may request that a particularly
serious violation of the Academic Integrity Policy (buying
or selling papers, stealing an exam, significant plagiarism
at the graduate level, etc.) be referred directly to the VSU
Disciplinary Committee. The Dean of Students and the
academic dean of the student’s major will consult concerning
the referral of a particularly serious first offense to the VSU
Disciplinary Committee.
Reviewed SUMMER 2009