Academic integrity is at the core of an ideal learning environment. This is why colleges and universities are so adamant about enforcing rules that preserve academic integrity. If students fail to comply with these rules, the consequences can be severe, affecting not only your college career but your professional future as well.
This is why it's important for students accused of academic misconduct to seek the help of an attorney advisor. An experienced legal professional can help you clear your name, and avoid getting you a record for employers and outside institutions to see.
What is Academic Misconduct?
In Massachusetts colleges and universities, there are guidelines imposed to maintain academic integrity. These rules are intended to keep students accountable and transparent when it comes to the creation of their own scholastic works, and respecting the works of others. Any actions that violate these rules is considered academic misconduct.
Academic Misconduct Violations
There are various forms of academic misconduct. Here are some of the most common definitions and examples of academic misconduct that could be punishable at your school:
Cheating: displaying fraud, deceit, or dishonesty in an academic assignment.
- Copying from others during an exam
- Having a stand-in take an exam for you, or standing in for someone else
- Sharing answers from a take-home exam unless specifically authorized by an instructor
- Allowing another person to write a paper for you
- Using unauthorized materials, prepared answers, written notes, or concealed information to complete an exam or project
Plagiarism: the use of the intellectual material in an academic work created by another person without acknowledging its source.
- Misrepresenting the ideas, words, or concepts of another person as your own
- Using the work of another in your academic work without crediting them. This is known as citing the source. Citing must be done properly, and credit must be given for every direct quote, any paraphrased ideas, summaries, or information that isn't considered common knowledge
Fabrication/Falsification: inventing or altering information in an academic exercise.
- Creating or altering citations for a paper
- Making up people, events, interactions, or discussions to complete an assignment
Complicity: intentionally helping or attempting to help another student to perform academically dishonest actions.
- Letting another student use your identification to access a restricted part of campus
- Allowing another student to copy your homework, exam, or project
Consequences
In collegiate settings, academic misconduct is one of the most reprehensible violations a student can acquire. This is why administrators tend to impose harsh consequences for academic misconduct. These consequences can be so harsh that they extend beyond college sanctions and into a student's professional life. Job prospects with access to academic records will question the integrity of a person with this violation. Government jobs, law professionals, careers in academia are a few examples of jobs that may deny students employment for an academic misconduct violation.
Massachusetts Academic Misconduct Advisor
A finding of responsibility for academic misconduct 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. Attorney Joseph D. Lento has helped students who've acquired serious academic misconduct charges recover from these allegations, and he can do the same for you. Contact him today for more information.
Massachusetts colleges and universities where Joseph D. Lento can help as your or your student's academic misconduct advisor during investigations, hearings, and appeals include, but are not limited to, the following schools:
- American International College
- Amherst College
- Anna Maria College
- Assumption College
- Babson College
- Bard College at Simon's Rock
- Bay Path College
- Bay State College
- Becker College
- Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology
- Bentley University
- Berklee College of Music
- Berkshire Community College
- Boston Architectural College
- Boston Baptist College
- Boston College
- Boston University
- Brandeis University
- Bridgewater State University
- Bristol Community College
- Bunker Hill Community College
- Cambridge College
- Cape Cod Community College
- Clark University
- College of Our Lady of the Elms
- College of the Holy Cross
- Curry College
- Dean College
- Eastern Nazarene College
- Emerson College
- Emmanuel College
- Endicott College
- Fisher College
- Fitchburg State University
- Framingham State University
- Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
- Gordon College
- Greenfield Community College
- Hampshire College
- Harvard University
- Hellenic College Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology
- Holyoke Community College
- ITT Technical Institute Norwood
- ITT Technical Institute Wilmington
- Laboure College
- Lasell College
- Lawrence Memorial Hospital School of Nursing
- Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts
- Lesley University
- Longy School of Music
- Marian Court College
- Massachusetts Bay Community College
- Massachusetts College of Art and Design
- Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
- Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Massachusetts Maritime Academy
- Massasoit Community College
- Merrimack College
- Middlesex Community College
- Montserrat College of Art
- Mount Holyoke College
- Mount Ida College
- Mount Wachusett Community College
- New England College of Business
- Newbury College Brookline
- Nichols College
- North Shore Community College
- Northeastern University
- Northern Essex Community College
- Pine Manor College
- Quincy College
- Quinsigamond Community College
- Regis College
- Roxbury Community College
- Saint John's Seminary
- Salem State University
- Sanford Brown College Boston
- School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston
- Simmons College
- Smith College
- Springfield College
- Springfield Technical Community College
- Stonehill College
- Suffolk University
- The Boston Conservatory
- The New England Conservatory of Music
- The New England Institute of Art
- Tufts University
- University of Massachusetts - Amherst
- University of Massachusetts - Boston
- University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth
- University of Massachusetts - Lowell
- University of Phoenix - Boston Campus
- Urban College of Boston
- Wellesley College
- Wentworth Institute of Technology
- Western New England University
- Westfield State University
- Wheaton College
- Wheelock College
- Williams College
- Worcester Polytechnic Institute
- Worcester State University
- Zion Bible College
It is an unfortunate reality that academic misconduct charges can upend an accused student's life if not properly addressed, and Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm have unparalleled experience passionately fighting for the future of his clients at colleges and universities in Massachusetts and throughout the nation. He does not settle for the easiest outcome, and instead prioritizes his clients' needs and well-being. Joseph Lento is a licensed attorney in New Jersey and New York, is admitted as an attorney pro hac vice in state and federal court if needed when representing clients nationwide, and serves as an academic misconduct advisor for students facing disciplinary cases in Massachusetts and throughout the nation. Make certain your or your student's interests are protected - Contact National Academic Misconduct Advisor Joseph D. Lento today at 888-535-3686.
