Academic Honesty

The first injunction of the Pilares de Esperanza Honor Code is the call to "be honest." Students come to the school not only to improve their minds, gain knowledge, and develop skills that will assist them in their life's work, but also to build character. It is widely accepted that integrity and moral fiber is the highest aim of education. Furthermore, true education is equivalent to lasting change through the acquisition of knowledge, skills and wisdom. The purpose of the Pilares de Esperanza Academic Honesty Policy is to assist in fulfilling that aim.

Esperanza students should seek to be totally honest in their dealings with others. They should complete their own work and be evaluated based on that work. They should avoid academic dishonesty and misconduct in all its forms, including but not limited to plagiarism, fabrication or falsification, cheating, and other academic misconduct:

Plagiarism
Intentional plagiarism is a form of intellectual theft that violates widely recognized principles of academic integrity as well as the Honor Code.

Inadvertent plagiarism, whereas not in violation of the Honor Code, is nevertheless a form of intellectual carelessness that is unacceptable in the academic community.

Intentional Plagiarism. Intentional plagiarism is the deliberate act of representing the words, ideas, or data of another as one's own without providing proper attribution to the author through quotation, reference, or footnote.

Inadvertent Plagiarism. Inadvertent plagiarism involves the inappropriate, but non-deliberate, use of another's words, ideas, or data without proper attribution. Inadvertent plagiarism usually results from an ignorant failure to follow established rules for documenting sources or from simply being insufficiently careful in research and writing. Although not a violation of the Honor Code, inadvertent plagiarism is a form of academic misconduct for which an instructor can impose appropriate academic sanctions. Students who are in doubt as to whether they are providing proper attribution have the responsibility to consult with their instructor and obtain guidance.

Examples of plagiarism include:
Direct Plagiarism. The verbatim copying of an original source without acknowledging the source.

Paraphrased Plagiarism. The paraphrasing, without acknowledgment, of ideas from another that the reader might mistake for your own.

Plagiarism Mosaic. The borrowing of words, ideas, or data from an original source and blending this original material with one's own without acknowledging the source.

Insufficient Acknowledgment. The partial or incomplete attribution of words, ideas, or data from an original source.

Plagiarism may occur with respect to unpublished as well as published material. Acts of copying another student's work and submitting it as one's own individual work without proper attribution is a serious form of plagiarism.

Fabrication or Falsification
Fabrication or falsification is a form of dishonesty where a student invents or distorts the origin or content of information used as authority. Examples include:

1. Citing a source that does not exist.

2. Attributing to a source ideas and information that are not included in the

    source.

3. Citing a source for a proposition that it does not support.

4. Citing a source in a bibliography when the source was neither consulted

    nor cited in the body of the paper.

5. Intentionally distorting the meaning or applicability of data.

6. Inventing data or statistical results to support conclusions.
Cheating
Cheating is a form of dishonesty where a student attempts to give the appearance of a level of knowledge or skill that the student has not obtained. Examples include:

1. Copying from another person's work during an examination or while

    completing an assignment.

2. Allowing someone to copy from you during an examination or while

    completing an assignment.

3. Using unauthorized materials during an examination or while completing an

    assignment.

4. Collaborating on an examination or assignment without authorization.

5. Taking an examination or completing an assignment for another, or

    permitting another to take an examination or to complete an assignment

    for you.
Other Academic Misconduct
Academic misconduct includes other academically dishonest, deceitful, or inappropriate acts that are intentionally committed. Examples of such acts include but are not limited to:

1. Inappropriately providing or receiving information or academic work so

    as to gain unfair advantage over others.

2. Planning with another to commit any act of academic dishonesty.

3. Attempting to gain an unfair academic advantage for oneself or another

    by bribery or by any act of offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting

    anything of value to another for such purpose.

4. Changing or altering grades or other official educational records.

5. Obtaining or providing to another a future test or answers to a test to be

    administered in the future.

6. Breaking and entering into a building or office for the purpose of obtaining

    an unauthorized test.

