ADMINISTRATIVE POLICY AND PROCEDURES
REGARDING STUDENT CHEATING AND PLAGIARISM
Condensed Version
For complete policy and procedure go to www.kent.edu/policyregister 3342-3-01.8.
Cheating and plagiarism constitute fraudulent misrepresentation for which no credit can be given and for which appropriate sanctions are warranted and will be applied.
The university affirms that acts of cheating and plagiarism by students constitute a subversion of the goals of the institution, have no place in the university and are serious offenses to academic goals and objectives, as well as to the rights of fellow students.
"Cheat" means to intentionally misrepresent the source, nature, or other conditions of academic work so as to accrue undeserved credit, or to cooperate with someone else in such misrepresentation. Cheating includes, but is not limited to:
1. Obtaining or retaining partial or whole copies of examinations, tests or quizzes before these are distributed for student use;
2. Using notes, textbooks or other information in examinations, tests and quizzes, except as expressly permitted;
3. Obtaining confidential information about examinations, tests or quizzes other than that released by the instructor;
4. Securing, giving or exchanging information during examinations;
5. Presenting data or other material gathered by another person or group as one's own;
6. Falsifying experimental data or information;
7. Having another person take one's place for any academic performance without the specific knowledge and permission of the
instructor;
8. Cooperating with another to do one or more of the above;
9. Using a substantial portion of a piece of work previously submitted for another course or program to meet the requirements of the present course or program without notifying the instructor to whom the work is presented; and
10. Presenting falsified information in order to postpone or avoid examinations, tests, quizzes, or other academic work.
“Plagiarize” means to take and present as one’s own a material portion of the ideas or words of another or to present as one’s own an idea or work derived from an existing source without full and proper credit to the source of the ideas, words, or works. As defined, plagiarize includes, but is not limited to:
a. The copying of words, sentences and paragraphs directly from the work of another without proper credit;
b. The copying of illustrations, figures, photographs, drawings, models, or other visual and nonverbal materials, including recordings of another without proper credit; and
c. The presentation of work prepared by another in final or draft form as one's own without citing the source, such as the use of purchased research papers.
Academic Sanctions
The following academic sanctions are provided by this rule for offenses of cheating or plagiarism. Kent campus instructors shall notify the department chairperson and the student conduct office each time a sanction is imposed. Regional campus instructors shall notify the regional campus dean and the student conduct officer each time a sanction is imposed. Regional campus student conduct officer shall notify the Kent student conduct office each time a sanction is imposed by a regional campus Instructor. The following academic sanctions are provided by this rule for offenses of cheating or plagiarism. In those cases the instructor may:
1. Refuse to accept the work for credit; or
2. Assign a grade of "F" or zero for the project, test, paper, examination or other work in which the cheating or plagiarism took
place; or
3. Assign a grade of "F" for the course in which the cheating or plagiarism took place; and/or;
4. Recommend to the department chair or regional campus dean that further action specified in the rule be taken. The department chairperson or regional campus dean shall determine whether or not to forward to the academic dean or to the vice president for the extended university a recommendation for further sanction under this rule.
Academic Appeals
The general principle that applies to the following procedures is that an appeal is directed to the administrative level immediately above the unit from which the appeal emanates.
Appeals are limited to the following reasons:
a. The decision is arbitrary or unreasonable,
b. The decision resulted from a procedural error,
c. The decision is not in accordance with the facts presented,
d. New information is available which may suggest modification of the decision.
For complete policy and procedure go to www.kent.edu/policyregister 3342-3-01.8.