Academic Dishonesty

St. Clair County Community College Procedure

Name: Academic Dishonesty
Revised Date: 1/20/20
Revised Date: 9/30/24
Initiator/Author: Chief Academic Officer, Director of Academic Success and Student Conduct, and the Academic Integrity Committee.

Procedure:

The college considers academic honesty to be essential to all academic performance. Instances of academic dishonesty will be treated as serious offenses of the Student Code of Conduct. Students involved in activities such as cheating and/or plagiarism will be subject to disciplinary action up to and including dismissal from a course, program and/or the college.

1. Definition of plagiarism: Plagiarism is the appropriation of language, thoughts or ideas of another author without appropriate citation.
2. Definition of cheating: Cheating can be, but is not limited to, a student using or attempting to use unauthorized resources (i.e. electronic technology, artificial Intelligence, notes, books, or other materials not permitted by the instructor); or sharing work with others when independent work is required. Students are responsible to protect their own work and not share with others.
3. AI Software: The use of AI software to provide AI-generated answers and/or use as a reference material, when not authorized to do so, is considered cheating and will be handled under the same procedures outlined in this policy. AI software includes search engines with AI integration. It is the responsibility of the student to ensure AI technology and AI-generated answers are not being used to complete classwork or when citing materials.

Purpose:

It is the responsibility of the Chief Academic Officer, Student Conduct Designee in collaboration with the Academic Integrity Committee to ensure that this procedure is followed and updated as needed.

Process:

Students, faculty and staff will follow the procedures outlined below for the Academic Dishonesty policy. Please note that professional judgment of faculty is a large portion of this process in holding our students to a standard of academic excellence and honesty.

When the instructor has evidence of cheating or plagiarism, the instructor, at his or her discretion, may impose disciplinary actions such as assigning a failing grade to the student’s assignment, quiz, paper, test or the entire course. All incidents of cheating shall be reported to the Chief Academic Officer and Student Conduct Designee. Incidents will be recorded and referenced in consideration of further college-level discipline. Repeated offenses will be reviewed by the Academic Integrity Committee, and the student may be subject to further disciplinary actions up to and including dismissal from the college.

1. In addition to this policy, faculty syllabi are an essential part of this process and stand as a reference point when holding students accountable. Faculty are strongly encouraged to provide specific details and/or examples as to what are and what are not considered to be acts of cheating and/or plagiarism based on the particular course subject materials.

• Faculty may fail a student or assign other activities or consequences within the course for cheating and/or plagiarism on a particular assignment and/or test at his or her own discretion in conjunction with the syllabus language and this policy.  Faculty are encouraged to consult with their Department Chair when determining appropriate consequences.  In addition to reporting the incident of cheating to Student Conduct Designee, faculty may refer students for an Academic Dishonesty Intervention meeting with the Director of Academic Support at their discretion.

• Students referred by Faculty for an Academic Dishonesty Intervention are required to meet with the Director of Academic Support for a review of the incident. A member of the student conduct team will reach out to the student to determine a mutually agreed-upon date and time to meet. Students who do not follow up with the meeting requirement will have a hold placed on their record and will not be allowed to proceed with future enrollment at the college until the meeting has taken place.

• Repeated offenses or particularly egregious incidents, as determined by the reporting faculty member, Department Chair, or the Chief Academic Officer, will be reviewed by the Academic Integrity Committee. The Academic Integrity Committee will review and determine appropriate college-level consequences which may include, but is not limited to, failing the class, suspension, or dismissal from the college.

1. The Academic Integrity Committee is composed of the Chief Academic Officer, the Student Conduct Designee, and one full-time faculty member who is not associated with the incident(s).
   1. The role of the Academic Integrity Committee is to review the details of the incidents, including any written testimony from the student, and to determine the appropriate college-level consequences.
   1. The student will be informed of the decisions of the Academic Integrity Committee, which are final. There is no appeal process for Academic Integrity Committee decisions.

• For those students admitted into specialized programs at the college (i.e. Nursing, Radiologic Technology, etc.) additional requirements may be enforced for academic dishonesty as part of these specialized programs.

• All students found in violation of Academic Dishonesty will have the incident recorded in a database maintained by the Student Conduct office. In addition, a written notice will be emailed to the student regarding the incident along with a reminder of the Student Code of Conduct.