Code of Conduct

The University grading system is built on trust. The University trusts you to submit work which is solely your own, and the University trusts your instructor to assign grades fairly. When you break this trust and either submit work which is not entirely your own or permit others to submit your work as their own, you put the fairness of the entire grading system at risk. Therefore, cheating in this course will simply not be tolerated.

Cheating is defined as either submitting work which is not entirely your own or making it possible for another to submit your work as if it is their own. This includes, but is not necessarily limited to, the following actions:

1. Working with another student in the completion of your course work. Asking isolated, specific questions of your classmates is acceptable; working side by side with them on the same assignment is not. All work for this course is expected to be done solely by the individual who will eventually submit it as their own. If an exception for collaborative work is allowed, it will be clearly stated in the assignment description.
2. Submitting work that was done under the step-by-step direction of another individual. If step-by-step demonstrations are necessary for you to learn how to do your course work, you should repeat those steps independently to create the work you actually submit as your own.
3. Obtaining the work of another student and submitting any part of it as your own. This even includes the basic raw materials necessary for an assignment. It is your responsibility to get these materials directly from the official source provided or make alternative arrangements with your instructor. Never share disks or files with another student.
4. Allowing another student to copy your work, in whole or in part. It is your responsibility to protect your work from those who may wish to copy it for their own use. Never share disks or files with another student.
5. Using unauthorized notes or materials, including the paper of a fellow student, during an examination. This would also include using a copy of the actual exam in preparing for the examination (unless that copy has been provided to you directly by your instructor as a study aid).
6. Sharing exam-specific information with another student when one of you has taken the exam and the other has not.

If you forfeit the trust placed in you by taking an action which can be construed as cheating, it is very likely that you will be caught. And if you are caught cheating, it is a virtual certainty that you will be punished. The precise nature of the punishment will be decided only after an investigation of the circumstances is completed. However, unless significant mitigating circumstances can be identified, the most likely punishment will be failure from the course. At the very least, you will receive a punishment substantially worse than a simple zero for the assignment or exam in question.

Note that when you are failed from the course for cheating, your instructor is obligated by University regulations to inform their departmental chair, your academic advisor, and the dean of your college of this event in writing. Even if you are not failed from the course, your instructor may, at their discretion, provide written notice of their disciplinary actions to some or all of the same individuals. These letters of notification may, in turn, lead to additional consequences, such as further disciplinary action and/or difficulty with graduate school admission.

Please fill out the blanks in the statement that follows and return the signed copy to your instructor before leaving class.

Student Statement

I, _____________ (print your name), have read the above statements as they pertain to the course _____________ (course number). By signing below, I am indicating that I understand and accept both the definition of cheating presented and the likelihood that I will be failed from the course if I am caught cheating.

Signed: _______ Date: ________