Plagiarism

Plagiarism. Plagiarism is the act of taking the words or ideas of another and representing them as one's own.

Cheating. Examples of cheating include, but are not limited to, giving or receiving unauthorized assistance, before, during, or after an examination or assignment, falsification or misrepresentation of information in an academic exercise or assignment, unauthorized use of someone else's password or account number, and submitting work more than once without the consent of the instructor.

Disciplinary Action. Brenau University faculty will make every effort to deal with suspected violations of academic dishonesty. Faculty will submit an Incident Report Form detailing the violation and action taken to the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs where it will be kept on file. Should a faculty member be unable to deal with student suspected of academic dishonesty, an Incident Report Form detailing the suspected violation will be submitted to the Vice President for Academic Affairs and the VPAA will contact the accused student concerning the incident. The student will be given the opportunity to administer the appropriate action according to the sanctions on academic dishonesty. If the student denies guilt, the VPAA, in consultation with the Dean of the School and the instructor involved, will evaluate the evidence and determine appropriate action. (In cases where the incident occurred in a class section taught by the VPAA, the matter will be handled by the Vice President for Student Development and the Dean of the respective school.)

Should the student disagree with the action taken by the VPAA, an appeal process may be initiated by the student. This appeal must be submitted in writing within seven days of the VPAA's action. The case will be immediately referred to the Hearing Board. The Hearing Board will consist of three faculty members appointed by the VPAA and the Dean of the School from which the Incident Report was submitted. The student may request a faculty member or student affairs administrator to attend the hearing on his/her behalf.

SANCTIONS ON ACADEMIC DISHONESTY (including plagiarism, cheating, dishonesty, in classroom or classroom-related activities). The following sanctions represent the minimum action that will be taken. it is the prerogative of the VPAA to impose a stronger sanction if deemed appropriate.