Academic Misconduct

Academic misconduct is any act that does or could improperly distort student’s grades or other student academic records. A student enrolls at Oconee Fall Line Technical College to gain technical skills to lead to greater employability. Academic misconduct is not only “cheating” the student of learning the needed skills; it is an offense to the academic integrity of the learning environment regardless of the mode of delivery. All forms of academic dishonesty will call for discipline.

The deans of academic affairs and the vice president of academic affairs have jurisdiction over the enforcement procedure of the Code of Conduct as it relates to academic misconduct and follow Oconee Fall Line Technical College’s Academic Misconduct Procedure. The deans of academic affairs may determine that the academic misconduct violation is so severe that a complaint will be filed against the student(s), and the director of student affairs will implement the student disciplinary procedure.

Academic Misconduct includes, but is not limited to, the following:

Aiding and Abetting Academic Misconduct
1. Knowingly helping, procuring or encouraging another person to engage in academic misconduct.
Cheating
1. Use and/or possession of unauthorized material or technology during an examination or any other written or oral work submitted for evaluation and/or a grade such as tape cassettes, notes, tests, calculators, computer programs, cell phones and/or smart phones, or other electronic devices.
2. Obtaining assistance with or answers to an examination or any other written or oral work submitted for evaluation and/or a grade from another person with or without that person’s knowledge.
3. Furnishing assistance with or answers to an examination or any other written or oral work submitted for evaluation and/or a grade to another person.
4. Possessing, using, distributing or selling unauthorized copies of an examination, computer program, or any other written or oral work submitted for evaluation and/or a grade.
5. Representing as one’s own an examination or any other written, recorded, video or oral work submitted for evaluation and/or a grade created by another person.
6. Taking an examination or any other written, recorded, video or oral work submitted for evaluation and/or a grade in place of another person.
7. Obtaining unauthorized access to the computer files of another person or agency and/or altering or destroying those files. Obtaining teacher edition text books, test banks, or other instructional materials that are only intended to be accessed by OFTC officials, college administrators or faculty members.
Fabrication
1. The falsification of any information or citation in an examination or any other written or oral work submitted for evaluation and/or a grade.
Plagiarism
1. Submitting another’s published or unpublished work in whole, in part or in paraphrase, as one’s own without fully and properly crediting the author with footnotes, quotation marks, citations, or bibliographical reference.
2. Submitting as one’s own original work, material obtained from an individual or agency without reference to the person or agency as the source of the material.
3. Submitting as one’s own original work, material that has been produced through unacknowledged collaboration with others without release in writing from collaborators.

Procedures for Academic Misconduct

The procedure for dealing with academic misconduct and dishonesty is as follows:

First Offense:

The student will be assigned a grade of “0” for the test or assignment. The instructor completes an incident report, attaches the student’s documentation, and forwards all information to the respective dean of academic affairs. The dean reviews and forwards the information to the vice president of academic affairs. The vice president of academic affairs keeps a record of the offense.

Second Offense:

The instructor completes an incident report, attaches student’s documentation, and forwards all information to the respective dean of academic affairs. The dean reviews and forwards the information to the vice president of academic affairs. The vice president of academic affairs notifies the instructors that the student will be withdrawn from all courses. The student will be assigned a failing grade (F) in the course in which offense occurs. The student is administratively withdrawn from all other courses at the college with a grade of “W.” The vice president of academic affairs keeps a record of the offense.

Third and Subsequent Offenses:

The instructor completes an incident report, attaches student’s documentation, and forwards all information to the respective dean of academic affairs. The dean reviews and forwards the information to the vice president of academic affairs. The vice president of academic affairs notifies the instructors that the student will be withdrawn from all courses. The student will be assigned a failing grade (F) in the course in which offense occurs. The student is administratively withdrawn from all other courses at the college with a grade of “W.” The vice president of academic affairs notifies the student that he/she will be suspended from the college for one academic year, and any subsequent offenses will result in permanent expulsion from the college. The vice president of academic affairs keeps a record of the offense.

Appeals

A student who is not satisfied with the instructor’s decision may appeal to the dean of academic affairs for his/her respective program by filing a written request for review. Absent extraordinary circumstances, an appeal must be filed within five working days. To initiate this appeal, the student must write a letter addressed to the dean of academic affairs stating the reasons why the student feels the decision should be changed and submit this letter to the dean. Written appeals may be in the form of electronic communication and should include copies of any documentation cited in support of the student’s case. The dean will examine the facts and any applicable documentation to determine that the grade was determined fairly according to the course syllabus and to the academic misconduct procedure and will communicate the results of this review in writing to both the student and the instructor within five working days from receiving the appeal.

If the appeal is denied, the student may appeal the decision to the vice president of academic affairs within five working days from the date of the decision by the dean. The student must write a letter addressed to the vice president of academic affairs stating the reasons why the decision of the dean should not be accepted. The letter must be submitted to the vice president of academic affairs’ office. Written appeals may be in the form of electronic communication and should include copies of any documentation cited in support of the student’s case. The vice president of academic affairs will review the documentation and communicate the results in writing to the student, instructor, and the respective dean of academic affairs within five working days from receiving the appeal.

The decision of the vice president of academic affairs shall be final.