To satisfy the expectations of those institutions to which some of its students ultimately transfer, as well as meet obligations to students, the Alabama Community College System, and the general public, Gadsden State expects all its students to conform to the College's Academic Honesty Policy. Any student who fails to comply with the Academic Honesty Policy may be charged with a violation.
Since the courts give an educational institution considerable discretion with respect to academic transgressions, instances of academic misconduct by students at GSCC will be handled by the instructor involved, the academic director involved, and the appropriate supervising instructional dean.
Violations of the Academic Honesty Policy include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Cheating—using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information, study aids, or computer-related information or unauthorized copying or collaboration in the preparation of any assignments or in the taking of any tests or examinations; looking on another student's paper during a test or examination or communicating in any way with anyone other than the test administrator
- Plagiarism—representing the words, data, works, ideas, computer program or output of someone else as one's own (The student should be aware that an electronic means may be used to discover plagiarism and cheating.)
- Misrepresentation—falsifying, altering, or misstating the contents of documents or other material related to academic matters, including schedules, prerequisites, and transcripts
- Violating explicit rules in clinical activities
Penalty for Violating the Academic Honesty Policy
If a student has violated the Academic Honesty Policy, the student may receive a grade of "F" for the course, overriding a student withdrawal from the course. The appropriate supervising instructional dean may refer the matter to the Academic Standards Committee or may issue the following disciplinary sanctions if this is not the student's first violation:
- Disciplinary admonition and warning
- Disciplinary probation with or without the loss of privileges for a definite period of time
- Suspension from the College for a definite period of time (i.e., suspension of the privilege to attend Gadsden State for a definite period of time)
- Expulsion from the College (i.e., removal of the privilege to attend Gadsden State).
If a student is found to be in violation of the Academic Honesty Policy with regards to misrepresentation—falsifying, altering, or misstating the contents of documents or other materials related to academic matters, including grades, schedules, prerequisites, and transcripts—the appropriate supervising instructional dean or his/her designee may impose any one or a combination of the following depending on the severity and frequency of the violation:
- A verbal or written warning
- Disciplinary admonition and warning
- Disciplinary probation with or without the loss of privileges for a definite period of time
- Suspension from the college for a definite period of time (i.e., suspension of the privilege to attend Gadsden State for a definite period of time)
- Expulsion from the College (i.e., removal of the privilege to attend Gadsden State)
The supervising instructional dean may appoint an Academic Standards Committee to serve as a special due process committee to hear any case and to make recommendations, but the final decision with respect to the charge rests with the supervising instructional dean and the president of the College. Only these two officers have the authority to dismiss a student from a program or from the College for academic misconduct.
Unsatisfactory grades and inadequate grade point average also fall within the bounds of academic misconduct, for which a student can be dismissed from a program or from the College. The student who fails to meet the published requirements of GSCC or a program has no right to appeal.