The college does not tolerate cheating or plagiarism. Cheating involves either giving assistance to another student or receiving assistance from another student during a quiz, test, examination, or other individual assignment--unless the instructor has explicitly permitted such assistance.

Plagiarism means "to take and use as one's own the writings or ideas of another" (American Heritage Dictionary). Before submitting any paper for any course at the college, the student must acknowledge each source used consciously, whether published or unpublished. Even an idea presented in the student's own words, but consciously taken from a source, must be acknowledged. In addition, quotation marks (or indenting) must set off phrases or longer passages copied verbatim. Each instructor will explain any special means required to avoid plagiarism in his or her own field.

The assignment of grades is the responsibility of the instructor. Thus, if the instructor determines that a student's work has been intellectually dishonest, the instructor may award the student an "F" for the course or for the specific task determined to have been dishonestly accomplished. Such action will be preceded by a meeting with the student to provide an occasion for refutation, explanation, or mitigation. In cases where the faculty member and student cannot reach agreement, and after consultation with the division chair, the student may make a written appeal to the Vice President for Academic Affairs within five school days of the meeting with the faculty member.

The faculty member's charge must include an academic penalty, the most severe being removal from the course with a grade of "F." Additionally, the faculty member may propose an institutional sanction. A student involved in an appeal of an intellectual dishonesty case has the right to remain in class until a decision is made.
In cases where the faculty member proposes an institutional sanction, a judgment will be rendered by the Vice President for Student Services, but in no instance will the sanction rendered be more severe than that proposed by the faculty member. A student who is found guilty of intellectual dishonesty loses his or her right to withdraw voluntarily from the course in which cheating occurred.