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Cheating and Plagiarism Policy

General

According to University Senate rules, all occasions of cheating and plagiarism must be reported to the Executive Director of Residential Living and Student Conduct, together with a statement of the penalty imposed by the faculty member. If, in the opinion of the Executive Director of Residential Living and Student Conduct, other problems of a personal or an emotional nature are present, a referral or conduct sanction may be made.

  1. Cheating is officially defined as giving or attempting to give, obtaining or attempting to obtain, information relative to an examination or other work that the student is expected to do alone and not in collaboration with others, or the use of material or information restricted by the instructor. Each instructor will indicate beforehand work that may be done in collaboration with other students.
  2. Plagiarism is no lesser an offense than cheating. Examples of plagiarism as stated in the Modern Language Association’s MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers include but are not limited to repeating another’s sentences as your own, adopting a particularly apt phrase as your own, paraphrasing someone else’s argument as your own, and presenting someone else’s line of thinking in the development of a thesis as though it were your own.
    1. A “zero,” or whatever is the equivalent of the lowest failing grade possible, shall be assigned for that piece of work to any students cheating on a non-final examination or other piece of work.
    2. A “zero,” or whatever is the equivalent of the lowest failing grade possible, shall be assigned on a final examination to any student cheating on a final examination.
    3. An “F” shall also be assigned as the course grade to any student cheating on a comprehensive final examination. A “zero,” or whatever is the equivalent of the lowest failing grade possible, shall be assigned for the piece of work to any student plagiarizing on a non-final piece of work. In the case of a student plagiarizing on a final research paper or project, an “F” shall also be assigned as the course grade.

Repeated Offenses of Plagiarism and Cheating

For repeated or aggravated offenses additional action, including dismissal from the University may be taken pursuant to the Student Conduct Policy for violation of University regulations.

Grievance Procedure

If the student objects to the instructor’s conclusion that cheating or plagiarism has occurred, the student may consult the University Ombudsperson and/or appeal the instructor’s conclusion through the instructor’s director or chairperson to the dean, or to the dean’s designee(s), of the college in which the course is offered within 20 days of the time that the student receives written notification of the instructor’s conclusion. A copy of the notification will be filed with the Executive Director of Residential Living and Student Conduct.

Due process requirements for a fair hearing before the Dean or the Dean’s designee(s) shall consist of written statements of the instructor and student in support of their positions provided prior to the hearing and a tape recording or transcript of the hearing itself. An appeal of the decision of the dean or the dean’s designee(s) may be made within 10 days of the decision by written appeal to the University Student Grievance Committee.

In the event of an appeal, the dean shall transmit the decision of the University Student Grievance Committee, and, if the dean’s designee(s) rendered the decision, the dean shall indicate whether or not he or she agrees with the decision.

Violations

Students who violate University policy associated with cheating or plagiarism may be subject to University conduct sanctions.

Questions and Last Updated

Please direct questions to Ryan Bair. Last updated on 1/15/2021.

Ryan Bair

Ryan Bair

Executive Director, Residential Living and Student Conduct

    Sisson Hall 109
    (309) 677-2697
   rbair@bradley.edu

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