Guidebook

Academic conduct

Reed College is a community of scholars. The fundamental ethical principle governing scholarship is that one should never claim or represent as one's own work that which is not one's own. The principle of proper academic conduct requires that all work submitted for academic purposes--including, but not limited to examinations, laboratory reports, essays, term papers, homework exercises, translations, and creative work--be the work of the person who submits it, and that, in the case of work based upon experiment and observation, the experimental results and observations be reported faithfully. The principle thus requires that no one claim authorship to the work of another and that no one falsify or misrepresent empirical data. This principle should be clear to every scholar, although determining its application in particular circumstances will require careful thought and guidance.

The principle of proper academic conduct also forbids such acts as giving or receiving aid during examinations, copying someone else's laboratory report or homework exercises, and misrepresenting the words or ideas of another as one's own in a written assignment. Cooperative inquiry and investigation is a respected form of scholarship; but even where such cooperation is encouraged or required, students must understand and follow the rules set down for such assignments by their instructors. Similarly, students must be sure that they understand the rules under which open book examinations are to be taken. If a paper is to be submitted for credit in more than one course, students must obtain the permission of each instructor concerned in advance. It is the responsibility of each student to adhere to the specific requirements for citing the work of another in their own written work. These examples are not meant to exhaust the scope of the principle of proper academic conduct, but to illustrate its extent and spirit.

If Reed is to be a serious and productive community of scholars, every student as well as every member of the Faculty must understand Reed's policy on proper academic conduct, abide by it, and support it. Under its charge in the Community Constitution, Article IV, Section 2, the Honor Council shall be responsible for educating all members of the community about the Honor Principle, the importance of proper academic conduct, and the college's policy and procedures for handling cases of academic misconduct. It is, however, ultimately the responsibility of each individual member of the community to be informed about the principles of proper academic conduct.

Academic misconduct is a breach of the principle of proper academic conduct and includes both intentional acts of misrepresenting another's work as one's own as well as unintentional acts that fail to conform to the rules of appropriate attribution and credit. Academic misconduct is a violation of Reed's Honor Principle in its most fundamental form and is contrary to the idea of scholarship.

Procedures for investigating and adjudicating incidents of academic misconduct are set forth in the Procedures for Dealing with Academic Misconduct.

Procedures for dealing with academic misconduct

Any member of the Reed community who observes or has knowledge of a violation of the Academic Conduct Policy may seek advice about the appropriate options from the Chair of the Honor Council, report the violation to the instructor, or initiate an honor case with the Student Judicial Board.

In all cases, it is the responsibility of the faculty member to determine the grade for the assignment and/or course in which the alleged violation of the Academic Conduct Policy took place. In the interests of equity, the instructor is encouraged to consult with the Chair of the Administration Committee and seek information about the academic penalties imposed by instructors in the past in similar situations.

If a faculty member believes that academic misconduct has occurred, equity requires that all cases, without exception and regardless of academic penalties, be pursued according to the procedures described in B.1 for possible disciplinary action.

These procedures are for dealing with academic misconduct by students only. The procedures for dealing with academic misconduct by faculty members are to be found in sections F, G, and H of the Rules of Procedure of the Constitution of the Faculty of Reed College.

1. Determination of facts

The facts of a case can be determined in one of two ways. The instructor will either communicate with the student(s) directly about the alleged misconduct or the instructor will file an honor case with the Student Judicial Board.

a. Communication with student

The instructor will contact the student(s) and present the evidence for academic misconduct. If the instructor and student(s) agree that academic misconduct has occurred, the instructor must fill out an Academic Misconduct Report describing the incident. Both the instructor and the student(s) will sign the report and forward it to the Office of Student Services (see 2. Disposition of Cases).

If the instructor and students cannot agree on the facts, they may (provided both parties are willing) seek formal mediation through the Honor Council. If mediation is rejected by either party or mediation fails to achieve agreement on the facts, the case must be referred to the Student Judicial Board (see 2. Disposition of Cases).

b. Referral to the Student Judicial Board

The instructor must fill out an Academic Misconduct Report describing the incident and forward it to the Student Judicial Board.

2. Disposition of cases

a. Agreement on Facts: Minor Misconduct

If the instructor and student agree that academic misconduct has occurred and the instructor believes that the misconduct is minor and a first-time offense, he/she need only fill out an Academic Misconduct Report signed by both instructor and student(s) and forward it to the Office of Student Services (see 1. Determination of Facts).

The report will be reviewed by a panel of three individuals: the Dean of Student Services, a faculty member of the Administration Committee and a member of the Student Judicial Board.

In order to preserve the anonymity of the student(s) during this process, the Dean of Student Services will be the only member of the panel with access to the name of the student(s).

If the panel determines by majority vote that the misconduct represents a first offense and is comparatively minor in nature, the Dean of Student Services will retain a confidential record of the decision and no further action shall be taken. No parties outside the Dean's office will have access to the record. The record will only be consulted if another accusation of academic misconduct is brought against the same student(s).

