Academic Integrity Policy

Ref. No.	Executive sponsor	Policy steward	Approval authority	First approved	Last reviewed	Effective date	Next review
31.01	Vice President, Academic and Equity	Director, Enrolment & Registrar	Executive Council	Sept. 13, 2017		Oct. 1, 2017	Aug. 2019

Purpose
1. To outline the principles that support academic integrity, to describe the College’s expectations of conduct related to academic integrity, and to define sanctions for academic misconduct.
2. Academic Integrity is an important pillar of teaching and learning. Conducting ones-self with academic integrity is a key part of the educational process for students at NSCC. High standards of academic integrity are integral to ensuring that NSCC graduates are of the highest possible quality and, thus, to safeguarding NSCC’s reputation as a quality learning institution.
3. College members’ responsibilities extend to being aware of and complying with the principles of academic integrity, identifying academic misconduct which breaches the policy and responding appropriately with a view to providing any necessary education and/or imposing any appropriate sanctions.

Scope

Academic integrity is an important aspect of academic education, scholarship and achievement. It requires that members of the College community be meticulously honest in all activities relating to their academic activities at NSCC. Conduct falling short of this standard may amount to academic misconduct and be subject to sanctions under this policy.
This policy applies to NSCC students and employees, as defined below.

Definitions

Term	Definition
Academic Integrity	All applicants, students, and employees will conduct themselves in an honest and trustworthy manner in all aspects of their relationship with NSCC.
Academic Dishonestly	An intentional, reckless, careless, or improper act for the purpose of obtaining, for oneself, or a third party, academic advantage, credential, admission, or credit by deception or fraudulent means. It can include, but is not limited to “cheating”.
Academic Misconduct	A breach of the Academic Integrity Policy.
College Community	Includes all current NSCC employees (regardless of status); current students (full-time, part-time, online and apprenticeship, etc.); any individual or stakeholder in a contractual relationship with NSCC; and College committees, councils, or associations.
Employee	An individual who is currently employed with NSCC to perform work for the College. This includes all employees, regardless of status, as well as current employees who are on a leave of absence (paid/unpaid).
Evaluation and Assessment	The measurement assigned to any teaching and learning activity in which the student is required to engage as part of the course of study. Examples include, but are not limited to quizzes, tests, exams, assignments and projects.
Plagiarism	Presenting, in any format, someone else’s ideas, presentations, writing, artistic work, or creations, whether verbal, print, structural, design or electronic, in whole or in part, as one’s own, by failing to credit the source. Plagiarism can be intentional or occur through carelessness.
Student	A person who is registered and attending or undertaking a course of study at NSCC. This includes students who are full-time, part-time, online and apprenticeship, etc.

Policy
1. NSCC is committed to academic integrity in teaching, learning, research and all other activities involving its students and employees and requires that all students and employees avoid all forms academic dishonesty and plagiarism and conduct themselves in an honest and trustworthy manner in all aspects of their relationship with NSCC.
2. It is the responsibility of all students and employees to be aware of and comply with the College’s standards of academic integrity. Engaging in any form of academic dishonesty or plagiarism is an offence under this policy and will not be tolerated by the College.
3. NSCC and its employees will take reasonable steps to communicate to students the College’s standards of academic integrity.
4. Every reasonable step will be taken to discover breaches of the standards of academic Integrity.
5. All suspected breaches of this policy will be investigated in accordance with the procedures supporting this policy.
6. Where a breach of this policy is established, sanctions will be imposed progressively, depending on the nature of the incident and any past infractions of the policy. Some of the possible sanctions include, but are not limited to the following:
  1. A mark of zero for the evaluation and/or assessment
  2. A requirement that the student perform an additional evaluation and/or assessment relating to academic integrity
  3. A requirement that the student resubmit the evaluation and/or assessment and/or submit other additional work
  4. A mark of zero for the course
  5. Non-admittance to the College
  6. Suspension from the College (refer to student Code of Conduct Policy)
  7. Dismissal from the College (refer to student Code of Conduct Policy)
  8. A temporary or permanent ban from applying for admission to the College
7. Students have the right to appeal if they disagree with a finding that there has been a breach or with the sanction imposed. The grounds for an appeal are limited to those set out in the Student Appeals Policy.

Policy Supports

Policies & Procedures

31.02 Academic Integrity Procedures (login required)
Academic Misconduct Report Form
Academic Misconduct Decision Form
21.01 Admissions Policy
42.11 Conflict of Interest Policy
42.01 Employee Code of Conduct
74.01 Intellectual Property Policy
12.11 Research Ethics Board Policy
12.21 Research Integrity Policy
42.31 Safe Disclosure Policy
32.01 Student Appeals Policy
33.01 Student Community Standards Policy
71.01 Use of Copyright Materials Policy

Policy Supports

Faculty Collective Agreement 2011-2014
Operational Support Collective Agreement 2012-2015
Professional Support Collective Agreement 2011-2014