At Eastern Connecticut State University, we value personal integrity as fundamental to our interactions with each other. We place special weight on academic honesty in all of our intellectual pursuits because it is a value fundamental to academic life and scholarly practice. All members of the University community are obligated to uphold high standards of academic honesty in their scholarship and learning, and this obligation extends to students. Therefore, we expect students to take personal responsibility for their intellectual work and to respect and acknowledge the ideas of others. Academic honesty means doing one's own work and giving proper credit to others whose work and thought are drawn upon. It is the responsibility of each student to become familiar with what constitutes academic dishonesty and plagiarism, and to avoid all forms of cheating and plagiarism. In an effort to assist students in this understanding, faculty are encouraged to include in their syllabi a statement regarding academic misconduct and the possible sanctions that may result from violations of this policy. Students may not engage in any form of academic misconduct, and are responsible for learning how to present the ideas of others in their own work, and avoid all other forms of academic misconduct. For current documentation practices, consult the instructor or a style manual.

The CSU Code of Conduct, Guidelines for Student Rights and Responsibilities and Judicial Procedures, defines academic misconduct as including, but not limited to, providing or receiving assistance in a manner not authorized by the instructor in the creation of work to be submitted for academic evaluation, including papers, projects, and examinations (cheating); and presenting as one's own, the ideas or words of another person or persons for academic evaluation without proper acknowledgment (plagiarism). Academic misconduct may take many forms. It includes, but is not limited to, the following actions unless such actions are explicitly authorized by the instructor:

Examinations:

Copying from another person's paper or receiving any unauthorized assistance in taking examinations or any other form of academic evaluation (i.e. tests, quizzes, etc.);

Knowingly allowing another person to copy from one's own examination or any other form of academic evaluation;

Use of unauthorized materials or devices during an examination or any other form of academic evaluation (i.e. use of signals, notes or additional materials such as books, calculators, or other electronic devices) during an examination when the instructor has not approved their use;

Giving or receiving unauthorized information prior to, during, or after an examination;

Use of another person as a substitute, or acting as a substitute for another person, in any form of academic evaluation (i.e. a student may not have another person take an examination for them);

The acquisition or distribution of improperly acquired examinations or other forms of academic evaluation (i.e. stealing examinations before the test period or taking a copy of an examination from a testing room without the permission of the instructor). Examinations which have been provided by an instructor are legitimate study tools.

Improper Behavior:

Unauthorized collaboration in the preparation of materials to be submitted for academic evaluation (i.e. working with another student on an assignment when the instructor has not explicitly authorized working together);

Submission of the same work, or substantially similar work, in more than one course without prior consent of the evaluating instructors in all courses;

Disruptions in classrooms, labs, or research and study areas; any conduct or actions that grossly or persistently interfere with the academic process. (See the CSU, Rights and Responsibilities, "Proscribed Conduct," No. 7, ECSU Student Handbook.)

Theft, alteration, or destruction of the academic work of other members of the community or of the educational resources, materials, or official documents of the University.

Students who witness any act of academic misconduct by other students are required to inform the faculty member of that misconduct.

Falsification or Misuse of Academic Information:

Falsification or misrepresentation of one's own academic record or that of anyone else (i.e. altering a transcript for admission, hacking into the University's computer system for any reason, having another student take an examination in one's place, or signing someone else's name on an attendance sheet);

Unauthorized use of information in University computer records or the computer files of other students (see Computer Use Policy);

Using unauthorized materials or fabricated data in an academic exercise (i.e. falsifying data in a research paper or laboratory activity; conducting research on human or animal subjects without approval by the appropriate panel or supervisor).

Plagiarism:

Copying sentences, phrases, paragraphs, tables, figures or data directly or in slightly modified form from a book, article, internet site or other published or unpublished source, or adapting the ideas of another authority without following acceptable forms of citation (i.e. quotation marks, endnotes, footnotes, parenthetical notes, and/or other contextual information);

Using or buying a paper written by someone else for the purpose of turning it in as one's own work;

Selling or lending papers for the purpose of violating academic misconduct policies. (This may also be a criminal offense, see Connecticut General Statutes: 953-392a);

Submission of the same work, or substantially similar work, in more than one course without the consent of the evaluating instructors in all courses;

Citing a work that has been referenced in another work without actually consulting the original piece directly;

Fabrication or alteration of data.

When any material is borrowed from another person, the source must be cited according to some academically accepted standard (i.e. APA, MLA, etc.). There are three ways in which other writers' materials may appear in the work of another:

1) by putting quotation marks around short passages that are borrowed verbatim (word for word) or by setting off from the text, without quotation marks, longer quotations (more than three sentences).
2) by précis (i.e. condensing part of a writer's argument).
3) by paraphrase (i.e. interpretation of a writer's ideas).

All three must be acknowledged formally, either in the text or with footnotes, according to the style required by the instructor.

