| STUDENT HONOR CODE |
We expect all members of our academic community
to function according to the highest ethical
and professional standards. Students, faculty,
and the administration of the institution
must be involved to ensure this quality of
academic conduct. Academic misconduct undermines
the purpose of education. Such behavior is
a serious violation of the trust that must
exist among faculty and students for a university
to nurture intellectual growth and development.
Academic misconduct can generally be defined
as all acts of dishonesty in an academic
or related matter. Academic dishonesty includes,
but is not limited to, the following categories
of behavior:
- ABETTING: helping another student commit
an act of academic dishonesty. Allowing someone
to copy your quiz answers or use your work
as their own are examples of abetting.
- CHEATING: use or attempted use of unauthorized
materials, information, study aids, the answers
of others, or computer-related information.
- PLAGIARISM: claiming as your own the ideas,
words, data, computer programs, creative
compositions, artwork, etc., done by someone
else. Examples include improper citation
of referenced works, use of commercially
available scholarly papers, failure to cite
sources, or copying other's ideas.
- FABRICATION: presenting as genuine falsified
data, citations, or quotations.
- MISREPRESENTATION: falsification, alteration,
or misstatement of the contents of documents,
academic work, or other materials related
to academic matters, including work substantially
done for one class as work done for another
without receiving prior approval from the
instructor.
Violations of the UAB Academic Honor Code
are punishable by a range of penalties from
receiving a failing grade on an assignment
or examination to an F in the course. Any
course grade of F for academic misconduct
supersedes any other grade or notation for
that class. Withdrawal from a course while
a possible violation of the Academic Honor
Code is under review will not preclude the
assignment of a course grade that appropriately
reflects the student's performance prior
to withdrawal.
PROCEDURE FOLLOWING SUSPECTED VIOLATIONS
Upon reaching the conclusion that academic
dishonesty may have occurred and that action
is warranted, the instructor should inform
the student of the charge as soon as possible.
The student has the right to hear the instructor's
reasons for making the charge, to inspect
all relevant evidence in the instructor's
possession, and to respond to the charge.
Based on the student's response and all the
evidence, the instructor will determine if
a penalty is appropriate. If a penalty is
deemed appropriate, the instructor informs
the student of the action to be taken. If
the student is not in agreement with the
findings or the penalty, the instructor will
provide the student with a written statement
of the action taken and the basis for it.
A copy of this letter will be sent to the
chair of the department.
Within two weeks of this notification of
a judgment of academic dishonesty, the student
may appeal the instructor's decision by letter
to the chair of the department or his/her
designated representative. The chair, acting
expeditiously, should take testimony from
the student, the instructor, and all appropriate
witnesses and make a decision. If the chair
reverses the finding of academic misconduct,
the instructor must re-examine the work in
question and assign credit without prejudice.
In the event that the chair is the instructor
in the course, the dean will replace the
chair in the appeal process.
In those cases where a grade of F is assigned
in the course and the student has utilized
the appeal process described above (2), the
student has two weeks to appeal the decision
by letter to the dean of the school responsible
for the course. The dean should acknowledge
receipt of the student's appeal and inform
the student of the course of action within
10 working days of the date the appeal is
received in the dean's office. At the dean's
discretion, an advisory panel may be appointed
to study the appeal and make a recommendation
to the dean. However, it is the responsibility
and prerogative of the dean alone to make,
in a timely manner, the final decision. The
decision of the dean is final.
In cases where the final decision concerning
an academic misconduct charge is an F for
the course, a letter to this effect will
be sent to the Office of the Associate Provost
for Undergraduate Programs and kept on file.
A student who has received the grade of F
for two instances of academic misconduct
will be expelled from the university. The
student will be duly informed of the pending
expulsion and will be provided the opportunity
to be heard. The student has two weeks after
notification to request in writing a hearing
with the Associate Provost for Undergraduate
Programs. Students expelled for academic
misconduct will have this noted on their
transcript.
A student may be expelled on the first offense.
Students should consult the policies of the
school in which they are enrolled to determine
the circumstances under which expulsion can
occur with a first offense. One example is
for scientific misconduct in research or
scholarly activities.
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