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Academic Honor Code
- Academic dishonesty offenses
- Jurisdiction
- Responsibility of the university community
- Reporting and adjudication procedures
- Expedited hearing procedure
- Suggested penalties for proven offenses
The University of North Carolina at Wilmington is committed to the proposition
that the pursuit of truth requires the presence of honesty among all involved.
It is therefore this institution's stated policy that no form of dishonesty
among its faculty or students will be tolerated. Although all members of the
university community are encouraged to report occurrences of dishonesty, each
individual is principally responsible for his own honesty. The following definitions
and procedures are provided to help everyone realize the high value that is
placed on academic integrity and the means that will be employed to ensure
its preservation.
- Academic Dishonesty Offenses
Violation of any of the following standards subject any student to disciplinary
action:
- Plagiarism. Plagiarism means the appropriation,
buying, receiving as a gift, or obtaining by any means another person's
work and the unacknowledged submission or incorporation of it in one's
own work. It is doubly unethical, since it deprives the true author
of his/her rightful credit and then gives that credit to someone to
whom it is not due. The following three examples of plagiarism are
described by Harold C. Martin and Richard M. Ohmann in their book, The
Logic and Rhetoric of Exposition (1963):
- Word-for-word copying. Whenever
someone else is directly quoted, honesty and courtesy
require acknowledgment of the source. The quoted material
should be placed in quotation marks and its exact location
should be indicated either in the text of the student's
paper or in a footnote.
- The mosaic. To intersperse a few
words of one's own here and there while basically copying
the work of another is obviously unethical, unless
one clearly acknowledges that this is being done. Should
there be a valid reason for doing so, then quotation
marks or a general footnote should be used to show
what belongs to the source and what is one's own contribution.
- The paraphrase. Once more the crucial
point is acknowledgment. Sometimes one can paraphrase
in order to simplify, abbreviate, or improve upon an
original, but the reader deserves to know what is being
presented to him and whose work it represents. Therefore,
acknowledgment of the source is required within the
text of the student's paper or by a footnote.
- Bribery. The offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting
of any consideration in order to obtain a grade or other treatment
not otherwise earned by the student through his/her own academic performance.
- Cheating.
- Any conduct during a program, course, quiz, or examination
which involves the unauthorized use of written or oral information,
or information obtained by any other means of communication.
- The unauthorized buying, selling, trading or theft of any
examination, quiz, term paper or project.
- The unauthorized use of any electronic or mechanical device
during any program, course, quiz, or examination or in connection
with laboratory reports or other materials related to academic
performance.
- The unauthorized use of laboratory reports, term reports,
theses, or written materials in whole or in part.
- The unauthorized assistance or collaboration on any test,
assignment, or project.
- The unauthorized use by a student of another student's work
or the falsification of any other student's work.
- Participating in, or permitting, any of the above activities
as defined in C, 1-6.
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- Jurisdiction
All full or part-time students enrolled at the University of North Carolina
at Wilmington are subject to the Academic Honor Code.
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- Responsibility of the University
Community
- General Responsibility. It shall be the responsibility
of every faculty member, student, administrator, and staff member of
the university community to uphold and maintain the academic standards
and integrity of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Any
member of the university community who has reasonable grounds to believe
that an infraction of the Academic Honor Code has occurred has an obligation
to report the alleged violation.
- Student Responsibility. Each student shall conform
to the Academic Honor Code at all times. Students may report academic
violations to their class instructor, Department Chair, or to the dean
of the college/school in which the course is taught.
- Responsibility of the Individual Instructors.
Each instructor is encouraged to make his/her classes aware of the
Academic Honor Code during the first week of classes of each semester
or summer session.
- Responsibility of the University Administration.
In consultation with the Faculty Senate, the Office of the Dean of
Students will see that the Academic Honor code and any amendments or
changes approved by the Faculty Senate are published and promulgated
annually. All new university faculty, administrative, staff personnel
and students should be advised of the Academic Honor Code upon becoming
a member of the university community.
