ACADEMIC DISHONESTY
The maintenance of academic integrity and quality education is the responsibility of each student within this university and the California State University system.  Cheating or plagiarism in connection with an academic program at a campus is listed in Section 41301, Title 5, California Code of Regulations, as an offense for which a student may be expelled, suspended, or given a less severe disciplinary sanction.

Academic dishonesty is an especially serious offense and diminishes the quality of scholarship and defrauds those who depend upon the integrity of the campus programs.  Such dishonesty includes:

A. CHEATING
Intentionally using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information, or study aids in any academic exercise.  Comments:
1. Faculty members are encouraged to state in advance their policies and procedures concerning examinations and other academic exercises as well as the use before examinations of shared study aids, examination files, and other related materials and forms of assistance.
2. Students completing any examination should assume that external assistance (e.g., books, notes, calculators, conversation with others) is prohibited unless specifically authorized by the instructor.
3. Students must not allow others to conduct research or prepare any work for them without advance authorization from the instructor. This comment includes, but is not limited to, the services of commercial term paper companies.
4. Substantial portions of the same academic work may not be submitted for credit in more than one course without authorization.

B. FABRICATION
Intentional falsification or invention of any information or citation in an academic exercise.   Comments:
1. “Invented’’ information may not be used in any laboratory experiment or other academic exercise without notice to and authorization from the instructor. It would be improper, for example, to analyze one sample in an experiment and covertly “invent’’ data based on that single experiment for several more required analyses.
2. One should acknowledge reliance upon the actual source from which cited information was obtained.  For example, a writer should not reproduce a quotation from a book review and indicate that the quotation was obtained from the book itself.
3. Students who attempt to alter and resubmit returned academic work with intent to defraud the faculty member will be in violation of this section. For example, a student may not change an answer on a returned exam and then claim that they deserve additional credit.

C. FACILITATING ACADEMIC DISHONESTY
Intentionally or knowingly helping or attempting to help another to commit an act of academic dishonesty.  Comments:
For example, one who knowingly allowed another to copy from his or her paper during an examination would be in violation of this section.

D. PLAGIARISM
Intentionally or knowingly representing the words, ideas, or work of another as one’s own in any academic exercise.   Comments:
1. Direct Quotation: Every direct quotation must be identified by quotation marks, or by appropriate indentation or by other means of identification, and must be promptly cited in a footnote. Proper footnote style for any academic department is outlined by the MLA Style Sheet or K. L. Turabian’s A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses and Dissertations.  These and similar publications are available in the Matador Bookstore and at the reference desk of the Oviatt Library.
2. Paraphrase: Prompt acknowledgment is required when material from another source is paraphrased or summarized in whole or in part in your own words.  To acknowledge a paraphrase properly, one might state: “to paraphrase Locke’s comment . . .’’ and conclude with a footnote identifying the exact reference. A footnote acknowledging only a directly quoted statement does not suffice to notify the reader of any preceding or succeeding paraphrased material.
3. Borrowed Facts or Information: Information obtained in one’s reading or research which is not common knowledge among students in the course must be acknowledged. Examples of common knowledge might include the names of leaders of prominent nations, basic scientific laws, etc.   Materials which contribute only to one’s general understanding of the subject may be acknowledged in the bibliography and need not be immediately footnoted. One footnote is usually sufficient to acknowledge indebtedness when a number of connected sentences in the paper draw their special information from one source. When direct quotations are used, however, quotation marks must be inserted and prompt acknowledgment is required.

FACULTY POLICY ON ACADEMIC DISHONESTY
Evaluation of student performance is the exclusive province of the faculty. The faculty have the responsibility to make reasonable efforts to guarantee that work is done by the student who is to receive credit for its  completion. More specifically, examinations should be appropriately proctored or monitored to prevent students from copying or exchanging information; examinations and answers to examination questions should be secured in a way that students cannot have prior access to them; the authenticity of quotations and references should be reviewed to assure the faculty member that proper credit is given for ideas and information taken from other sources, etc. Having carried out these responsibilities if, in the faculty member’s opinion, there is evidence of academic dishonesty on the part of a student, it is the faculty member’s responsibility to take action against the student as described in the options below.

Even if a faculty member does not request disciplinary action against a student, he/she is encouraged to report acts of academic dishonesty to the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs because a student may engage in such behavior in other classes, departments, or schools. If reports of alleged academic dishonesty do not reach one central office, repeated acts may go undetected and recidivism will be difficult or impossible to monitor. Communication with the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs may also assist the faculty member in determining which option or combination of options to exercise.

Depending upon the severity of the offense and the student’s disciplinary history as it relates to acts of academic dishonesty, the faculty member may elect to exercise the following options:

1. Assign a lower or failing grade to an assignment, examination, or the entire course. In cases in which the faculty member elects to exercise the grade penalty option, the faculty member must inform the student in a timely manner that academic dishonesty was a factor in the evaluation. In cases where the sanction for an act of academic dishonesty has been the assignment of a grade penalty without a simultaneous request for formal disciplinary action and in which the student wishes to challenge the grade penalty assigned, the student may file an appeal with the Academic Grievance and Grade Appeals Board.

2. Request that the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs notify the student that information related to the student’s alleged act of academic dishonesty within that particular class has been forwarded to the Assistant Vice President for Student Life. Such notifications are in the form of an admonitory letter and serve to inform the student that the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs is aware of the alleged incident and that formal disciplinary action will not be taken. The admonitory letter also apprises the student of the Student Conduct Code and of sanctions that would be levied for violations of that code, and affords the student an opportunity to meet with the Assistant Vice President for Student Life to discuss the matter.  The admonitory letter shall not be released for any purpose and shall not become part of the student’s permanent record.

3. Request disciplinary action against the student. Student discipline is exclusively the province of the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs. In such cases, the faculty member through the department chair and school dean should submit a formal written report of the incident to the Assistant Vice President for Student Life and request formal disciplinary action. The Assistant Vice President for Student Life is empowered to investigate all instances of academic dishonesty. The cases are resolved either through an appropriate action accepted by the student or through a disciplinary hearing. The faculty member, department chair, and school dean will be notified of the final disposition of the case. In cases where the faculty member chooses both to impose a grade penalty and requests formal student disciplinary action against the student and the student wishes to challenge the grade penalty, the student may file an appeal with the Academic Grievance and Grade Appeals Board only after the student disciplinary case has been fully adjudicated by the Assistant Vice President for Student Life.

PENALTIES
Section 41301, Title 5, California Code of Regulations,as published in the University Catalog, provides that a student may be expelled, suspended, placed on probation or given a lesser sanction for a proven violation of the Student Conduct Code. Among the violations listed in Section 41301 cheating or plagiarism in connection with an academic program is specifically included.   Disciplinary records of any action of academic dishonesty are retained in the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs for at least five years from the date of final adjudication. These records may be available to prospective employers and other educational institutions, in accordance with federal and state regulations. In short, a student committing any act of academic dishonesty will run a serious risk of harming his or her future educational or employment opportunities.