Academic Requirements

The basic commitment of a university is to search for and to communicate the truth as it is honestly perceived. The university could not accomplish its purpose in the absence of this demanding standard. To the extent that this standard is respected, a genuine learning community can exist. Students of this university are called upon to know, to respect, and to practice this standard of personal honesty.

Academic dishonesty can take several forms, including, but not limited to cheating and plagiarism.

Academic cheating includes, but is not limited to, such acts as:

• Obtaining, distributing, or communicating examination materials prior to the scheduled examination without the consent of the teacher
• Providing information to or obtaining information from another student during an examination
• Using any material or equipment during an examination without consent of the instructor, or in a manner which is not authorized by the instructor
• Attempting to change answers after the examination has been submitted
• Unauthorized collaboration, or the use in whole or part of another student’s work, on homework, lab reports, programming assignments, and any other course work which is completed outside of the classroom
• Falsifying medical or other documents to petition for excused absences or extensions of deadlines
• Any other action that, by omission or commission, compromises the integrity of the academic evaluation process

Plagiarism is the appropriation for gain of ideas, language, or work of another without sufficient public acknowledgement and appropriate citation that the material is not one's own. It is recognized that every thought probably has been influenced to some degree by the thoughts and actions of others, and that such influences can be thought of as affecting the ways we see things and express our thoughts. Plagiarism, however, involves the deliberate taking and use of specific words and ideas of others without proper acknowledgement of the sources. Plagiarism includes:

• Submitting material copied from a published source: print, internet, CD-ROM, audio, video, etc., as one’s own work.
• Submitting another person's unpublished work or examination material as one’s own work.
• Allowing another or paying another to write or research a paper for you.
• Acquiring and using a pre-written paper for course credit.

This list is not intended to be exhaustive. Students should be guided by the principle that it is of utmost importance to give proper recognition to all sources. To do so is both an act of personal, professional courtesy and of intellectual honesty. Any failure to do so, whether by intent or by neglect, whether by omission or commission, is an act of plagiarism. A more detailed description of this issue can be found here.

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Plagiarism on the part of a student in academic work or dishonest examination behavior will result minimally in the instructor assigning the grade of "F" for the assignment or examination. In addition, all instances of academic dishonesty must be reported to the chairperson of the department involved. The chairperson may constitute a hearing board to consider the imposition of sanctions in addition to those imposed by the instructor, including a recommendation of expulsion, depending upon the seriousness of the misconduct.

In addition, a student may not submit the same paper or other work for credit in two or more classes.  A student who submits the same work for credit in two or more classes will be judged guilty of academic dishonesty and will be subject to sanctions described below. This applies even if the student is enrolled in the classes during different semesters. If a student plans to submit work with similar or overlapping content for credit in two or more classes, the student should consult with all instructors prior to submission of the work to make certain that such submission will not violate this standard.

In the case of multiple instances of academic dishonesty across departments, the academic dean/director of the student's college may convene a hearing board. Students retain the right to appeal the decision of the hearing board to the academic dean/director of the college in which they are registered. The decision of the dean/director is final in all cases except expulsion. The sanction of expulsion for academic dishonesty may be imposed only by the Provost upon recommendation of the dean/director.

Students have a right to appeal any finding of academic dishonesty against them. The procedure for such an appeal can be found here.

The School of Environmental Sustainability maintains a permanent record of all instances of academic dishonesty. The information in that record is confidential. However, students may be asked to sign a waiver which releases that student’s record of dishonesty as a part of the student’s application to a graduate or professional school, to a potential employer, to a bar association, or to similar organizations.

(The School of Environmental Sustainability policy is based on and is consistent with the Academic Integrity Policy of the University, College of Arts & Sciences, School of Communications.)