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Appendix D: ACADEMIC HONESTY POLICY AND PROCEDURE

1. Policy

Western Washington University students have an obligation to fulfill the responsibilities of their particular roles as members of an academic community. Honesty is essential to learning. Without it, fair evaluation for all is impossible. Academic integrity is demanded, and academic dishonesty at Western Washington University is a serious infraction dealt with severely. Students shall not claim as their own the achievements, work or arguments of others, nor shall they be a party to such claims. It is the instructor’s responsibility to confront a student and to take appropriate action if academic dishonesty, in the instructor’s judgment, has occurred.

2. Academic Dishonesty

Academic dishonesty is not qualitatively different from other types of dishonesty. It consists of misrepresentation by deception or by other fraudulent means. Academic dishonesty compromises the instructor’s ability to fairly evaluate a student’s work or achievement. It includes, but is not limited to, the following:

(a) Giving unauthorized information to another student or receiving unauthorized information from another student during any type of assignment or test.

(b) Obtaining or providing without authorization questions or answers prior to the time of an assignment or test.

(d) Asking or arranging for another person to complete an assignment or take a test in one’s place.

(e) Giving or receiving answers by use of signals during a test.

(f) Altering answers on a scored test and submitting it for a higher grade.

(g) Collaborating with others in a required assignment without the approval of the instructor.

(h) Stealing class assignments or portions of assignments, including electronic files, and submitting them as one’s own.

(i) Not crediting participants for their part in a group project or claiming credit for work not done on a group project.

(j) Plagiarism, which is presenting as one’s own in whole or in part the argument, language, creations, conclusions, or scientific data of another without explicit acknowledgment. Examples include, but are not limited to:

(1) Using another person’s written or spoken words without complete and proper citation.

(2) Using information from a World Wide Website, CD-ROM or other electronic source without complete and proper citation.

(3) Using statistics, graphs, charts and facts without acknowledging their source.

(4) Submitting a paper purchased from a term-paper service.

(5) Paraphrasing, which is imitating someone else’s argument using other words without acknowledging the source.

(6) Claiming credit for someone else’s artistic work, such as a drawing, script, musical composition or arrangement.

(7) Using someone else’s lab report as a source of data or results.

(8) Using one’s own or substantially similar work, produced in connection with one course, to fulfill a requirement in another course without prior permission. A student may use the same or substantially the same work for assignments in two or more courses only with written permission from the instructors of all the classes involved.

(9) Submitting the results of a machine translation program as one’s own work. (ACC, Jan 2009)

3. Procedures

Although instructors should make every effort to ensure that students are aware of the policies for academic dishonesty, it is the responsibility of students to read, understand, and uphold the standards of academic honesty.

(a) An instructor suspecting an act of academic dishonesty shall discuss the matter thoroughly with the student involved. Arrangements for this discussion shall be made by the instructor within ten (10) working days after discovering the alleged violation. If the incident occurs at the end of a quarter, or in the event the student is absent from campus, the instructor shall attempt to contact the student in writing at the most recent permanent address available in the Registrar’s Office.

Should the instructor be unable to arrange a meeting with the student to discuss the incident in question before final grades are due, the instructor shall submit a grade of X with a note to the registrar. The registrar shall in turn inform the student of his/her responsibility to contact the instructor. Should the student not respond to the faculty member by the 10th working day of the next academic quarter, not including summer, the grade will be changed to an F.

During the discussion between the instructor and the student, the student may be asked to explain his or her thought process and the sources of the information, ideas, data, or calculations presented in the work under dispute. Failure to give an adequate explanation can influence the instructor’s decision.

Following this discussion, the instructor shall determine whether or not an act of academic dishonesty has occurred, and if so, whether it is a minor or major violation. If in the instructor’s judgment there has been a minor violation, in which the offenses are either 1) purely technical in nature, 2) an honest misunderstanding, or 3) the instructor does not perceive an intent to deceive and/or achieve an academic advantage, the instructor shall, according to his or her professional judgment, proceed in one or more of the following ways:

• Explain or clarify the standards of the assignment and ask the student to redo it.

• Issue the student a written warning and give the student a zero on the assignment in question.

If in the instructor’s judgment there has been a major violation, in which the offenses include a substantial misrepresentation and/or apparent intent to deceive and gain an academic advantage, or if the instructor intends to give a grade of zero on the assignment and that grade will result in an F in the course, the instructor shall assign a grade of F for the course.

Within five (5) working days of giving a zero on an assignment or an F in a course, the instructor will submit the standard form summarizing the evidence. This form will be sent to the Vice President for Academic Affairs, the Registrar, the unit head (the department chair or, in the case of Fairhaven, the Dean, or, in the case of the Library, the University Librarian), and the student. A record of the violation is maintained in the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs and the Registrar’s Office. Repeated or significant acts of academic dishonesty shall make a student subject to disciplinary action — including dismissal — through the “Student Rights and Responsibilities Code,” available from University Judicial Affairs.

No student shall be allowed to withdraw from a course or from the University to avoid the consequences of academic dishonesty.

(b) Appeal: A student who receives a zero on an assignment or an F in a course due to a charge of academic dishonesty and who feels wrongly accused by an instructor has recourse to an appeals process. Within five (5) working days of the finding of academic dishonesty the student may appeal to the unit head. The unit head shall make a ruling on the case as to whether 1) the student in question committed an act of academic dishonesty and, if so, 2) whether the violation was a major or minor one, within ten (10) working days of the appeal.

Either the student accused or the faculty member who initiated the charge may within five (5) working days appeal to the Dean, who shall make a ruling on the case as to whether 1) the student in question committed an act of academic dishonesty; and if so 2) whether the sanction was appropriate, within ten (10) working days of the appeal.

Either the student or the faculty member who initiated the charge may appeal the findings of the Dean to the Academic Honesty Board within five (5) working days.

The Academic Honesty Board shall consist of one faculty member and two students to be selected from a pool of students and faculty appointed by the Vice President for Academic Affairs. Its findings are restricted to determining: 1) whether the student in question committed an act of academic dishonesty, and if so, 2) whether the violation was a major or minor one. A hearing shall be called within fifteen (15) working days of the filing of the appeal to the Academic Honesty Board unless both parties agree to a delay. Both the student and the instructor may be accompanied by one person, but that person may not speak on behalf of the student or the instructor. Both the student and the faculty member shall be invited to present evidence, make oral arguments, and call witnesses, all of which shall be restricted to the issues under consideration and matters already in the record. Members of the board may question either party. If the faculty member is on leave or is no longer employed by Western the unit head shall appear in lieu of the faculty member. If the faculty member is available, but does not appear at the hearing, the form that he or she submitted will be considered to be her or his statement. If the student does not attend the hearing, the student’s appeal shall be considered withdrawn, and the original finding of the faculty member shall be considered final. At the conclusion of the hearing, the board shall, in writing, a) find that there is insufficient cause to overrule the unit head’s decision, or b) find that there is sufficient cause to modify or overrule the unit head’s decision. The Academic Policy Board shall send a written copy of its decision to the student, the faculty member, the unit head, the registrar, and the Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Within five (5) working days of the ruling of the Academic Honesty Board, either side may appeal all findings to the Vice President for Academic Affairs, whose decision is final.