Academic Integrity
Students at Front Range Community College are expected to behave as responsible members of the college community and to be ethical in their academic work. FRCC strives to provide students with the knowledge, skills, judgment and critical thinking necessary to function in society. To falsify or fabricate the results of one's research; to present the words, ideas, data, or work of another as one's own; or to cheat on an examination corrupts the essential process of higher education and is a disservice to the student and to the college community.
Guidelines for academic integrity: Students assume full responsibility for the content and integrity of the coursework they submit. The following guidelines are to assist students in observing academic integrity:
- Students must do their own work and submit only their own work on examinations, reports and projects, unless otherwise permitted by the instructor.
- Students are encouraged to contact their instructor about appropriate citation guidelines.
- Students may benefit from working in groups. However, students must not collaborate or cooperate with others on graded assignments, examinations, or other academic exercises unless clearly directed to do so by the instructor.
- Students must follow all written and/or verbal instructions given by instructors or designated college representatives prior to taking examinations, placement assessments, tests, quizzes and evaluations.
- Students are responsible for adhering to course requirements as specified by the instructor in the course syllabus.
FRCC treats all violations of academic integrity seriously. Faculty, departments, and deans act in partnership to develop appropriate responses to incidents of academic dishonesty. The purpose of this partnership is to serve the best interests of students enrolled at the college.
Violations of academic integrity include but are not limited to: plagiarism, misuse of academic materials, unauthorized collaboration, falsification of information, helping someone else violate reasonable standards for academic behavior, and cheating.
Plagiarism is the adoption or reproduction of ideas, words, or statements of another person as one's own without proper citation or acknowledgment. When a student submits work that they claim to be their original work, but actually is not, the student has committed plagiarism. Plagiarism includes the following: copying of one person's work by another and claiming it as his or her own; false presentation of one's self as the author or creator of a work; falsely taking credit for another person's unique method of treatment or expression; falsely representing one's self as the source of ideas or expression; or the presentation of someone else's language, ideas, or works without giving that person due credit.
The misuse of academic materials includes, but is not limited to, the following: stealing or destroying library or reference materials or computer programs; stealing or destroying another student's notes or materials, or having such materials in one's possession without the owner's permission; receiving assistance in locating or using sources of information in an assignment when such assistance has been forbidden by the instructor; illegitimate possession, distribution, or use of examinations or answer keys to examinations; unauthorized alteration, forgery, or falsification of academic records; and unauthorized sale or purchase of examinations, answer keys, papers, or assignments.
Cheating includes intentionally using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information, or study aids in any forms of work submitted for credit or hours; multiple submissions of the same assignment to different classes without prior authorization; altering or interfering with grading; lying to improve a grade; altering graded work; unauthorized removal of tests from classroom or office; forging signatures on academic documents; intentional and unauthorized falsification of any information or citation in academic work; and intentionally or knowingly helping or attempting to help another to violate any part of the code of academic integrity.
If an instructor or faculty member suspects or has accused a student of academic dishonesty (according to but not limited by the definitions above), he or she will inform the student and submit a report and any appropriate documentation to the Dean of Student Affairs. Individual members of the faculty will determine the appropriate academic consequence in the class, which may extend from a warning up to and including failure of the course. Individual departments may establish by agreement rules requiring specific academic sanctions. As academic misconduct is also a violation of the student conduct code, the Dean of Student Affairs may determine appropriate institutional consequences up to and including dismissal from the college, following the processes and sanctions outlined in the college's disciplinary procedures. Students have a right to appeal final grades and disciplinary sanctions based on the college's appeals policies. For more information visit www.frontrange.edu/conduct