UA Academic Regulations

Academic Regulations

Rising Junior Exam, Academic Honesty, Term Paper Assistance

Rising Junior Exam (AAGE)

Every undergraduate student in an Arkansas public college or university who has earned between 45 and 61 hours (including transfer hours accepted) is required by state law to take the Arkansas Assessment of General Education (AAGE). Early each term, students eligible to take the exam will be provided information regarding registration for the exam and testing times. Testing is administered in November and April.

Students who have not taken the test or who do not have a valid test score and who have earned 61 or more hours must take the AAGE during their first registration period following the accumulation of 61 or more hours. Students who must take their exam during the registration period must sign up in advance with Testing Services, 575-2824 (730 Hotz Hall). Students who have not met the testing requirement by the last day to register for classes will have their classes cancelled.

Academic Honesty

The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, presents this policy as part of its effort to maintain the integrity of its academic processes. Academic honesty should be a concern of the entire university community, and a commitment to it must involve students, faculty members, and university administrators.

Students must understand what academic integrity is and what the most common violations are. With that understanding they must commit themselves to the highest standards for their own, as well as for their peers', academic behavior.

Public support and encouragement of the faculty is a second critical component necessary to strengthen academic integrity on campus. Faculty members must be continually vigilant in the management of their classes, their assignments, and their tests.

Finally, the administration of the University must present to the students standards of academic integrity. Those standards must be part of a publicly recognized, understood, and accepted set of policies and procedures which can be applied consistently and fairly in cases of academic dishonesty.

It is the responsibility of each student, faculty member, and administrator to understand these policies. A lack of understanding is not an adequate defense against a charge of academic dishonesty.

With regards to the application of this policy, the University assures its support of faculty members and other employees of the University who are acting in good faith in the course and scope of their employment and in the performance of their official duties.

This policy is only a part of the University's effort to promote academic integrity in all aspects of its programs. By necessity, this part discusses only prohibited acts and a process of applying sanctions. The ultimate goal, of course, is to provide an atmosphere that will make superfluous the procedures and sanctions that follow.

Definitions

Academic dishonesty involves acts which may subvert or compromise the integrity of the educational process at the University of Arkansas. Included is an act by which a student gains or attempts to gain an academic advantage for himself or herself or another by misrepresenting his or her or another's work or by interfering with the completion, submission, or evaluation of work. These include, but are not limited to, accomplishing or attempting any of the following acts:

Altering of grades or official records.
Using any materials that are not authorized by the instructor for use during an examination.
Copying from another student's paper during an examination.
Collaborating during an examination with any other person by giving or receiving information without specific permission of the instructor.
Stealing, buying, or otherwise obtaining information about an unadministered examination.
Collaborating on laboratory work, take-home examinations, homework, or other assigned work when instructed to work independently.
Substituting for another person or permitting any other person to substitute for oneself to take an examination.
Submitting as one's own any theme, report, term paper, essay, computer program, other written work, speech, painting, drawing, sculpture, or other art work prepared totally or in part by another.
Submitting, without specific permission of the instructor, work that has been previously offered for credit in another course.
Plagiarizing, that is, the offering as one's own work the words, ideas, or arguments of another person without appropriate attribution by quotation, reference, or footnote. Plagiarism occurs both when the words of another are reproduced without acknowledgement or when the ideas or arguments of another are paraphrased in such a way as to lead the reader to believe that they originated with the writer. It is the responsibility of all University students to understand the methods of proper attribution and to apply those principles in all materials submitted.
Sabotaging of another student's work.
Falsifying or committing forgery on any University form or document.
Submitting altered or falsified data as experimental data from laboratory projects, survey research, or other field research.
Committing any willful act of dishonesty that interferes with the operation of the academic process.
Facilitating or aiding in any act of academic dishonesty.

Procedures

Sanctions for acts of academic dishonesty may be applied in the following ways:

A. Instructor Action
When an instructor determines or believes that a student in the instructor's class is guilty of academic dishonesty deserving of sanction, the instructor should within five working days follow one of the following: (If the instructor is either a graduate teaching assistant or a temporary faculty member, then a supervising faculty member or the departmental head or chairman may assist in the handling of an academic dishonesty case.)

The instructor may determine a grade sanction and within five working days report that sanction along with the essential details of the incident to the judicial coordinator in Academic Affairs. There is, under these circumstances, no request for administrative or judicial action. The student sanctioned in this way by an instructor will be notified by Academic Affairs and will have five working days from that notification to request a hearing by the All University Judiciary (AUJ) as outlined in Section B below. If the student does not request a hearing within five working days, then it is assumed that the sanction is not contested. The student will be required to have a conference with the judicial coordinator so that the consequences of the action can be made clear.
During the course of the hearing, the student's participation in the affected class should continue so that any action can be reversed without prejudicing the student's academic performance and evaluation. Should the hearing process not support the grading sanction applied by the instructor, then the instructor and student may agree and remedy the sanction with the student proceeding in the class without prejudice. If the instructor and the student cannot so agree, or if the grading sanction cannot be remedied, then the student may appeal via the Academic Appeal Structure for Undergraduate Students.
If the defense of any grade is based on alleged academic dishonesty and the faculty member has not followed the University policy, the ability of the faculty member to defend his or her action may be adversely affected.
The instructor may file an incident report form referring the case to the judicial process for determinations of guilt or innocence and the application of sanctions. If the student is determined to be guilty of academic dishonesty, then the instructor may apply a grade sanction in addition to whatever sanctions are applied by the judicial process. While such a case is pending in the judicial process, the student's participation in the affected class should continue in order to avoid pre-empting the options available after the guilt or innocence is determined. This course of action is appropriate in cases where there is doubt about guilt or innocence or in cases where the offense deserves sanctions beyond the grading system.

