Plagiarism

The definition of plagiarism is the practice of copying words, sentences or ideas for use in a written or oral assignment or examination without proper credit or attribution to the source.  It is a serious offense, because anyone who does the original work deserves credit for his or her efforts.  Plagiarizing not only denies the proper credit to the individual who did the work, but goes so far as to dishonestly usurp the material.

When it is determined by a teacher that an assignment is plagiarized, the student fails that assignment, which may result in failure for the quarter in some cases.  Students who provide their own materials to other students for the purpose of plagiarism may also be subject to disciplinary action.

If a student disagrees with the teacher’s findings, the decision can be appealed through a formal review committee consisting of the department chair, one of the deans and a faculty member.  This process will be explained to the student by the appropriate department chair.