Standards of Academic Honesty
As an academic community committed to fostering an ethical and intellectual environment, Kenzie Academy at Southern New Hampshire University holds its students to these standards of academic honesty: The Academy expects that all aspects of a student’s educational pursuit are conducted with the highest degree of honesty, accountability for one’s own work, and respect for the intellectual property of others. Violations of these academic standards, such as plagiarism and cheating, constitute serious offenses and will result in sanctions. This policy defines the standards of honesty that students and members of the academic community are expected to follow. In addition, it describes procedures for handling allegations of misconduct and the sanctions that may result from violations.
Academic Honesty Definitions
The violation of the University’s Standards of Academic Honesty constitutes a serious offense. Violations include, but are not limited to, the major categories of academic dishonesty, as defined below:
- Cheating. Cheating is the act of deceiving, which includes such acts as: receiving or communicating code from another during an assessment; looking at another’s assessments; using code along material from outside sources such as youtube; or whatever else is deemed contrary to the rules of fairness, including special rules designated by the instructor/reviewer in the course/competency.
- Plagiarism. Plagiarism is the representation of someone else’s code, ideas, or words as one’s own without crediting the source. It is the use, whether by paraphrase or direct quotation, of the published or unpublished work of another without full and clear acknowledgment through proper citation format. The submission of an assignment or parts of an assignment written by someone other than the student, including but not limited to, other students, commercial organizations, and electronic sources constitutes plagiarism.
- Misrepresentation. Misrepresentation is having another student or individual substitute for oneself in any instance.
Unauthorized Collaboration. Unauthorized collaboration is the sharing of work completed for an assignment, project, quiz, or assessment or answers with another student without the permission of the instructor/reviewer in the course/competency. Examples of unauthorized collaboration include providing students your repos, taking screenshots of fellow students’ code, and copying other students’ code when sharing in instructional environments.. - Self-Plagiarism (Work Done for One Course and Submitted to Another). Work done for one course and submitted to another refers to work previously submitted at this or any other institution to fulfill academic requirements in another class, to include repeated classes or outside employment. Slightly altered work from one course that has been resubmitted to another is also considered to be fraudulent. In some instances, the subject matter expert may allow a certain amount of work from a prior course to be repurposed; students who wish to do this must seek express approval from the instructor in advance. Under no circumstances will a complaint be considered if resubmitted work earns a different grade than from the original submission.
- Other Academic Misconduct. Other academic misconduct includes, but is not limited to, submitting broken links or empty repositories to assessments/activities, altering academic records, including grades; sabotaging the work of another student; distributing materials for the purpose of cheating; altering, forging, or misusing Kenzie-related documents; intentionally reporting a false violation of academic integrity; and offering a bribe to any Kenzie member in exchange for special consideration or favors.
Academic Honesty Policy Awareness
All members of the integrity committee, staff, Subject Matter Expert (SME), and including students in the Kenzie programs have a responsibility to acquaint themselves with the Academic Honesty Policy. SME/reviewers, and appropriate staff are asked to join in educating students about academic honesty; students are expected to acquaint themselves with the Policy.
SME/reviewers must know the policy on academic honesty. Further, the policy should be published on syllabi and SME/reviewers should discuss their own expectations regarding academic honesty on discussion boards or in announcements, as it applies to specific features of a course/competency.
Students are expected to read and adhere to the Academic Honesty Policy, and the Definitions of Violations of Academic Honesty (above). Students must seek clarification from the SME/reviewer in the course/competency on any aspect of the Academic Honesty Policy about which they have questions or confusion. Students should remind fellow students about the requirements for academic honesty and are expected to report any instance when another student attempts to inappropriately obtain or use their work or any suspected violation.