B. Judicial Process
If the instructor chooses to refer the case to the judicial process as outlined in A.2 or if another student, faculty member, or administrator wishes to charge a student with academic dishonesty, the following procedures will be followed:

Administrative Action. This would involve the application of a sanction or an admonition or some type of probation following established guidelines by the judicial coordinator after an incident has been reported by a faculty member, an administrator, or a student. Such action may be appropriate in cases where there is little or no disagreement as to the details of the reported incident. Administrative sanctions may be appealed by any party in the incident to AUJ within three working days of notification of the administrative action.
All University Judiciary (AUJ). This involves applications of sanctions for academic dishonesty after the case has been heard and decided by AUJ. This would be used in contested cases, cases of appeals of instructor or administrative actions, any case involving a student with previous record of academic dishonesty or who previously received a grade sanction for academic dishonesty, and in cases where the sanction could result in suspension or expulsion from the University. The procedures involved in AUJ action are available from Academic Affairs or Student Services.

Any action of AUJ may be appealed within five working days through the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs to the Chancellor of the University. If the Chancellor discovers evidence previously unavailable to AUJ, then the Chancellor may explain in writing to the Chair of AUJ and ask that AUJ rehear the case.

Sanctions

The choice of sanctions in cases of academic dishonesty always involves considerations of the integrity of the educational process of the University. There is no place in that process for academic dishonesty; and if a student is undermining the integrity of that process, then separating that student from the University is the natural sanction. The intent of this policy is to make acts of academic dishonesty clear risks, that is, the sanctions are to be sufficiently heavy to deter academic dishonesty. Thus, the application of a grade sanction as the only sanction is to be very carefully considered and should occur only in unusual cases.

The following are possible sanctions for academic dishonesty:

Grading Sanctions. An instructor may apply grading sanctions. Such sanctions may also be recommended by either the judicial coordinator in case of administrative action or by AUJ, but the final decision will be that of the instructor. Grade sanctions may consist of either grades of zero or failing grades on part or all of a submitted assignment or examination, or a lowering of a course grade, or a failing grade. All grade sanctions must be appropriately reported as outlined in the procedures above. A grade sanction may be appealed by the student via the Academic Appeal Structure for Undergraduate Students.
Admonition or Probations. These are applied by either administrative action or AUJ action. The types:
- Admonition. This is a firm warning against future violations, filed in the office of the judicial coordinator.
- Conduct Probation. This is a probation imposed for a specified period and constitutes a final warning and a second chance to demonstrate what has been learned and to show improved judgment.
- Personal Probation. This is a probation imposed for a specified period and constitutes a final warning of more severe sanctions. This requires the student to meet periodically with a University official to discuss and explore alternatives to the kind of behavior which resulted in the sanction.
- Disciplinary Probation. This is probation imposed for a specified period and constitutes a warning which affects the student's good standing in the University. Violations of regulations during the period are likely to result in suspension or expulsion. During the period, the student is no longer to hold campus offices, receive honors, or represent the University in extracurricular or intercollegiate activities.
- Educative Sanctions. These include a variety of assignments, tasks, or experiences that should make the offender more aware of the nature of the general problem of academic dishonesty. These may be applied in conjunction with any admonition or probation.
Suspensions. Suspensions for a specified period of time from the University may be recommended by AUJ. Such suspensions may be for the remainder of a semester or for a specified number of semesters. In cases of clearly premeditated cheating or cases where either illegal actions or conspiracy with others is involved, suspension for at least the remaining part of a semester or one full semester must be considered as a sanction. Also, suspension will normally be the minimal sanction in cases where a student is guilty of academic dishonesty for a second time.
Expulsion. Expulsion from the University for an indefinite period of time may be recommended by AUJ.

Term Paper Assistance

The use of services of term paper assistance companies is a violation of university policies on academic integrity. Student submission of such research or term papers to meet requirements of any class or degree program is expressly prohibited and constitutes academic dishonesty. Any violation of this prohibition will automatically result in both punitive action by the instructor (e.g., the award of a grade of "F" for the course) and a referral of each violation to the All-University Judiciary Committee for its consideration.

College Policies

This University policy does not preclude the implementation by colleges of policies determined by the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs to be more rigorous.

Continued in next document.

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