Academic Honesty

Academic honesty is critical at Howard Community College (HCC). Broadly, academic honesty means incorporating one’s own thoughts and materials in all academic activities (e.g., assessments, papers, projects, lab reports). A violation of academic honesty involves misrepresentation, the submission of materials for evaluation that are not the student’s own, or fulfillment of an academic exercise that does not result from individual effort or intellectual production. Examples of academic dishonesty include but are not limited to: unauthorized use or copying of materials; unauthorized assistance with assignments; unauthorized collaboration; unauthorized use of devices or tools; unauthorized prior knowledge of the contents of assessment instruments such as exams, quizzes, or surveys; cheating on exams or quizzes; submitting fraudulent documents; and falsification or fabrication of information.

Policy and procedures related to academic honesty are communicated through the college catalog, and faculty and student handbooks. At a minimum, all catalogs and syllabi will contain the following statement: “Academic honesty, as defined in the Student Handbook, is expected of all students.”

To preserve the value of educational endeavors at HCC, faculty and students will exhibit academic honesty through the following core values:

• integrity: doing quality work that reflects one’s best effort, honesty, and originality and contribute fairly to a group product;
• respect: giving credit to those who assist in educational endeavors; and
• excellence: demonstrating a high standard of ethical behavior.

HCC maintains the following expectations for each student. Students will:

• submit work that represents the individual’s own achievements, investigations, and study;
• craft original work and acknowledge collaborators, even in collaborative learning opportunities; and
• present data that is a result of the student’s own research, laboratory results, observations, and investigations, when reporting investigated results.

Students are expected to give full credit for the borrowing of others’ words, ideas, or other works. Intentional or unintentional use of another’s words, ideas, or other works without giving credit constitutes plagiarism. There are four common forms of plagiarism:

• duplication of an author’s words without accurate citation and documentation;
• duplication of an author’s words or phrases with accurate citation and documentation, but without proper use of quotation marks or block indentation, as required;
• use of an author’s ideas in paraphrase without accurate citation and documentation; or
• submission of a paper in which exact words are merely rearranged even though footnoted.

Multiple Submissions of the Same Work - Every student is expected to submit work for a course or for any other academic purpose that has been done solely for that course or for that purpose. If a student wishes to submit the same or similar work for any other course or for any other academic purpose within the college, prior written permission of the instructor of the course in which the assignment is being submitted must be obtained.

Any student intentionally aiding another student in any infraction of the academic honesty policy is considered equally responsible.

In vice president of academic affairs-approved circumstances, faculty have the right to establish course-level policies in conjunction with, and in addition to, the stated academic honesty policy, provided that these policies are clearly delineated in the course syllabus.

An infraction of academic honesty remains on a student’s conduct record for seven years. Procedures for dealing with infractions of the academic honesty policy follow.

First Infraction

The faculty member will notify the student and explain the reason for the academic honesty violation. This action could result in the faculty member giving the student a “0” or its equivalent on the academic activity in question. The faculty member will report, in writing, the violation to the appropriate dean and the office of student conduct and compliance. The office of student conduct and compliance will maintain the record of the violation in compliance with appropriate student conduct record retention practices.

Second Infraction

The faculty member will give the student a “0” on the academic activity in question. A second infraction of the academic honesty policy, either in the same course or in another course, will also result in an automatic “F” in the course in which the second infraction occurred. Upon written notification from the appropriate dean that an academic honesty infraction occurred, and a determination is made that a second infraction has occurred, the vice president of student services or designee make the faculty member aware that a second infraction has occurred. The vice president of student services or designee will notify the registrar or designee that the student is to receive an “F” for the course. The student will be barred from further class participation.

In cases where the second infraction occurs in the same course, the faculty member will notify the student and explain the reason for the “F” in the course; otherwise, the vice president of student services or designee will notify the student of the “F” in the course. The vice president of student services or designee will meet with the student involved and apprise the student of the implication of this second infraction.

Third Infraction

The faculty member shall give the student a “0” on the academic activity in question. The faculty member will notify the student and explain the reason for the grade. A third infraction of the academic honesty policy will also result in an automatic “F” in the course in which the third infraction occurred. Upon notification from the appropriate dean that an academic honesty infraction occurred, and a determination is made that a third infraction has occurred, the vice president of student services or designee will notify the student of the “F” for the course and make the faculty member aware that a third infraction has occurred. The student will be barred from further class participation. The vice president of student services or designee will also notify the registrar or designee that the student is to receive an “F” for the course. A third infraction of the academic honesty policy will result in student conduct action as determined by a panel of three to five members from the student conduct committee. The hearing will follow the structure outlined for a student conduct hearing in the student code of conduct; however, the committee will only determine sanctions.

Appeals

A student intending to appeal an infraction of the academic honesty policy should follow the academic complaint procedure (see procedure 10.14.02, Academic Procedures). A student intending to appeal a student conduct hearing outcome of suspension or expulsion as a result of a third infraction of the academic honesty policy should follow the appeal procedures listed in the student code of conduct.