ACADEMIC HONESTY POLICY
Central Alabama Community College expects all members of its academic community to perform according to the highest ethical and professional principles. The entire College population must be involved to ensure this quality of academic conduct. Whether or not academic misconduct occurred and what classroom sanctions, if any, are to be applied, are matters to be determined by the respective instructor. Academic misconduct undermines the purpose of education. Such behavior is a serious violation of the trust that must exist between the faculty and students in order for the College to nurture intellectual growth and development.
Academic misconduct can generally be defined as all acts of dishonesty in an academic or related matter. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, the following categories of behavior:
- Cheating: use or attempted use of unauthorized materials, information, study aids, the answers of others, or any computer or electronic device.
- Plagiarism: claiming as one’s own the ideas, words, data, computer programs, creative compositions, artwork, etc., done by someone else. Examples include improper citation of referenced works, use of commercially available scholarly papers, failure to cite sources, having another person write any part of an essay for you, or copying another's ideas. Please refer to the section on plagiarism.
- Fabrication: presenting as genuine falsified data, citations, or quotations.
- Abetting: helping another student commit an act of academic dishonesty. Allowing a fellow student to copy quiz/examination answers or use one’s work as his/her own are examples of abetting.
- Misrepresentation: falsification, alteration, or misstatement of the contents of documents, academic works, or other materials related to academic matters, including works substantially done for one class as work done for another without receiving prior approval from the instructor.
Adjudication of Academic Dishonesty
Cases In an instance of academic misconduct, a student may:
- Be required to retake an examination or resubmit an assignment on which the instructor has determined that academic misconduct occurred, or
- Receive an “F” on the given exam or assignment, or
- Receive an “F” for the course.
If the instructor becomes aware that an academic misconduct may have occurred, it must be addressed by the instructor and reported to the appropriate Dean. A student who opposes the sanction imposed by an instructor may appeal the matter to the College Dean charged with the responsibility in the specific instructional program or class. Such an appeal must be filed by the end of the next class day following the date on which the sanction is imposed. Students who receive classroom sanctions for academic misconduct may be subject to disciplinary action by the Dean charged with responsibility for that instructional program. If the misconduct also violates the Student Code of Conduct and is reported by the instructor for such disciplinary action, it will be referred to the Dean of Students.
