Bloomsburg University is a college that emphasizes how important academic integrity is to the preservation of the intellectual community. Students who are accused of violating the university's rules that maintain academic integrity will be accused of what's known as “academic misconduct” - a charge that puts your academic and professional career in jeopardy.
As a college student at Bloomsburg University, it's easy to get overwhelmed. You'll be assigned tons of homework, exams, projects, and presentations, leaving you to either sharpen your time management skills and adapt or struggle with completing it all. Unfortunately, the struggle to keep up with studies is the number one culprit behind academic misconduct charges.
In this article, we'll address how Bloomsburg University defines and handles academic misconduct, as well as why you need a student defense attorney to represent you throughout the school's processes.
How Does Bloomsburg University Define “Academic Dishonesty?”
According to Bloomsburg University's academic integrity policy, all students are to adhere to moral and ethical principles when engaging in academic or scholarly pursuits. Academic dishonesty occurs when students' actions don't align with said principles.
Since academic dishonesty can be constituted in a variety of ways, the school provides a list of examples of this behavior.
- Cheating: using notes, study aids, or information on an examination which are not approved by faculty; altering graded work after it has been returned and submitting the work for regrading; allowing another person to do one's work and submitting that work under one's own name; submitting identical or similar papers for credit in more than one course without prior permission from the course instructors.
- Plagiarism: submitting material that in part or whole is not one's own work without attributing those same portions to their correct source.
- Fabrication: falsifying or inventing any information, data, or citation; presenting data that were not gathered in accordance with standard guidelines that defined the appropriate methods for collecting or generating data and failing to include an accurate account of the method by which the data were gathered or collected.
- Misrepresenting circumstances: lying; presenting a professor (verbally or in writing( with false or incomplete information.
- Impersonation: representing oneself as another student in an examination; signing another's name on an attendance roster; in general doing the work required of another student and/or allowing another to do your work.
- Obtaining an unfair advantage: stealing, reproducing, circulating or otherwise gaining access to examination material prior to the time authorized by the instructor; stealing, destroying, defacing or concealing library materials with the purpose of depriving others of their use; unauthorized collaborating on an academic assignment; retaining, processing, using or circulating previously given examination materials, where those materials are to be returned to the instructor at the conclusion of the examination; intentionally obstructing or interfering with another student's academic work; or otherwise undertaking activity with the purpose of creating or obtaining an unfair academic advantage over other students' academic work.
- Aiding and abetting academic dishonesty: providing material, information, or other assistance to another person with knowledge that such aid could be used in any of the violations stated above; or providing false information in connection with any inquiry regarding academic integrity.
- Falsification of records and official documents: altering documents affecting academic records; forging signatures of authorization or falsifying information on an official academic document, grade report, letter of permission, petition, drop/add form ID card, or any other official University document.
- Unauthorized access to computerized academic or administrative records or systems: altering computer records; modifying computer programs or systems; releasing or dispensing information gained via unauthorized access; or interfering with the use or availability of computer systems of information.
Ultimately, students who are unsure if an act is academically dishonest have a duty to consult their professor before engaging in the act.
What Happens When a Student is Suspected of Academic Dishonesty at Bloomsburg University?
The first step in any alleged case of academic dishonesty will be for the faculty member to inform the student that dishonesty is suspected and that steps will be taken to resolve the issue.
If the faculty member would like to resolve the issue informally and if the student accepts the charges and the penalty, then the faculty member chooses between two options: (1) informal confidential resolution and (2) informal resolution with a filed report.
Option 1: Informal Confidential Resolution
The faculty member may resolve the charge confidentially with the student, discussing the alleged offense and explaining any penalty that must follow. Students who choose to dispute the fairness of the charge or penalty may elect to have the matter arbitrated by the Academic Grievance Board.
The professor has a range of actions within the boundaries of the course in which the dishonesty occurred. Possible sanctions include verbal and written reprimand, an appropriate additional assignment, and lowering the grade on the assignment on which the dishonesty occurred.
The faculty member is strongly encouraged to have this agreement in writing and to keep that document and any evidence in a secure location.
Option 2: Informal Resolution with a Filed Report
The faculty member may follow the guidelines given in Option 1, informal confidential resolution, and, in addition, file an Academic Integrity Policy Violation Report Form with the Office of the Dean of Students.
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 can do the same for you. Contact the, today at 888-535-3686 for more information.
