Student Handbook 2012-13

Academic Honesty

A foundation of mutual trust is essential to the learning community. That trust is broken when the standards of right and wrong that all students and faculty are expected to uphold are violated.

Academic dishonesty is a serious breach of trust within the LeTourneau University community because it violates the regard for truth essential to genuine learning and Christian consistency. From a broader perspective, it hurts all students and their peers who try to do their work with integrity. Therefore, it cannot be tolerated by the University. Given the serious nature of academic dishonesty, a student experiencing particular difficulties in a course is encouraged to discuss the problem with the instructor rather than succumb to the pressure to commit academic dishonesty.

Academic dishonesty is not qualitatively different from other types of dishonesty. It consists of misrepresentation in an attempt to deceive. In an academic setting, this may take any number of forms such as: 

• Copying or using unauthorized aids in tests, examinations or laboratory reports. 
• Plagiarism- the submission of work created by someone else as if it were one's own or the presentation of the work of someone else without acknowledging the source. 
• Use of files, tests, problems, or lab reports from previous classes other than allowed by the faculty member. 
• Looking at an examination paper or answer sheet of another student. * Obtaining, before or during the administration of a test, unauthorized information regarding the test. 
• Possessing or distributing a test or other assignment material before or during its administration. 
• Cooperating or aiding in any of the above.

It is the responsibility of the faculty member to determine an appropriate response to any form of academic dishonesty.

The response may range from failure of the course to a grade reduction on the given assignment. It is the choice and responsibility of the instructor to decide whether minor or major requirements of the course are involved and to initiate the proper action to be taken.

The following guidelines may be followed by the faculty if academic dishonesty is discovered: 

• First Offense: The student will be given a zero or "F" on the test, exam, course paper, or class assignment. The instructor shall notify the Dean of Students and the student in writing and make a written record of the incident with a copy sent to the Academic Advisor. 
• Second Offense (in the same or another course): The student will be given an "F" in the course. The student may be dismissed from the University, as recommended by the Dean of Students and/or the Student Judicial Review Committee.

 Faculty members are encouraged to remind students in their classes of this written statement of policies and procedures developed by the University regarding cheating on examinations, plagiarism, collusion, use of files, and other academic-related misconduct. Faculty members are encouraged to include this policy in their syllabi.