Academic Honesty

Per Chapter Two of the General Catalog, we encourage all faculty to handle cases of academic misconduct according to University Policy. However, we encourage faculty members to contact our office so there is an opportunity to look for patterns between disciplines.

Policy Overview

Academic Honesty

The university's goal is to foster an intellectual atmosphere that produces educated, literate people. Cheating and plagiarism are at odds with this goal and therefore will not be tolerated in any form.

All work submitted by a student must represent that student's own ideas and effort. When the work does not represent the student's own work it must be properly cited; if it is not, the student has engaged in academic dishonesty. Cheating, forgery, plagiarism or the use of work belonging to another are all considered academic dishonesty.

• The following are specific examples of such conduct:
• purchasing a paper or other project for which one then seeks to receive credit;
• copying from another student with the intent of receiving credit as one's own work;
• using "crib notes" or other stored information (in a computer or calculator) without expressed permission from the faculty member;
• misrepresenting yourself or someone else in an exam setting;
• collaborating on assignments or exams when such collaboration is forbidden;
• failing to properly document source material in a paper or project;
• "cutting and pasting" source material from various Internet sites and submitting it as your own work without proper citation.

NOTE: The list above is intended only to provide general guidelines in recognizing and avoiding common types of academic dishonesty. It is in no way an exhaustive or comprehensive list of all the types of academic dishonesty.

Except in cases of major offenses, responding to academic dishonesty is the responsibility of the instructor of the course in which the violation occurs. If a student is found responsible for academic dishonesty, the student may be dismissed from the class and may receive a failing grade. Other penalties may include suspension or expulsion from school. Such transgressions become part of the student's permanent University record. Once decisions are rendered, a copy of the finding of facts and the corresponding sanctions will be forwarded to the office of the Vice President of Student Services. While decisions about specific incidents will be based solely on related information (judicial history cannot be introduced), judicial history can be considered relative to a student's ability to remain enrolled at Southern Utah University. When repeated violations occur, the University's judicial process can be used to determine whether the student should be permitted to continue at the University. When this process is used, the focus of the hearing will be on continued enrollment; such hearings will not be used to "re-hear" the facts of any case that has already been decided.

For more information about academic honesty, see the following publications:

Southern Utah University Student Handbook