Academic Regulations & Procedures
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is demanded in a college community. The life of the mind requires precision in attribution and authorship of work.
It is assumed that a student is the author of all course work that they submit, and that all submitted work is completed in a manner ensuring that the core intellectual substance of the assignment is carried out by the student themselves. It is also assumed that any work submitted for credit by a student has not been submitted in another class without permission of the instructor(s). These presumptions apply for all course work (quizzes, problem sets, online contributions, tests, papers, presentations, lab work, etc.), whether submitted for a grade or not.
Students should follow the guidance provided by their instructor regarding what outside resources (e.g., collaboration with other students in the class, use of generative artificial intelligence or other technological tools, etc.) are permissible on any particular assignment. What outside resources are permitted may differ across classes or across assignments. What does not differ is the presumption that all permitted collaboration or use of external resources must still be acknowledged. Images, ideas, data, audio clips, or phrases borrowed from others should be fully identified by standard procedures for making such acknowledgment. It is recommended that all students consult the College’s Writing Across the Curriculum website for additional guidance on plagiarism and how to avoid plagiarism in their writing.
An act of academic dishonesty is a serious offense in a college community. By seeking credit for work that is not their own, a student takes unfair advantage of fellow students–who accept their limitations–and of their teachers–who trust their work. Dishonesty in academic work, particularly in the form of plagiarism, cheating, or prohibited collaboration, also defeats the process of self-discovery that is the heart of a liberal education. Persons establish their integrity and personality as they learn to distinguish what is significantly their own from what belongs to others, and as they learn to value their own work, including its limitations, in relation to the work of others. As a scholar, finally, one should be generous and welcoming in acknowledging the work of other scholars, for their work makes possible one’s own.
At Carleton College, an act of academic dishonesty is therefore regarded as conflicting with the work and purpose of the entire College and not merely as a private matter between the student and an instructor; all cases involving such dishonesty are referred for appropriate action to the Academic Standing Committee (ASC) via the Associate Dean of Students or the Associate Provost.
The privileges of dropping a course and taking the S/Cr/NC option are suspended for a student for any course in which suspicion of academic dishonesty on the part of the student is reported to the ASC. No course in which a student has been found responsible for a violation of the College’s academic honesty policies may be dropped or opted as S/Cr/NC. The privileges are restored, retroactively if need be, only if a finding of no responsibility is made by the ASC.
The Academic Standing Committee will determine whether or not the student is in fact responsible for violation of the academic honesty policy. When the student is found not responsible, the work is returned to the faculty member to be graded without bias or penalty. When the student is found responsible, a disciplinary sanction ranging from censure and warning to expulsion will be assigned. The ASC, in consultation with the faculty member(s), will determine grading penalties, up to and including failure in the course.
Last Revised: January 31, 2024
Last Reviewed: August 3, 2022
Maintained by: Office of the Provost
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