Academic Dishonesty

Students often see cheating as a short cut to manage the multiple classes in which they may be enrolled, along with everything else in their lives. Encourage your student not to cheat - but instead to talk to the instructor ahead of time if your student anticipates things may be difficult. Even if your student isn't sure how to cite or whether paraphrasing is appropriate — these are good questions for the instructor of the course. Some students plagiarize without intending to - but even these situations are considered violations of Harper's academic honesty policy.

Faculty members have the oversight for the academic experience in the classroom. This means that it is up to the faculty member to communicate the academic standards - including violations of those standards, such as cheating, plagiarism, and inappropriate collaboration. The faculty member is also the one who determines if violations of the academic standards occurred. If a faculty member believes that a student has engaged in academic dishonesty, he/she should have a conversation with your student about it, and how to avoid it in the future. If the faculty member believes the student violated the academic standards, he/she can issue an appropriate academic grade penalty. These are often set within departments, and vary from allowing a rewrite of an assignment to failure of an assignment or course.

The faculty member should report the incident to Student Conduct. Student Conduct will inform your student of the receipt of the information, of the academic complaint process if he/she would like to appeal the decision, and also of the process and consequences of any future alleged violations. If your student is found to have engaged in academic dishonesty a second time, he/she may be subject to a campus conduct process which could include dismissal from Harper College.

If a faculty member determines your student engaged in academic dishonesty, your student can appeal that decision through the academic complaint process. The first step is for the student to contact the instructor to discuss what happened. If the student is not pleased with that outcome, the next step is to email the department chair or coordinator. Please review the Academic Complaint Process, located on p. 20 of the Student Code of Conduct, for more detailed information about deadlines related to this process. As this is also a learning process, please encourage your student to advocate for his/her own concerns, rather than trying to act on your student's behalf. You can contact the Student Conduct Officer with any questions, or encourage your student to do so.