Richmindale College fosters a learning environment that is committed to excellence, fairness, and integrity. To accomplish this mission, students must take the responsibility for demonstrating these values in their own conduct. Richmindale College students are required to adhere to the highest standards of scholarship, research, and academic conduct–prohibitng all forms of academic dishonesty. Students are expected to carry out their work with intellectual honesty and professional integrity.

Academic dishonesty in any form undermines the ethical standards of higher education. Students who engage in academic dishonesty and other related behaviors will be imposed with penalties in accordance with the procedures set by Richmindale College. Violations may lead to consequences such as failure in an assignment, failure in a course, suspension, or expulsion from the College, and other penalties.

These are examples of behaviors that constitute academic dishonesty.

1. Plagiarism - presenting others’ work or ideas, failing to give appropriate credit to the source of information (i.e., word-for-word copying of someone else’s work, unacknowledged paraphrasing of the language of another person’s work)
2. Cheating - bringing or accessing unauthorized materials during an examination, submitting the same or substantially similar work in multiple courses, altering, or forging academic documents, submitting answers on an exam that were obtained from the work of another person, providing answers to others during examination, and other behaviors that compromise academic integrity.
3. Fabrication of data - falsifying, altering, or inventing research citations or any information on academic assignments and exercises
4. Collusion - Cooperation of students with faculty and staff in securing confidential information, bribery by students to change exam grades or grade point average

When a faculty member determines that academic dishonesty in an assignment has occurred, the faculty member can address the issue directly with the student by considering one of the following options:

• educating the student on plagiarism (whenever it is unintentional or due to deficiency in understanding of what plagiarism is);
• allowing a student to resubmit the assignment;
• or taking steps to report the offense using the procedure outlined below along with a disciplinary action such as issuing a Failing grade on the assignment, reducing the final grade, or issuing a Failing grade for the course
1. If the instructor and student cannot resolve the plagiarism issue, the instructor submits an Academic Dishonesty Complaint form to the Program Director or designee, with a copy sent to the student. The student has an opportunity to respond to the allegation.
2. The Program Director or designee assigns an Academic Honesty Committee, which reviews the forms and communications, and determines an appropriate action to address the issue. Some of the possible outcomes include student removal from class, loss of semester credit, documented counseling, or in extreme cases, expulsion from the school. The President of Richmindale College is informed of all reported instances and the actions taken.
3. The student has the right to appeal against the decision to the Program Director or designee. All actions are based on the severity of the offense.