Academic Honor Code

Students are expected to conduct themselves honestly in all academic endeavors. Any act of academic dishonesty is a violation of the Academic Honor Code.

East Central College is an academic community. Integrity and honesty in the classroom, in academic programs and in all related learning experiences is critical. The Academic Honor Code is a statement of the college’s position regarding student conduct as it relates to academic integrity. It is not intended to supersede any specific course or instructor’s printed guidelines or policies contained in any course syllabus. Students are responsible for learning about and being fully aware of activities that constitute violation of the Academic Honor Code. The following list is presented for information and clarification and is not intended to be exhaustive.

The faculty retains the right to recommend a remedy when students are in violation of the Academic Honor Code. Students retain the right to appeal any accusation of policy violation as outlined in the Student Discipline Policy and Appeal Procedure.

Definitions and Clarifying Comments

Academic Dishonesty:

Academic dishonesty is defined as any form of cheating or dishonesty that has the effect or intent of interfering with any academic exercise or a fair evaluation of a student’s performance. Some examples and definitions are given below. The college faculty can provide additional information, particularly as it relates to a specific course, laboratory or assignment.

Artificial Intelligence:

AI-generated work (text, code, images, videos, etc.) without proper citation is not accepted at ECC as “the student’s own work.”

Examples: using text generation software to generate text for an essay without citing the prompt, software used, and un-edited generated text; utilizing AI tools to automate the paraphrasing of source text(s) without clearly citing the source material, which tool was used, and all changes made by the tool; making use of AI tools to significantly rework your own writing (including tools that automatically ‘correct’ grammar and punctuation through substantial rewrites) without clearly indicating the type of tool used and the extent of changes made by the tool l; using image generation software to complete a graphic design assignment without providing the prompt, software used, and un-edited generated image; completing coding work by prompting a text generator to create and iterate said code without providing the prompt, software used, and the un-edited generated code.

Cheating:

An intentional use or attempted use of unauthorized material or study aids in assignments or tests, or unauthorized assistance by any other party in any academic exercise.

Examples: unauthorized use of notes for a test; using a “cheat sheet” on a quiz or exam; any alteration made on a graded test or exam which is then resubmitted to the teacher.

Plagiarism:

Careless or deliberate use of the work or the ideas of another; representation of another’s work, words, ideas, or data as your own without permission or appropriate acknowledgement.

Examples: copying another’s paper, work, computer disk, or answers and submitting or representing it as your own; submitting an assignment which has been partially or wholly done by another and claiming it as yours; not properly acknowledging a source which has been summarized or paraphrased in your work; failure to acknowledge the use of another’s words with quotation marks.

Facilitation of Academic Dishonesty:

Knowingly assisting another in violation of the Academic Honor Code.

Examples: working together without permission on a take-home test; providing another with information about a test that you have already taken before they take it.

Multiple Submission:

Submission of work from one course to satisfy a requirement in another course without explicit permission.

Example: using a paper prepared and graded for credit in one course to fulfill a requirement and receive credit in a different course.

Fabrication/Forgery:

Use or submission of contrived, invented, forged, or altered information in any assignment, laboratory exercise or test; tampering with or production of a counterfeit document, particularly documents which make up the student’s academic record.

Examples: making up a source or citing a nonexistent publication or article; representing made up data as real for an experiment in a science laboratory class; forging a change of grade or student withdrawal record; falsifying any document related to a student academic exercise.

Obstruction:

Behavior that limits any student’s opportunity to participate in any academic exercise or attempts to block access to resources.

Examples: destroying a library resource before another student can access it; interfering with another student’s efforts or work in any academic exercise; tampering with a computer resource before other students can gain access.

Misconduct in Creative Endeavors:

The misrepresentation of another person’s ideas, writing, computer images, artistic effort, or artistic performance as one’s own.

Examples: representing a musical performance as original when it is not; using copyrighted artistic material inappropriately or illegally.

Professional Behavior:

Students are required to conduct themselves in a manner appropriate to the classroom, laboratory, internship or clinical setting as specified in the course syllabus and program requirements.

Disciplinary Procedures

1. Students who violate the Academic Honor Code will be confronted by the faculty member and referred to the Chief Student Affairs Officer (CSAO). Supporting documentation, when appropriate, will be forwarded to the CSAO. The CSAO will meet with the student, discuss the misconduct and review the Academic Honor Code and Disciplinary Procedures. The CSAO will maintain a file with supporting documentation and the name of the student will be placed on a disciplinary list accessible only to the CSAO and the Chief Academic Officer. The faculty member will determine how the violation will affect the student’s grade.
2. In the event that the student violates the Academic Honor Code a second time, the student will be required to meet with the CSAO. The student will be placed on academic probation and will receive a failing grade in the course. The student’s file and disciplinary list will be maintained by the CSAO.
3. If the Student violates the Academic Honor Code a third time, they will be subject to sanctions up to disciplinary suspension or expulsion.

Student Appeals Procedure

Students have the right to appeal a grade (See Grade Appeals) or a disciplinary sanction (See Student Disciplinary Policy and Appeal Procedure) as outlined in the Student Handbook.