Texas Edition 2013-2014 > Academic Policies and Procedures > Academic Honor Code

Academic Honor Code

Academic honesty, integrity, and ethical behavior are required of all members of the University community. Students are expected to conduct themselves in a manner reflecting the ideals, values, and educational aims of the University at all times. Academic integrity and honorable behavior are essential parts of professionalism that will be required well beyond graduation. They are the foundation for ethical behavior in the workplace to which West Coast University students aspire.

The general public, as well as professional organizations and accrediting bodies, hold individuals in the health care industry to a high standard and expect the University to monitor the professional behavior of faculty, associates and students. As current or future professionals, students have a responsibility to follow this model and guide their actions to serve in the best interest of their fellow students, faculty and health care professionals and those they will care for as patients by maintaining the highest degree of personal and professional integrity. Students need to be aware of the fact that they represent their profession in and out of the academic environment. Therefore, allegations of misconduct, regardless where that misconduct may have occurred, will be taken very seriously.

Academic integrity requires that work for which students receive credit be entirely the result of their own effort. Acting honorably in an academic setting requires more than simple honesty. Academic dishonesty takes place whenever a student undermines the academic integrity of the institution or attempts to gain an unfair advantage over others. The following list includes some examples of Honor Code violations; the list is not intended to be exhaustive.

1. Cheating
   
   • Using unauthorized materials such as books, notes, cell phones, PDA accessories or crib sheets to answer examination questions
   • Taking advantage of information considered unauthorized by one’s instructor regarding examination questions
   • Copying another student’s homework, written assignments, examination answers, electronic media, or other data
   • Assisting someone else to cheat, or knowingly allowing someone else to cheat
   • Failure to report cheating to an academic official of the University
2. Plagiarism
   • Representing the ideas, expressions, or materials of another without providing the author with due credit
   • Paraphrasing or condensing ideas from another person’s work without proper citation
   • Failing to document direct quotations and paraphrases with proper citation
3. Other forms of academic dishonesty
   • Fraud, deception, and the alteration of grades or official records
   • Changing examination solutions after the fact, inventing, changing or falsifying laboratory data or research
   • Purchasing or in some other manner obtaining and then submitting written assignments, homework, or examinations that do not represent the student’s original work
   • Reproducing or duplicating images, designs, or Web pages without giving credit to the developer, artist, or designer
   • Submitting work created for another course without instructor approval
   • Misrepresenting oneself or one’s circumstance to gain an unfair advantage
   • Collaborating with another person(s) without instructor approval
   • Selling or providing term papers, course work, study guide or assignments to other students

There are several possible consequences for a student who has violated the University’s Honor Code. These include, but are not limited to:

1. Failure of the assignment
2. Failure of the course
   • A student is prohibited from withdrawing from a course in which an “F” grade is received due to a violation of the Honor Code
3. Expulsion from the University
4. Rescinding a certificate or degree

All violations of the Honor Code will be reported to the University’s administration to investigate. Individual reports will also be evaluated in the context of potential patterns of dishonesty. The faculty, in conjunction with administration, will make a determination of the effect on student status and/or course grades resulting from substantiated reports of honor code violations.

Academic dishonesty is a corrosive force in the academic life of a university. It jeopardizes the quality of education and depreciates the genuine achievements of others. It is the responsibility of all members of the campus community to actively deter it. Apathy or ignoring the presence of academic dishonesty is not acceptable. If students, faculty or staff members do not confront academic dishonesty, it will reinforce, perpetuate, and enlarge the scope of such misconduct. Further, ignorance of the University’s Honor Code is not a valid excuse for engaging in prohibited conduct. All University community members are responsible for knowing, and living by, the Honor Code. Furthermore, all members of the University community including students, faculty, and staff share the responsibility and authority to challenge and make known acts of apparent academic dishonesty.