Academic Honesty Policy

Students at Clarion University shall maintain a high standard of honesty in scholastic work. As members of the university community, students have a responsibility to be familiar with the conduct regulations found in the university catalogs; Student Calendar Handbook; Campus Living Handbook; Student Rights, Regulations, and Procedures Handbook; and other university documents.
Among the conduct regulations addressed are acts of academic dishonesty, including plagiarism or cheating on assignments, examinations, or other academic work, or without prior approval of the instructor, submitting work already done for another course. Students shall avoid all forms of academic dishonesty, including, but not limited to:

1. Plagiarism—the use of another’s words without attribution or without enclosing the words in quotation marks. Plagiarism may also be defined as the act of taking the ideas or expression of ideas of another person and representing them as one’s own - even if the original paper has been paraphrased or otherwise modified. A close or extended paraphrase may also be considered plagiarism even if the source is named.
2. Collusion—when specifically prohibited in advance by the instructor, collaborating with another person in the preparation of notes, themes, reports, or other written work offered for credit.
3. Cheating on an examination or quiz—giving or receiving information or using prepared material on an examination or quiz.
4. Falsification of data—manufacturing data, falsification of information, including providing false or misleading information, or selective use of data to support a particular conclusion or to avoid conducting actual reaserach.

Complaints of academic dishonesty may be brought against a student by any member of the academic community. Sanctions for academic dishonesty can range from a failing grade on a particular assignment or examination to dismissal from the university, based on the seriousness of the action and whether it is part of a pattern of academic dishonesty. Instructors imposing a lowered or failing grade on an assignment or course as a result of a charge of academic dishonesty must inform the student. Students have the right to appeal instructor decisions (Student Rights, Regulations, and Procedures Handbook) either through the grade appeal process (see section on “Student Rights in the Classroom”) or directly to the Conduct Board (see section on “Adjudication Appeals”), depending on the nature of the dispute. Sanctions extending beyond a particular course, such as suspension or dismissal from an academic program or from the university can only be imposed as the result of complaints filed under the
Disciplinary Procedures Code and after Formal Hearings under this code.