HARPUR COLLEGE ACADEMIC HONESTY COMMITTEE
POLICY AND PROCEDURES

PREAMBLE

The Harpur College Academic Honesty Committee is not a legal or judicial body but an administrative one. The Committee hears and deliberates on cases involving academic dishonesty but renders no binding verdicts, judgments or decisions. After evaluating a case, the Committee sends to the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, non-binding recommendations as to the action the Dean might choose to take. The final disposition of a case is not within the jurisdiction or power of the Committee.

I.    MEMBERSHIP

The Committee shall consist of three faculty members, two student members and one administrative member to be selected in the same manner as the members of any other Harpur College standing committee. The Chair shall be selected in the same manner as the Chair of any other Harpur College standing committee.

II.    QUORUM

A Committee quorum shall consist of four committee members with the proviso that at least one of these be a student and one be a faculty member. Any member of the Committee who brings a charge is automatically disqualified for that hearing, and, before a hearing begins, if any one involved in that case accuses a member of being prejudiced, the other members of the Committee shall decide, by a secret ballot, whether that member shall be disqualified for that hearing.

III.    INITIATION OF ACTION

Either faculty members or students may submit charges of plagiarism or cheating against students. Upon receipt of a signed charge against a student, the Chair shall convene the whole Committee at the earliest convenient time.

Students who feel that they have been unjustly accused of academic dishonesty or feel that they have been unjustly penalized for alleged academic dishonesty, by a faculty member, may request that the case be heard by the Committee. All such requests shall be granted and shall be handled as in IV-VI below.

IV.    NOTIFICATION OF STUDENT

The Chair or the Chair's designee shall notify the student or students of the charges under consideration. This notification shall be in writing and shall become a part of the record. This notification shall inform the student of the following, with sufficient particularity and in sufficient time to insure opportunity to prepare for the hearing.

1. The specific charges brought.
2. The time and place to appear before the Committee for a hearing.
3. The privilege to have one person of the student's's own choosing appear in an advisory capacity.
4. The right to be present to any portion of the meeting when evidence is heard with respect to the case.
5. The right to request that any person involved in the case be present at the time the student appears before the Committee.
6. The right to challenge the impartiality of any member of the Committee in accordance with II above.
7. The right to cross-examine witnesses.
8. The right, after the Committee has met and made its recommendation to the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, to appeal the Associate Dean's decision to the Dean of Arts and Sciences. Students electing to appeal the decision of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs must notify the Associate Dean within 30 days of the decision of their intent to appeal. The Associate Dean will then provide information necessary to filing the appeal.
9. The procedures and policy of the Academic Honesty Committee as outlined in the present document.

The hearing shall consist of at least three parts:

1. The initial presentation of evidence and discussion with parties bringing evidence. (If a teaching assistant was involved in discovering the alleged academic dishonesty, both faculty member and teaching assistant should be present.)
2. Discussion with the student (and the student's adviser if an adviser is present).
3. The assessment of the evidence by the Committee and the formulation of its recommendation to the Associate Dean.

VI.    DECISION OF THE COMMITTEE

The decision of the Committee will take place in part three of the meeting. The decision will be based on an open vote by all members of the Committee in attendance. The recommendation shall be based on a vote of the majority of the members present. Those members of the Committee who do not concur with the majority decision have the right to append a minority report to the recommendations.

A record of the hearing will be made with sufficient particularity to allow for review by the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and the Dean of Harpur College, but a verbatim record is not required.

The Committee can recommend to the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs any of the following:

1. No action be taken against the student or students involved.
2. A letter of reprimand be sent to the student.
3. The student be placed on disciplinary probation and in the event the student is found guilty of any other acts of academic dishonesty, a more stringent penally could result.
4. Denial of registration for a specified period of time.
5. Expulsion--No opportunity to return to Harpur College.
6. Additional actions such as follow-up interviews with the Committee.

VII.    INCIDENTS OF ADEMIC DISHONESTY NOT FORMALLY HEARD BY THE COMMITTEE

A faculty member who has detected academic dishonesty may decide not to bring a formal charge of dishonesty to the Committee, but rather to notify the Committee that this dishonesty has occurred. The committee chair will keep such information in its confidential files until the student's graduation, or for six years following the student's departure from the institution, provided both the faculty member and the student sign a document testifying that the student has reviewed the Procedures of the Harpur College Academic Honesty Committee, that the student is aware of the right to a hearing before the Committee, that the student waives this right to a hearing, that the student admits dishonesty, that the faculty member agrees not to file a formal charge with the Committee, and that the students is aware s/he will receive a letter of reprimand from the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. When all these conditions are met and the document is signed by faculty member and student, the student has 30 days to reconsider and to request a formal hearing before the committee. All such documents will be kept in the committee Chair's confidential files to be introduced.

1. If the student for some subsequent act is charged with academic dishonesty. At which point, the student's admission of guilt would only be introduced after the issue of the student's guilt or innocence was determined and only for the purpose of determining the recommended penalty.
2. If a faculty member (at some subsequent point in time) alleges to the Chair of the Committee that this student is guilty of dishonesty, the Committee Chair would inform the faculty member that a record of dishonesty already exists for the student and therefore a charge should be brought before the Committee.

The Committee will publish an annual report for Harpur College Council, will also disseminate the activities of the body through other means, and will encourage and coordinate ongoing educational activities in the college community.

APPROVED BY HARPUR COLLEGE COUNCIL 2/94