CONSEQUENCES OF ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT

The purpose of imposing sanctions for violations of the Academic Misconduct Policy is to uphold the academic integrity of our campus community, but also to provide an opportunity to use appropriate sanctions as a means of educating students and fostering their academic development. These actions are based on the philosophy that students' learning and associated behavior extend beyond the scope of the classroom to the broader ECSU community.

When a faculty member determines that a case of academic misconduct warranting a sanction has occurred, that faculty member will document the incident, meet with the responsible student to discuss the issue, and inform the student of the sanctions imposed as a result of the misconduct. Sanctions the faculty member may impose include, but are not limited to:

1) Assigning a grade of "F" for the course.
2) Assigning a grade of "F" for the material being evaluated.
3) Assigning a reduced grade for the material being evaluated.
4) Assigning additional course work.

In all cases where the sanction is a failing grade for the course, the faculty member is required to submit a copy of an Academic Misconduct Report and all supporting materials to the University Judicial Officer and the Registrar's Office within three business days of the meeting with the student. Faculty members who impose a sanction less than a failing grade for the course are encouraged to submit a copy of the report and supporting material to the Judicial Officer. The Judicial Officer will maintain a file on all students that have received at least one referral from a faculty member for academic misconduct. When a student has accumulated two referrals resulting in failing grades in those courses, or three referrals with any sanction, the Judicial Officer will convene the Academic Misconduct Committee to consider additional sanctions against the student.

When a student receives a failing grade for a course due to academic misconduct, the Registrar's Office will place an F on the student's transcript. The student will not be allowed to withdraw from the course and the grade of F will not be changed, even if the student withdraws from the University.

The student will receive a copy of the Academic Misconduct Report and all supporting materials at the meeting with the faculty member. After this meeting, the student has three business days to appeal the faculty member's findings to the Academic Misconduct Committee. If the student refuses to attend a meeting with the faculty member, the faculty member will submit all materials to the Judicial Officer and Registrar's Office after reasonable attempts have been made to arrange a meeting with the student.

Optional Additional Steps/Appeals

Action taken on issues relating to academic misconduct that go beyond the faculty/student meeting will be handled solely by the Academic Misconduct Committee. Grade issues relating to cases that do not involve academic misconduct are to be pursued through the Grade Appeals Committee. Cases relating to instances of academic misconduct do not fall under the jurisdiction of the Grade Appeals Committee and cannot be appealed to that Committee.

The Academic Misconduct Committee will be convened if one of the following events occurs:

1) If the faculty member believes the imposition of additional sanctions against the student is appropriate, the faculty member may refer the case to the Committee.
2) If the student disagrees with the finding of academic misconduct made by the faculty member, the student may appeal to the Committee. In cases where the student appeals but the faculty member does not request additional sanctions, the Committee will not have the option of imposing additional sanctions on the student.
3) When a student has accumulated two referrals to the Judicial Officer that have resulted in failing grades for those courses, or three referrals with any sanction imposed, the Committee will be convened to consider additional sanctions against the student.
4) All cases that are referred to the Judicial Officer without a student appeal or faculty member request for additional sanctions, will be reviewed by the Committee. The Committee will determine whether sufficient evidence of misconduct exists to warrant inclusion of the incident in the student's file that is maintained by the Judicial Officer.

In cases of a student appeal or faculty member request for additional sanctions, the Judicial Officer will convene the Academic Misconduct Committee to hear the case. When the requisite number of referrals pertaining to an individual student has accumulated, the Judicial Officer will also convene the Committee to consider appropriate sanctions. Hearings will be scheduled at the earliest possible date.

The Academic Misconduct Committee will consist of three full-time faculty members chosen by the University Senate, one student chosen by the Student Government Association, and the Dean of Students or a representative chosen by the Dean. The Judicial Officer will serve as facilitator at all hearings. The faculty member and the student will be allowed to provide any evidence relevant to the case, including witnesses, at the hearing.

After each hearing, the Committee may:

1) Find sufficient evidence of academic misconduct, and:
a) terminate the student appeal without applying additional sanctions (if the case was appealed by the student without a request for additional sanctions by the faculty member. The Committee may impose additional sanctions if requested by the faculty member);
b) impose any additional sanctions the Committees believes are warranted (if a student has accumulated the requisite number of referrals or a faculty member has requested additional sanctions pertaining to a single incident).
2) Find there is insufficient evidence of academic misconduct and reverse the sanction imposed by the faculty member.

If the Committee finds that additional sanctions against a student are appropriate, the Committee may:

1) Place the student on Academic Misconduct Probation. This probation will last for an amount of time determined by the Committee and will be monitored by the Judicial Officer. Any future violation of the Academic Misconduct Policy by the student while on probation will result in an automatic suspension from the University, unless the Committee deems an alternative sanction is more appropriate. The length and beginning date of this suspension will be determined by the Committee.
2) Suspension from the University. The length and beginning date of this suspension will be determined by the Committee.
3) Expulsion from the University.

This list is not exhaustive and the Committee may impose other sanctions it deems appropriate on a case-by-case basis. All decisions of the Committee are final and binding on all parties involved.