Quiz #1

Policy and Procedures

1. If you are found responsible for academic dishonesty at the University of Rochester, can you be suspended?

2. Can you withdraw from a class if you have been accused of academic dishonesty?

3. If you have been caught in an academically dishonest act, can your instructor come to an agreement with you about the consequences for it without reporting the case to the Board on Academic Honesty?

4. Once you've completed a course, are you exempt from accusations of academic dishonesty for work submitted in that course?

5. Is forging the signature of an instructor or academic advisor on an add/drop form considered academic dishonesty?

6. In classes where collaboration on work is allowed, can you be accused of academic dishonesty for work that you shared with a classmate?

7. Are Board on Academic Honesty hearings like civil or criminal court procedures, with cross-examination of witnesses, formal rules of evidence, legal technicalities and loopholes?

8. If an instructor, staff member, or other University official suspects that you have committed an academically dishonest act, can he or she choose not to report you to the board?

9. If you are unaware that what you did constitutes academic dishonesty, can you still be found responsible for it?

10. If you miss a citation for an idea or phrase from a secondary source but that source is listed in your bibliography, are you still guilty of plagiarism? In other words, is “accidental” plagiarism still plagiarism?

11. Can you include comments that your instructor has made in class in a paper you are writing for her without citing the instructor as the source?

12. Is most cheating done by students who are struggling to pass?

Answer Key 

1. Yes. Suspension is always a possible punishment for academic dishonesty, especially if the dishonesty is egregious and the student is unwilling to take responsibility for it. However, suspension more typically follows a second offense. 

2. No, with two exceptions. Once a charge of academic dishonesty has been brought, you must remain enrolled in the class unless the case is resolved in one of the following two ways:
   1. If you have signed a Warning Letter Form offered by your instructor, you can drop or withdraw from the course once the Instructor Resolution Warning Letter has been approved by the Board on Academic Honesty.
   2. If you are found not responsible through any of the three resolution processes, then you may drop or withdraw from the course. 

3. Yes. Only if your instructor follows the procedures outlined by the board using the Instructor Resolution Warning Letter or Instructor Resolution with Penalty. Instructors can NEVER come to an understanding with a student on their own in a case of suspected dishonesty without using these processes or submitting a case to the board as a Board Resolution.

4. No. Academic dishonesty can be reported to the board at any time it is discovered, even after a student has graduated.

5. Yes. Forging signatures or falsifying information on official academic documents such as drop/add forms, petitions, letters of permission, “Incomplete” contracts, or any other official University document is a violation of the honesty policy.

6. Yes. Always make sure you understand the extent of collaboration your instructor allows, as exceeding what is permitted is a violation. If you are not sure, ask your instructor for clarification.

7. No. You will appear before three faculty members and one to two student representatives and hear the charge against you. You will tell the hearing board your side of the story and answer questions from hearing board members. The board will base its decision of responsibility or exoneration on whether it is more likely than not (i.e., based on a preponderance of evidence) that academic misconduct has occurred.

8. No. The only exception is when an instructor, after meeting with a student, determines that in fact, no violation occurred (in which case the matter can simply be dropped).

9. Yes. Ignorance of what constitutes academic dishonesty is not an excuse and will not be taken into account when determining the responsibility and penalty for your offence.

10. Yes. You are responsible for correctly citing all ideas, phrases, and passages taken from other authors wherever they occur in your work, even in drafts of your papers. Failure to do so is plagiarism, a violation of the Academic Honesty Policy.
    
    
11. No. You must always give credit for the ideas and statements of others, even if you are citing your own instructor’s lectures. Failure to do so is plagiarism, a violation of the Academic Honesty Policy. 
    
    
12. No. Many students feel tempted to cheat in order to keep up their grade point average.