- Responsibility of the Office of the Dean of Students.
The Office of the Dean of Students shall receive and maintain comprehensive
records of all matters relating to violations of the Academic Honor
Code.
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- Reporting and Adjudication Procedures
- A suspected infraction of the Academic Honor Code shall be reported
to the instructor of the course in which it occurred. Such a report
shall be made within five class days from the time of discovery unless
extenuating circumstances prevent reporting.
- A suspected infraction of the Academic Honor Code may be reported
by:
- The student committing the infraction.
- By any member of the university community observing the alleged
infraction.
- Upon receiving a report of an alleged violation, the instructor
in charge of the course or materials in question shall inform the student
of the following options and procedures. (Faculty are encouraged to
consult with the Dean of Students regarding appropriate procedures
and protection of student rights.)
- If the student admits the infraction, the faculty member may:
- Propose a settlement by private resolution. The chairman
of the department in which the faculty member teaches may
be consulted for assistance in reaching a settlement. If
the penalty proposed by the instructor is acceptable to
the student, the incident can be dropped with notification
to the department chair and to the dean of the college/school
in which the faculty member teaches, and to the Dean of
Students for inclusion in the student's disciplinary records
until the student graduates, or
- Refer the case to the Dean of Students (without assigning
a grade). The dean will proceed as outlined in Section
II-2-D-3 of the Code
of Student Life.
- If the student does not admit the infraction, the faculty
member may:
- Decide not to pursue the accusation(s) due to lack of
evidence, whereupon, he/she shall inform the reporting
party of this decision within five days, or
- Refer the case to the Dean of Students (without assigning
a grade). The dean will proceed as outlined in Section
II-2-D of the Code
of Student Life.
- Upon notification of the instructor's decision not to pursue the
allegation due to a lack of evidence, the reporting party may file
a written report with the Office of the Dean of Students within five
days of receipt of the instructor's decision. The Office of the Dean
of Students will proceed as outlined in Section II-2-D of the Code
of Student Life.
- Section II, of the Code
of Student Life, Student Conduct and Appeals, indicates that
a student shall have a choice of an administrative (Dean of Students)
or Campus Judicial Board hearing. The Dean of Students reserves the
right not to hear a case and to forward it directly to the Campus
Judicial Board.
- If a student chooses an administrative hearing, he/she may appeal
the decision made by the dean or designee to the Campus Judicial Board
(see Section II-2-F of the Code
of Student Life). If the student chooses a Campus Judicial Board
hearing, his/her appeal of that decision would be made directly to
the Chancellor of the university as outlined in Section II-3-D of the Code
of Student Life.
- If a student charged with an Academic Honor Code violation chooses
a regular hearing before the Campus Judicial Board (see Section II-2-D-4
of the Code
of Student Life) or appeals an administrative decision of the Dean
of Students, two additional faculty members from a different UNCW college
or school will sit on the Campus Judicial Board as voting member.
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- Expedited Hearing Procedure
The Chancellor at his or her sole discretion shall have the right to order
an expedited review of the accused student's case. In such circumstances,
the Chancellor shall sit as a hearings officer in lieu of the Campus Judicial
Board or the Dean of Students and the procedure outlined in Section 11-3
of the Code
of Student Life shall be observed. This expedited hearings procedure
shall be used only in emergency circumstances as shall be identified by
the Chancellor at his or her sole discretion. The decision of the Chancellor
in such expedited proceedings shall constitute a final decision of the
student's guilt or innocence.
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- Suggested Penalties for Proven Offenses
- If the Campus Judicial Board or Dean of Students Office finds the
student innocent of the charge, the instructor will ensure fair treatment
of the student.
- If the defendant is found guilty of the charge, the Campus Judicial
Board or Dean of Students/Assistant Dean of Students may impose a disciplinary
sanction indicated in Section II-3 of the Code
of Student Life. The authority to determine the course grade resides
with the instructor. Failure in the course is generally appropriate
for an offense of academic dishonesty.