Academic dishonesty is a big deal at Central Penn College. If you've been accused of this charge in any capacity, your academic and professional future may be at stake. To make sure you don't experience the oftentimes severe ramifications that come with being "responsible" for academic dishonesty, it's important you retain a student defense attorney that wholeheartedly understands what you have to lose.
In this article, we'll address how Central Penn addresses and mitigates claims of academic dishonesty. Then we'll discuss why you need an attorney when accused.
How Does Central Penn College Define “Academic Dishonesty?”
At Central Penn College there are a number of ways to constitute academic dishonesty. These actions include but are not limited to the following examples:
Cheating
Cheating is taking or giving any information or material which will be used to determine academic credit. Some examples of cheating include: copying from another student's test or homework; having someone else write or plan a paper for you; allowing another student to copy from your homework or test; using materials such as textbooks, notes, or formula lists during a test without the professor's permission.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism refers to the unauthorized use of copyrighted material or misrepresentation of someone else's work as one's own in any coursework, such as quizzes, tests, exams, homework or other assignments, lab work, presentations, and both creative and scholarly forms of expression such as projects and papers, computer programs, artistic, musical, or any audiovisual or multimedia work.
Falsification/Fabrication
Fabrication is the use of invented or misrepresentative information. Fabrication most often occurs in the sciences, when students create or alter experimental data. Listing a source in your works cited that you did not actually use in your research is also fabrication.
Academic misrepresentation
Misrepresentation is any act or omission that is intended to deceive an instructor for academic advantage. Misrepresentation includes lying to an instructor in an attempt to increase your grade or lying to an instructor when confronted with allegations of academic dishonesty.
Central Penn College's Reporting Process
If a faculty member discovers academic dishonesty, they are required to report the instance to the chair of the Academic Integrity Committee. The reporting process can be initiated by a faculty member once the following conditions are met: (a) the faculty member has documented evidence that a violation of the College's academic integrity policy has been committed (b) that the student has been notified that a violation of the College's academic integrity policy has been committed as well as any sanctions that will be imposed by the faculty member at that time. While faculty members have the discretion of imposing sanctions, reporting the instance to the Academic Integrity Committee is required.
The chairperson of the Academic Integrity Committee will receive the original report of academic dishonesty and convene the Academic Integrity Committee within 10 days of receiving the report and will render and report a decision within 5 days of convening the committee.
The chairperson will notify the student of the committee's decision as well as their right to appeal the decision. The chairperson will file the report and decision in the student's record. The chairperson will submit the decision to the appropriate departments if a change in student status is required.
Consequences of Academic Dishonesty
A faculty member may use their discretion when determining consequences at the course level as to intentionality. The College assumes that all students act in good faith and with honesty; therefore, pleading ignorance of the policy or of academic integrity does not prevent the consequences from being applied.
Course-level sanctions
A faculty member may take into consideration the following: the extent of academic dishonesty (minimal, substantial, or complete), the rank of the student, and the course level and requirements.
The faculty member will impose sanctions based on the following guidelines at their discretion:
- Failing grade on the assignment but may revise for a new grade
- Failing grade on the assignment but may revise for a reduced grade
- Failing grade for the course
Institutional-level sanctions
Once the chair of the Academic Integrity Committee is made aware of academic dishonesty by the faculty member, the committee may impose additional sanctions if multiple occurrences are discovered in other courses.
The Academic Integrity Committee will impose sanctions based on the following guidelines at their discretion:
- Enrollment in academic integrity course
- Academic probation
- Academic dismissal (two terms or permanent)
Appeals
Following the Academic Integrity Committee's ruling, both the faculty alleging misconduct and the accused student may appeal the decision in writing detailing the grounds of the appeal. Appeals must be submitted to the Vice President of Academic Affairs within 10 business days of the Panel's ruling. The decision of the Vice President of Academic Affairs is final and a written record of the decision shall be kept on file.
Academic Integrity Attorney
An academic misconduct violation can jeopardize the academic and professional goals you or your college student have set. If you value the investment you've made into your education and your professional future, contacting a skilled student defense attorney is a must. The Student Defense Team at LLF Law Firm has helped students who've acquired serious academic misconduct charges recover from these allegations, and they can do the same for you. Contact them today for more information at 888-535-3686.
