Susquehanna recognizes honesty and integrity as being necessary to the academic function of the university. A violation of academic honesty can take a number of forms including, but not limited to:

• Cheating or plagiarism on tests, quizzes, exams, papers or any class assignment
• Unauthorized possession of tests, examinations or papers
• The physical theft, duplication, unauthorized distribution or sale of tests, examinations or papers
• Tampering with grades or grade books/attempting to alter in any way grades assigned by the instructor
• Complicity, fabrication, falsification, or other acts of academic dishonesty

Definitions

Cheating: copying from another’s work; using unauthorized help or sources.

Complicity: intentionally helping another to commit an act of academic integrity.

Fabrication or Falsification: intentional invention and alteration of information; misrepresentation or purposeful mishandling of materials.

Plagiarism: the use of someone else’s language, information, ideas, or original material without acknowledgment of sources. The failure to acknowledge and properly document your use of sources and materials, even if unintentional or innocent, amounts to representing someone else’s work as your own. When the words of another are used in student work, they must be placed in quotation marks and cited in some form of documentation, such as a footnote.

University Records

Students and organizations shall complete university records honestly, neither altering nor causing to be altered any records, forms, or documents used by the university, nor shall knowingly misuse such documents. Students and organizations shall not hinder or mislead, or attempt to hinder or mislead, a university official in the performance of their duty by providing false or misleading information.

Jurisdiction

• An instructor has original jurisdiction for all first-time offenses involving cheating or plagiarism on class assignments, including, but not limited to, tests, quizzes, papers, and exams.
• The Academic Honesty Judicial Board (AHJB) shall have appellate jurisdiction for any case in which the instructor has original jurisdiction.
• The AHJB shall have original jurisdiction in all repeat offenses of academic dishonesty and in all cases where suspension/expulsion is a potential sanction.
• When the AHJB is not in session, cases may be adjudicated through an administrative resolution.

 

Procedure When the Faculty Member Has Original Jurisdiction

• Before determining responsibility, the instructor will contact the Center for Academic Success to check the records to determine whether the incident is a repeat offense. If the student has a prior history of academic dishonesty, the case will be referred to the AHJB.
• The instructor shall make every effort to investigate the violation as thoroughly as possible and confer with the student before assessing responsibility.
• The instructor will turn in a grade of “N” (no grade) for any individual whose case is unresolved by the time final grades are due.
• If the student is found responsible for violating the academic honesty policy, the instructor shall determine the sanction in consultation with the academic department head.
• The instructor shall provide written notification to the Senior Director of the Center for Academic Success by completing the Academic Honesty Report Form.
• The instructor must provide written notification to the student of the sanction imposed.
• The student will have seven (7) days from the date of receiving written notice of the sanction to appeal the decision to the AHJB. Appeals can only be made on the grounds of new evidence, denial of a fair hearing, or an unduly harsh sanction.

 

Academic Honesty Judicial Board

Membership

• The AHJB shall be composed of four students from the Conduct Board and three faculty members elected by the faculty.
• The students shall serve for a term of one year with the opportunity to serve additional terms.
• The faculty shall be elected for three-year terms. The initial elections shall be all three members for one-, two- and three-year terms. Subsequently, one faculty member will be elected each year for a three-year term.
• The Senior Director of the Center for Academic Success shall serve as an ex officio, non-voting member and record keeper of the AHJB.

Procedures

• The Respondent is entitled to a minimum of two (2) days’ notice of a hearing, a statement of the charges and a fair hearing.
• Hearings shall be closed.
• The instructor filing the charges will present the case at the hearing. Witnesses may be called for additional information.
• The Respondent will present their case and may call witnesses.
• Both the Complainant and Respondent may give a closing statement.
• The Respondent and instructor will be notified in writing of the decision of the AHJB.

 

Appeals of AHJB Decisions

• Appeals of AHJB decisions can only be made on the grounds of new evidence to present, denial of a fair hearing or unduly harsh sanction.
• Appeals must be made within seven (7) days of the date of notification of the AHJB’s decision.
• Depending on the case, the Dean of the School of Arts & Sciences or the Dean of the Sigmund Weis School of Business shall serve as the appeals officer.
• The Provost shall serve as the appeals officer.
• Final appeal jurisdiction in any case, rests with the President of the University.

 

Sanction Guidelines for Academic Dishonesty

Violation	Corresponding maximum sanction
Cheating or plagiarism on tests, quizzes, exams, papers or any class assignment	Failure in course*
Unauthorized possession of tests, examinations or papers	Expulsion
The physical theft, duplication, unauthorized distribution or sale of tests, examinations or papers	Expulsion
Tampering with grades or grade books/attempting to alter in any way grades assigned by instructor	Expulsion
Other acts of academic dishonesty	Expulsion
* If the instructor or AHJB imposes the sanction of failure of the course and the student has already withdrawn from the course, the F grade would replace the W on the student’s transcript. Students not receiving the sanction of failure of the course may choose to withdraw from the course as allowed by course withdrawal policies.

Established by the Faculty and the Student Government Association, December 1981. Last Revised, July 2015.

 

Audio and Video Recording

Advance, written permission is required in order to record course materials such as class lectures, discussions, or presentations. When granted, permission to record course materials is subject to the limitations set forth in this policy. Violations of this policy may constitute copyright infringement in violation of federal and state law. Additionally, violations of this policy may be subject to University disciplinary action according to the policies governing the Academic Honesty Judicial Board.

Course materials are defined as lectures, lecture notes, outlines, PowerPoint presentations, readings, or other content made available to students by the instructor or presenter, or through any University online system. Recording is defined as a video or audio replication or photographic image recorded on devices including, but not limited to, audio recorders, video recorders, cell phones, smartphones, tablets, digital cameras, media players, computers, or other devices that record images or sound.

Recording of course materials is prohibited unless advance written permission is obtained from the class instructor and any guest presenter(s). An instructor may provide such permission to an entire class as part of the course syllabus or other written description of a course.

Students who require recording or other adaptations of course materials as a reasonable accommodation for a disability should contact the Office of Disability Services before the course begins in order to obtain permission for the recording. Every effort should be made to protect the confidentiality of a student with a disability who is being granted an accommodation, i.e., the instructor will not name the student who is doing the recording when it is due to a disability accommodation. Any unauthorized distribution of recordings will result in an academic integrity judicial board case.

In the event permission to record course materials is granted, the instructor must notify all students, speakers, and other class attendees in advance that recording may occur.

Permission to allow the recording of course materials is not a transfer of any copyrights in the recording or related course materials. Such recordings and materials may be used only for individual or group study with other students enrolled in the same class, and may not be reproduced, transferred, distributed, sold, traded, or displayed in any public or commercial manner. Students must destroy recordings at the end of the semester in which they are enrolled in the course or sequence of courses