Principles of Academic Responsibility

• Principles of Academic Responsibility
• Violations of Academic Responsibility

Principles of Academic Responsibility    
Students and faculty members assume a commitment to the academic community that supports teaching and learning in an open environment based on mutual trust, respect, and concern. All members of the community have the right to careful and constructive analysis of their work, and they have the responsibility to provide a serious response to the work of others.

Each member of the academic community has the right to benefit from its collective knowledge and resources as well as the responsibility to contribute to them. Plagiarism or other forms of scholarly misconduct can have no purpose or place in the academic life of the College.

It is the responsibility of each student to read A Guide to the Uses and Acknowledgment of Sources and the Student Handbook, which define the standards adopted by the College; to observe the established procedures in preparing assignments and writing papers and examinations, and to submit as one’s own only that work that she or he has originated. Each instructor is responsible for making clear acceptable procedures for course work and for guiding students in those research methods and standards relevant to a particular discipline. It is everyone’s responsibility to observe those procedures publicized by campus announcements, such as the procedures to be followed in preparing for and writing final examinations.

A carefully maintained library collection is central to any academic effort; it is built over a long period of years and must be preserved for the benefit of future students and faculty members, as well as for those currently here. The open stacks and reserve-book privileges of the library require that all members of the community accept responsibility for the current use of library materials and for following established borrowing procedures. Students should be aware that reserved and limited materials must be shared; instructors should allow sufficient time and adequate copies when making assignments in such materials. Specific information relating to use of the library is published in library handbooks for students and faculty members.

Electronic media now provide a major intellectual resource in the academic community. The principles adopted by Mount Holyoke College for the responsible use of these resources are found in the Software Rights Code from EDUCOM, which is as follows:

Respect for intellectual labor and creativity is vital to academic discourse and enterprise. This principle applies to works of all authors and publishers in media. It encompasses respect for the right to acknowledgment, right to privacy, and right to determine the form, manner, and terms of publication and distribution. Because electronic information is volatile and easily reproduced, respect for the work and personal expression of others is especially critical in computer environments. Violations of authorial integrity, including plagiarism, invasion of privacy, unauthorized access, and trade secret and copyright violations, may be grounds for sanctions against members of the academic community.

Publications from the Office of Computing and Information Systems in 108 Dwight Hall provide guidelines and information about the legal and ethical use of computer software.    
Violations of Academic Responsibility  
Infractions of the academic regulations include, but are not limited to:

• all forms of plagiarism- the unauthorized or unacknowledged use of material that is not one's own
• cheating in any form in preparing assignments, classroom work, and/or taking an examination
• theft, mutilation, and unlawful or improper use of library materials
• unlawful or improper use of computer materials

Violations of academic responsibility in preparing course work include, but are not limited to:

• using quotes without appropriate quotation marks and citation
• paraphrasing from a source without appropriate citation
• using unacknowledged or unauthorized outside sources including that of a fellow student or colleague
• misrepresenting the actual source from which material is cited
• failing to acknowledge a coauthor
• using a purchased term paper
• submitting the same or similar papers in two courses without prior permission
• submitting in whole or in part the work of another student as one's own
• falsifying data

Violations of academic responsibility related to examinations include, but are not limited to:

• using notes, books, or other sources during examinations without prior approval by the instructor
• receiving help from, or giving help to, another student during an examination
• revealing the content of an examination before all students have completed the examination
• exceeding the allotted time for an examination without prior authorization
• failing to follow examination procedures as published by the registrar and printed on the examination envelopes

Violations of academic responsibility in using the library include, but are not limited to:

• failing to check out properly a book that is removed from the library
• keeping a reserve book beyond the specified time limit
• marking, defacing, or destroying library materials

Violations of academic responsibility in using computer resources include, but are not limited to:

• using unauthorized or unacknowledged computer programs
• plagiarizing in any of its forms