Policy on Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the use of any outside source in work submitted for evaluation and grading without proper acknowledgement. Presenting other people’s ideas, information or very words as one’s own, whether intentionally or unintentionally is considered plagiarism. Unintentional plagiarism occurs when someone else’s ideas, information, and words find their way into a student’s writing without proper acknowledgement due to unfamiliarity with academic conventions or due to lack of care in note taking, summarizing or referencing. Intentional plagiarism is presenting someone else’s work as one’s own in order to avoid the hard work of thinking, analyzing and writing on one’s own, or in order to achieve a higher grade. Whether intentional or unintentional – plagiarism is considered a serious academic offense in academic writing because it robs other writers of credit for their work. The faculty member who discovers plagiarism has the authority to confront the student and to determine the academic consequences within the course in question, up to and including the assignment of a failing grade. A repeated plagiarism offense by the same student must be reported to the Academic Dean for appropriate action which could range from grade penalty to expulsion.