If the panel determines by majority vote that the action represents a repeat offense or is comparatively serious in nature, the matter will be referred to the Student Judicial Board who will determine the appropriate disciplinary action (see 3. Determination of Disciplinary Action).

In all cases, the panel's deliberations and decisions shall be kept confidential. The Dean will communicate the outcome of the panel's deliberations to the instructor and student(s).

b. Agreement on Facts: Serious Misconduct or Repeat Offense

If the instructor and student agree that academic misconduct has occurred and the instructor believes that the misconduct is serious he/she will fill out an Academic Misconduct Report (signed by both instructor and student) and forward it to the Student Judicial Board. The Student Judicial Board will recommend disciplinary sanctions to the president (Judicial Board Code, Section 7, B ii).

If the instructor forwards the case to the panel described in 2a, and the panel deems that the misconduct is serious or that the misconduct represents a repeat offense, the panel will forward the case to the Student Judicial Board. The Student Judicial Board will recommend disciplinary sanctions to the president (Judicial Board Code, Section 7, B ii).


c. No Agreement on Facts

If the facts for an alleged violation of the Academic Conduct Policy cannot be determined by agreement, the instructor must fill out an Academic Misconduct Report. The student(s) may choose to sign the report or to include a separate statement about the action. The case will be heard by the Student Judicial Board (see Judicial Board Code, Section 2, and Community Constitution, Article IV, Sections 5 and 6) to determine the facts and to determine any disciplinary action (see 3.a). In determining the facts the Student Judicial Board is instructed to rely on faculty witnesses from the relevant field(s) in which the incident occurred to provide expert testimony about what constitutes academic misconduct in that discipline. A summary report of the Judicial Board's determinations will be filed with the Office of Student Services and provided to the faculty member(s) and accused student(s) involved in the case.


3. Determination of Disciplinary Action

a. Disciplinary Action Recommendation by Student Judicial Board

If it is determined, either by agreement or as a result of hearing an Honor Case, that a violation of the Academic Conduct Policy has occurred, the Student Judicial Board will determine the appropriate disciplinary action if any, except in cases where the review panel has determined that the misconduct does not warrant disciplinary sanction.

In deciding upon a suitable action, the Student Judicial Board will consider both the severity of the offense and any information in the student's disciplinary file that pertains to academic misconduct. If the Student Judicial Board determines that the misconduct is a first offense and is comparatively minor in nature, they will forward a brief report to the Dean of Student Services to be placed in a confidential record and no further action shall be taken. If the Student Judicial Board determines that the misconduct is a repeat offense or is comparatively serious in nature, they will recommend disciplinary action to the President of the College subject to appeal to the Administration Committee (Judicial Board Code, Section 7, B ii).


b. Appeal and Review Process

1) Any person(s) lodging a complaint, or against whom a complaint has been made, has the right to appeal any final decision of the Student Judicial Board to the Administration Committee of the Faculty in accordance with the Faculty Code and the Reed College Community Constitution. Any appeal must be made in writing within ten working days of the notification of the Student Judicial Board's decision, and shall contain a statement of the grounds of appeal. The Committee may re-hear such portions of the evidence and testimony as it deems fit or call for new evidence and testimony.

2) After the appeal period has expired, all non-appealed recommendations of disciplinary action proposed by the Student Judicial Board in cases involving violations of the Academic Conduct Policy shall be reviewed by the faculty members of the Administration Committee who, after consultation with the Chair of the Student Judicial Board, may amend the judgments and recommended disciplinary action proposed by the Student Judicial Board (Community Constitution, Article IV, Section 6).
3) One final appeal may be made to the President of the College no later than ten working days after the decision on a previous appeal made to another body.


4. When the College is not in Session

When a case of academic misconduct requires adjudication or a recommendation of sanctions when the college is not in session and no member of the Student Judicial Board is available, the panel described in IV.B.2 will be comprised of the Dean of Student Services and two faculty members of the administration committee. If the case would normally proceed to the Student Judicial Board but a Judicial Board cannot be formed, the faculty members of the Administration Committee will hear the case, determine the facts, and if it is determined that a violation of the Academic Conduct Policy has occurred, recommend any disciplinary action to the President.


5. Recordkeeping

The Office of Student Services shall keep records of academic misconduct cases in a confidential disciplinary file separate from all other records pertaining to an accused party. The Dean of Student Services shall keep, maintain and protect such records.

In cases where the review panel or the judicial board believe that the appropriate remedy for the misconduct is education, and that the misconduct does not warrant disciplinary action, the record will not be released externally and will be retained only until the student leaves the College.

Records for cases that result in disciplinary action shall be maintained for the duration of the student's enrollment at the College, or longer if legally required, and shall be destroyed at the end of that period.