7. Continuing work on an examination or assignment after the allocated time

    has elapsed.

8. Submitting the same work for more than one class without disclosure and

    approval.
Procedures for Handling Incidents of Academic Dishonesty or Other Academic Misconduct
Faculty are responsible to establish and communicate to students their expectations of behavior with respect to academic honesty and the student's conduct in the course. The responsible instructor shall investigate the incident, determine and take appropriate action. Instructors should also notify the Honor Code Committee of the final disposition of any incident to encourage appropriate behavior and to discourage repeated violations. If the incident of academic dishonesty involves the violation of a public law, e.g., breaking and entering into an office or stealing an examination, the act should also be reported to Local police officers. If an affected student disagrees with the determination or action and is unable to resolve the matter to the mutual satisfaction of the student and the instructor, the student may have the matter reviewed through the school's grievance process (Student Grievance Procedure).

Applicable Actions
A wide range of possible actions exists for cases of academic dishonesty. Instructors should take actions that are fair and equitable under the circumstances and should attempt to reach an understanding with the affected student on the imposition of an appropriate action. In some cases, the school may also take actions independent of the instructor. Examples of possible actions include but are not limited to the following:

For instructors and student life staff:

Reprimanding the student orally or in writing.

Requiring work affected by the academic dishonesty to be redone.

Administering a lower or failing grade on the affected assignment, test, or course.

Removing the student from the course.

Recommending probation, suspension, or dismissal.

For the school:
The school may elect to place an affected student on probation or to suspend or dismiss the student, and to place a temporary or permanent notation on the student's permanent academic transcript that he or she was suspended or dismissed due to academic misconduct.
The school may report an incident of academic misconduct to appropriate law enforcement officials and may prosecute an affected student if the act in question involves the commission of a crime (e.g., breaking into an office or building, stealing an examination, etc.).

Honor Code Committee Involvement
The Honor Code Committee will maintain a record of all violations of the Academic Honesty Policy reported to it by the faculty. If the occurrence is sufficiently egregious or if a pattern of dishonesty or misconduct is discovered, the Honor Code Committee may take additional action on behalf of the school based upon the nature of the infraction(s). The Honor Code Committee, in consultation with the involved academic personnel, including the Administrator, may determine to place a student on probation or recommend suspension or dismissal from the school for academic dishonesty and other forms of academic misconduct.

Shared Responsibility Policy Statement
Students are responsible not only to adhere to the Honor Code requirement to be honest but also to assist other students in fulfilling their commitment to be honest.

Faculty Academic Integrity
The substantive standards of academic honesty stated in this policy apply a fortiori to faculty. Indeed, all members of the School community are expected to act according to the highest principles of academic integrity.

Sources
A large number of publications and policies of colleges and universities were reviewed in creating our Academic Honesty Policy. Some of the content and structure of this policy were adapted from the following sources:

1. "Academic Honesty," a brochure produced by the Office of Judicial Affairs,

    University of Florida.

2. "Academic Honesty and Dishonesty," a brochure produced by the Office

    of the Dean of Students, University of Delaware.

3. "Academic Honesty and Dishonesty," a brochure produced by the Dean of

    Students Office, Louisiana State University.

4. "A Statement on Plagiarism," a committee report from the October 1994

    Conference on the Center for Academic Integrity, Tom Langhorne,

    Binghamton University (chair).

5. "Brigham Young University Honor Code," a website produced by the Honor

    Code Office of Brigham Young University:

    http://campuslife.byu.edu/HONORCODE/honor_code.htm.

6. "Definition of Plagiarism," by Harold C. Martin, taken from The Logic and

    Rhetoric of Exposition, by Harold C. Martin, Richard M. Ohmann, and James

    H. Wheatly, 3rd ed. (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1969).

7. Legal Aspects of Plagiarism, by Ralph D. Mawdsley (Topeka, Kansas:

    National Organization on Legal Problems of Education, 1985).

8. "Plagiarism - The Do's and Don'ts," a brochure produced by the Office of

    Student Judicial Affairs of the University of California - Davis.