Academic dishonesty is a big deal at Chestnut Hill 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 Chestnut Hill addresses and mitigates claims of academic dishonesty. Then we'll discuss why you need an attorney when accused.
Chestnut Hill College's Academic Integrity and Responsibility Policy
According to the Chestnut Hill student handbook, academic integrity consists of responsibility and honesty in the fulfillment of academic duties. Academic integrity promotes trust, mutual respect, cooperation, and the advancement of learning.
Any action that doesn't align with the school's definition of academic integrity is considered academic misconduct, but the school emphasizes two types of academic misconduct that are considered most egregious: cheating and plagiarism.
Chestnut Hill states that “cheating and plagiarism destroy the trust and mutual respect that are essential to a community of learning.” The handbook goes on to say that “these behaviors violate the deepest convictions of the College Community.” It's safe to say that if you've been accused of any of these academic misconduct violations, you're going to need the help of a student defense attorney.
The following acts are examples of cheating:
- Using materials not specifically allowed by the instructor during the taking of an examination, test or quiz, such as material written by another student during the taking of an examination, test or quiz, either with or without his or her knowledge; crib notes; texts and /or supplementary marginal notations in texts; notes written on any object in the room in which examination is being taken; unauthorized calculators or any other unauthorized aids.
- Collaborating during an in-class examination, test or quiz, either in the giving or receiving of information, or improper collaboration on a take-home examination, test or quiz, or laboratory report.
- Stealing, using or transmitting verbally or otherwise, actual examinations, tests, quizzes or portions thereof, or other likewise confidential information before or during the time of the exam. Once an exam has been given it becomes part of the public domain.
- Submitting for a grade in one class any material previously or simultaneously submitted for a grade in another class without documented authorization from both instructors.
- Taking an examination by proxy. Falsifying laboratory or research data or results; or falsifying or inventing bibliographical entries for research papers.
- Withholding knowledge of an incident of cheating or plagiarism from the individual instructor to whom the work is submitted.
- Knowingly participating in another student's act of cheating or plagiarism.
The following acts will be deemed acts of plagiarism:
- Presenting published or unpublished work prepared by others, or dictated by others, as your own, including papers purchased or borrowed from any person or organization.
- Presenting, as your own, reports or exercises copied from or dictated by others.
- Incorporating formal lecture notes or information from textbooks into your own work without acknowledgment and thus presenting them as one's own.
- Presenting as your own, a computer solution developed by someone else.
- Copying the ideas, and/or speculations, and/or language of any other person or persons, without acknowledgment, and presenting this as one's own original work.
Chestnut Hill College's Procedure for Mitigating Cases of Academic Misconduct
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.
Penalties
Faculty members are responsible for determining when a violation of academic integrity has occurred, as well as for reporting and providing penalties for this violation. Because consequences may differ when multiple infractions have occurred, all violations must be reported to the Dean of the School of Continuing and Professional Studies. The Dean's Office is responsible for keeping track of the number of times a student is reported. Penalty levels:
- remediation/written warning
- Assignment of additional work
- No credit for the test or assignment
- Failure of the course
- Suspension from participating in optional College activities such as SGA, athletics, honor societies and programs, etc.
- Dismissal from the College
A faculty member may impose any of the penalties at his/her discretion; however, the faculty member should first check with the Dean to determine whether the student has previous infractions of Academic Integrity.
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 attorneys of LLF Law Firm have 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.
