Academic Integrity at Western New England College

We come to college not only to acquire a degree but also to achieve intellectual and moral growth. We grow as thoughtful beings only to the extent that, after considering the opinions of others, we try to reach our own reasoned conclusions. If we present the words and opinions of others as our own, neither we nor our teachers will be able to gauge our growth. Cheating thus stunts our intellectual process, but it does even greater damage to our moral development. Morally speaking, the unacknowledged use of the words of others is theft. These words and opinions should be regarded and acknowledged as someone else's intellectual property.

The aim of this booklet is threefold:

  • To discourage and warn students who cheat deliberately
  • To offer guidance to those students who simply do not know how to use quotations and paraphrasing properly

  • To give moral support to honest and conscientious students

FORMS OF ACADEMIC DISHONESTY INCLUDE BUT ARE
NOT LIMITED TO THE FOLLOWING:

  • Copying word-for-word, paraphrasing, or summarizing from a written or electronic source
  • Borrowing from another student's paper or exam
  • Lending another student a paper, research results, or other material for the purpose of unacknowledged presentation
  • Writing another student's paper
  • Revising or editing another student's paper so that the paper is no longer substantially the student's own writing or giving help in either writing or revising that goes beyond the limits set by the teacher in the course
  • Submitting the same or substantially the same paper in two different courses without the prior approval of the second professor
  • Copying another student's work during a test
  • Using unauthorized materials in tests
  • Giving information to another student during a test, taking a test in the name of another student, changing any written work after it has been graded and returned, obtaining copies of tests before they are given, or altering academic records
  • Participating in unauthorized collaboration on academic projects in any way not explicitly authorized by the teacher
  • Making up data or sources that do not exist or deliberately falsifying the data or information and research results in sources used
  • Buying papers on-line, or from paper writing services (illegal in Massachusetts), or from another student for the purpose of presenting them as one's own work

WARNING FOR THOSE WHO ARE TEMPTED TO
CHEAT DELIBERATELY

The "Everyone's Doing It" defense is not acceptable and is based on false assumptions. Only a tiny percentage of academic work done by students at Western New England College fails to meet standards for honesty. Moreover, the faculty is united in its insistence on academic integrity.

PROCEDURES FOR HANDLING ALLEGATIONS OF
ACADEMIC DISHONESTY

When a student is alleged to have committed an academic offense and suspension or dismissal from the College is not an initial consideration, the original hearing body is the Department Chairperson of the faculty member making the allegation. Any request for review of decisions made at this level is to the Academic Dean of the School involved.  Except when suspension or dismissal from the College is recommended, the decision of the Academic Dean is final and binding.  If a Department Chairperson is the initiator of the allegation, the initial hearing body will be the Chairperson's Academic Dean and the reviewing body the Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Typical sanctions are an F grade on the paper or other work involved or an F grade in the course as a whole. The F grade in the course remains in the student's grade point average and cannot be removed by retaking the course. The student may retake the course, but both grades are counted in the grade point average.

In the event that a student has two violations of academic integrity, suspension or dismissal from the College may be a consideration.  In these cases, the hearing body will be the All-College Disciplinary Board or the Office of the Dean of Students. The Board's recommendation will be forwarded to the Assistant Dean of Students for consideration of implementation. The review agent for such cases will be the Vice President for Student Affairs.

This material is part of the Student Conduct Code and is published in the Student Handbook.

GUIDANCE FOR THOSE WHO ARE UNSURE OF
WHAT CONSTITUTES ACADEMIC DISHONESTY

I.  Correct Ways to Use Quotations, Paraphrases, and Summaries

    A.  Materials from written or electronic sources

  1. Direct quotations - copying a selection exactly as it is appears in the source material.  (Use no quotation marks and a block indent of one inch for quotations of more than four lines.  For up to four lines, use quotation marks and do not indent).

    Correct:  Smith and Jones state:

    A number of writers of the Harlem Renaissance period are difficult to classify because of the structure and variety of their work.  Some, such as Dorothy West, transcend literary periods because of the chronological scope of their writing.  West critiqued injustice in stories such as "The Typewriter," in which she profiles a thwarted attempt by an African American man to realize the American Dream.  Her novels The Living is Easy (1948) and The Wedding (1995) focus on issues such as the great black migration, the legacy of slavery, color, and class prejudice. (167)

    Incorrect:  A number of writers of the Harlem Renaissance period are difficult to classify because of the structure and variety of their work.  Some, such as Dorothy West, transcend literary periods because of the chronological scope of their writing.  West critiqued injustice in stories such as "The Typewriter," in which she profiles a thwarted attempt by an African American man to realize the American Dream.  Her novels The Living is Easy (1948) and The Wedding (1995) focus on issues such as the great black migration, the legacy of slavery, color, and class prejudice.

  2. Paraphrasing - restating the content of a passage in one's own words.

    Correct:  Smith and Jones point out that several writers of this period produced work for such a long time that it is hard to put them in one classification.  Dorothy West, for instance, talked about economic injustice in her 1926 story "The Typewriter" and about other matters in her 1948 and 1955 novels The Living is Easy and The Wedding (167).

    Incorrect:  Smith and Jones point out that several writers of this period produced work for such a long time that it is hard to put them in one classification.  Dorothy West, for instance, talked about economic injustice in her 1926 story "The Typewriter" and about other matters in her 1948 and 1955 novels The Living is Easy and The Wedding.

  3. Summarizing - condensing or recapping the main points of a passage.

    Correct:  Smith and Jones point out that Dorothy West is one of several writers of this period who produced work for such a long time that it is hard to put them in one classification (167).

    Incorrect:  Smith and Jones point out that Dorothy West is one of several writers of this period who produced work for such a long time that it is hard to put them in one classification.

SOURCE FOR MATERIAL USED IN PART A

Smith, Rochelle and Jones, Sharon. The Prentice Hal
     Anthology of African American Literature.
     Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, Inc., 2000.

    B.  Materials used from oral sources

Oral sources also must be attributed correctly.  Use of oral sources includes but is not limited to the following:

  • Quoting, summarizing, or paraphrasing instructors' lectures
  • Using ideas from interviews with people
  • Using television interviews, news broadcasts, and talk shows
  • Plays, performances, films, and television programs

IF YOU ARE NOT PERFECTLY CLEAR ABOUT HOW
TO DOCUMENT SOURCES, REFER TO YOUR ENGLISH
HANDBOOK,  ASK YOUR INSTRUCTOR, OR TALK TO A
TUTOR IN THE WRITING CENTER.