Academic Honesty Policy
As with any academic institution, Columbia College Hollywood considers cheating on exams and assignments, plagiarism, and knowingly furnishing false information as unacceptable behavior on the part of a student. This behavior is punished severely.
Cheating, plagiarism and knowingly furnishing false information are defined by established academic standards in widespread use. All students, as part of the Admission Process, will read and sign a statement describing the college’s policy against cheating and plagiarism.
If a student is caught cheating, or, equally importantly, plagiarizing material published in any available source – including, but not limited to, print and websites, the punishment is unbending. A student found to be cheating receives an “F” and no possible credit for the course in question and may also be expelled for a period of one quarter to one year. All plagiarism is punished by expulsion for not less than one year.
Following the period of expulsion, the student must petition to be re-admitted. The petition must be addressed to the Dean of the College and must, in the student’s own words, describe what the student did, explain why the student did it and what and how the student now understands this is unacceptable, dishonest behavior and will not be repeated. Any repetition of any dishonest behavior will result in the immediate and permanent expulsion of the student.
If the offense is discovered after the student has completed all course work towards graduation, but before an actual graduation ceremony, the student will be denied the right to be graduated. If the offense is discovered after the student has been graduated, the student’s diploma shall be voided. All such expulsions or other punishments will be described, permanently, in the student’s Columbia College record and transcripts.
Process
Faculty members who believe a student has cheated, plagiarized or knowingly provided false information will present the Dean of the College with all documents and other supporting evidence to the student’s breach of academic honesty.
The Dean of the College will hand over all documents and evidence to the Honor Committee to assist in investigating the facts of the case, and determine guilt. The Honor Committee is comprised of the Librarian, two faculty members chosen by the Dean of the College, the student-elected President of the Student Government Association, and an additional student-elected representative to the Honor Committee. Each member of the Honor Committee has an equal vote, and either a student or faculty member can chair it. The Committee is charged only with investigating the matter and determining the accuracy of the charge. The Committee shall have leeway in the punishment for cheating – ranging from an “F” to expulsion for up to a year. The Committee has no leeway in the punishment for plagiarism, which is always expulsion.
Simultaneous to handing over documents to the Committee, the Dean of the College will contact the Dean of Students about the matter at hand. The Dean of Students will be the liaison to the student who has been charged with cheating or plagiarism, explain all charges and their severity, and explain procedures so the student can best represent himself or herself in the matter.
Questions by the Committee to the faculty member who believes dishonesty occurred must go through the Dean of the College. The Committee may request an interview with the faculty member, but only if the Dean of the College is present at the interview. Questions must be relevant to the charges, and focus on the course, the criteria for the course, the assignment, and the alleged violation of policy only.
If a student wishes to contest the determination of the Honor Committee concerning a decision, the student may appeal the decision. An appeal must be made in writing within two weeks to the Dean of the College. The appeal will be reviewed, along with the original faculty member’s complaint and all subsequent investigation, including that done by the Deans, by a panel comprised of the Dean of the College, the Dean of Student Services, and a faculty member to be named by the Dean of the College.
The final determination of punishment is clear and irrevocable. A student’s status as a domestic or international student will have no bearing on this, nor will it be left to any other administrator, faculty member or committee to decide, no matter how much integrity the other body or person may bring.
All matters of a breach of academic honesty shall be handled swiftly.
Further Definition Of Cheating and Plagiarism
Cheating includes, as some examples: using written or produced assignments from one class for academic credit in another class (unless allowed as in the example of some screenplays), collaborating with another student on an assigned project unless allowed, handing in work written or produced by another student as your own or writing or producing work for another student to use as his or her own, passing in exams or other assignments with answers or materials knowingly taken from the work of another student, consulting texts, notes, or other materials while taking an exam unless allowed, use of crib sheets, signing another student’s name on an attendance or crew roster, and knowingly falsely stating that another student was present in a class or on a crew.
Plagiarism comes from the Latin word “to kidnap.” It means you are stealing someone else’s words, thoughts, and/or conclusions. To avoid plagiarism, be sure to reference with source any words or materials you take from the published or otherwise disseminated work or another person or persons – including websites. If you are unschooled in or confused about how to source your work, the Librarian is available to answer you questions.
