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Current and prospective students at Onondaga Community College are expected to adhere to the values of intellectual and academic honesty and integrity. Violations of academic honesty will not be tolerated.
A. Description
Academic dishonesty applies to all courses offered at OCC, and includes:
- Cheating: Intentionally using unauthorized materials, information, computer or phone applications, or study aids in any work submitted without permission. Some examples include using notes, copying another’s work on tests or assignments, or allowing someone else to complete a class assignment on your behalf.
- Fabrication: Intentionally falsifying or misrepresenting information from another source in an assignment. Some examples include making up sources for the bibliography of a paper or faking the results of a laboratory assignment.
- Plagiarism: Deliberately using ideas, words, or statements of another person as one’s own without acknowledgement. Some examples include paraphrasing or summarizing a source without citing it, turning in a paper written by someone else, buying a paper from a commercial source, failing to properly attribute quotations within a paper, submitting the same paper for credit in more than one class without the instructor’s permission (self-plagiarism), using artificial intelligence or previously completed work from internet sources without citing the source and having permission of the class instructor.
- Misrepresentation: Providing false information to an instructor concerning an academic assignment or activity. Some examples include giving a false excuse for missing a test or deadline, falsely claiming to have submitted a paper, or letting someone else use your username and password to access an online class.
- Sabotage: Preventing others from completing their work. Some examples include disturbing someone’s lab experiment or removing materials from a reserved reading file so that others may not use them.
- Helping another person with any of the above items.
B. Penalties
If an instructor finds that a student has been academically dishonest, they are encouraged to discuss the issue with the student first. Instructors must submit an “Academic Dishonesty” form within two weeks of when the activity is discovered.
- The form will be shared with the student, the Department Chairperson, The Chief Academic Officer (or designee).
- The form will include a description of the activity related to academic dishonesty. If the instructor decides to impose a penalty, the form will also include a description of the penalty and any documentation and/or materials to support the penalty.
- The instructor may impose a penalty up to a zero score for the related activity or a failing grade in the class.
- If the penalty is a failing grade for the class, the student will not be allowed to withdraw from that class and the form will be shared with the Office of Registration and Records.
- The class instructor must retain documentation to support the penalty (email or correspondence through the school’s learning management software is recommended).
The student may respond to the form within two weeks if they do not agree with the instructor’s findings or penalty.
- If the instructor finds the student’s response satisfactory, the penalty will be removed, and the matter is resolved. If the student does not respond, or the instructor finds the student’s response unsatisfactory, the penalty is imposed.
- If the Chief Academic Officer or designee finds the academic dishonesty to be part of a pattern of repeated offenses or complicity on a larger scale, they may initiate further action.
- The student is encouraged to seek support from their School Navigator to help them understand and navigate this process.
C. Appeals
If a penalty is imposed and the student has new information to support their position, they may file an appeal within two weeks of receiving the penalty.
- Students wishing to appeal should submit an “Academic Dishonesty Appeal” form, which will be sent to the Department Chairperson overseeing the course. If the Chairperson is also the student’s instructor for the class in question, the Chief Academic Officer or designee will assign another faculty member to coordinate the appeal process.
- The Chairperson will appoint a committee consisting of three faculty members that will schedule a meeting with the student and instructor. The student may have assistance from an advocate of their choice and have additional people present to speak in support of their case.
- The committee will review all evidence and hear from the student, the instructor, and any people present who wish to support the student.
- The committee will deliberate and make a decision in private. The decision will be communicated to the student and instructor using the “Academic Dishonesty Appeal” form within three days following the meeting.
- The appeal process is confidential and must be completed no later than the end of the next regular semester (Fall or Spring) after the alleged academic dishonesty took place.
Additional Appeals
If either the student or the faculty member disputes the decision of the committee and has new information about the alleged academic dishonesty, they may submit an additional appeal to the Chief Academic Officer no later than the end of the next regular semester (Fall or Spring) after the decision on the first appeal has been made. The decision of the Chief Academic Officer is considered final and binding on all parties.
D. Class Recording Policy
Students are not allowed to record, modify, or distribute recordings of any class content without permission.
- This includes, but is not limited to, lectures, laboratory participation, and classroom discussions.
- This rule is in place to ensure that all students can engage with the material without fear of having their participation scrutinized.
- The instructor may record and distribute recordings of classroom activities only to share material with those students participating in this course.
- Students with appropriate accommodations may record, but may not distribute, course content.
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