Guilford College

1. When a Guilford College faculty member, student, or staff member observes or learns of a violation of the honor code as defined in the Student Handbook, he or she shall report this observation or discovery to the instructor of the course in which the alleged violation has supposedly occurred.
2. The instructor shall, by College e-mail or otherwise, endeavor to contact the student who allegedly violated the honor code to ascertain whether the student admits or does not admit responsibility for an honor code violation. At any time during the initial meeting or discussion between the student and an instructor or administrator, the student may request that the meeting be suspended for up to one week so that he or she may invite another Guilford College student or employee to this meeting to serve as his or her advocate for any or all subsequent meetings. The instructor or administrator may invite a Guilford College employee to any or all meetings. If the instructor becomes aware of an alleged honor code violation after the last day of classes for that semester, after making an effort to reach the student by telephone or email, the instructor may proceed without conducting an initial meeting or discussion with the student, if the student fails to respond within two days before grades for the class and/or for that particular student are due.
3. If the instructor considers the alleged violation to be an academic honor code violation, the instructor must report and describe the incident in full to the Associate Academic Dean, regardless of whether the student admits responsibility.
4. If the student admits responsibility for an academic honor code violation, the Associate Academic Dean shall take the steps outlined in paragraph 6 below.
5. If the student does not admit responsibility for an academic honor code violation, the Associate Academic Dean shall conduct an investigation to obtain the necessary information from the instructor, the student, and others to determine whether the student has committed an academic honor code violation. If the Associate Academic Dean concludes that he or she has a conflict or should otherwise remove himself or herself from the matter, the Associate Academic Dean shall transfer the matter to the Academic Dean, who shall, in turn, appoint a hearing panel to proceed as described in paragraph 7(c) below. If the Associate Academic Dean does transfer the matter to the Academic Dean, or if the Associate Academic Dean concludes after investigating that no violation occurred, he or she shall notify both the student and the instructor in writing by College e-mail or campus mail.
6. If the Associate Academic Dean concludes that an Honor Code violation has occurred, either because the student has admitted to responsibility or because the Associate Academic Dean has so concluded after investigation, the following steps apply:
   1. The Associate Academic Dean shall check the student’s record for any prior violations of the honor code.
   2. If the student has no record of a previous honor code violation, the Associate Academic Dean will consult with the instructor and ordinarily impose one of the three standard sanctions (see Standard Sanctions section below), or a more serious sanction if one is stipulated in the course syllabus.
   3. If the student does have a record of one or more honor code violations, the Associate Academic Dean must impose at least the standard sanction based on the number of prior violations (see Standard Sanctions section below).
   4. In all cases, the Associate Academic Dean enters an honor code violation in the student’s academic record.
   5. The Associate Academic Dean reports this outcome in writing, by College email or campus mail, to both the student and the instructor.
7. The student may appeal a decision by the Associate Academic Dean that finds him or her to have committed an honor code violation. If the student chooses to appeal the decision, he or she has ten (10) business days from the delivery date of this decision to submit such an appeal, in writing, to the Academic Dean:
   1. On the basis of the Associate Academic Dean’s written decision and the student’s written appeal, the Academic Dean will decide, in his or her sole discretion, whether the appeal has sufficient merit to proceed to a hearing panel. Typically, sufficient merit to proceed to a hearing panel would require new, relevant information obtained after the decision by the Associate Academic Dean or some procedural error so substantial that it interfered with the student’s right to a fair decision.
   2. If the Academic Dean, in his or her sole discretion, does not conclude that the appeal has sufficient merit to proceed to a hearing, then the case is closed and the decision of the Associate Academic Dean will remain in effect and will be followed.
   3. If the Academic Dean, in his or her sole discretion, concludes that the appeal has sufficient merit to proceed to a hearing, or if the Academic Dean has assumed responsibility for the case due to the Associate Academic Dean’s stepping aside under paragraph 5 above, then the Academic Dean shall convene a hearing panel of three faculty (appointed pursuant to faculty governance procedure) and three students (appointed pursuant to student governance procedure). This panel shall investigate the case and collect evidence, including any statements, to determine whether the student I responsible for an academic honor code violation. Once it has made its determination, the panel shall report its conclusion to the Academic Dean I writing. A copy of this report shall be available to the student and the instructor upon request.
   4. The Academic Dean shall make the final determination, after considering the Associate Academic Dean’s report (if any), the transcript from and evidence presented in the panel’s hearing, and the panel’s final report. Because the decision of the Academic Dean is final, no appeal may follow his or her decision.
   5. If the Academic Dean finds the student responsible for an academic honor code violation, the Academic Dean shall affirm the decision of the Associate Academic Dean or, in cases where the Associate Academic Dean has stepped aside, shall impose a sanction under the procedure outlined in paragraph 6 above.
   6. The Academic Dean shall inform the student in writing of his or her decision, by College email or campus mail, and send a copy of this notice to the instructor, chair of the hearing panel, and Associate Academic Dean, who will update the student’s record to reflect this decision and sanction.
   7. If the Academic Dean finds the student not responsible, he or she will inform the student in writing and send a copy of this letter to the instructor, chair of the hearing panel, and the Associate Academic Dean, who will update the student’s record by deleting from it all references to this alleged violation.
8. As an exception to the foregoing rules, certain instances of plagiarism may be addressed under their own procedures, as follows:
   1. Specifically, in a case of plagiarism where an instructor concludes (a) that the violation was due to the student’s genuine incomplete understanding of standard acknowledgment practice or of what constitutes plagiarism and (b) that the student has accepted an appropriate level of responsibility for the plagiarism based on the circumstances involved, the instructor may choose to report, but is not required to report, to the Associate Academic Dean that an honor code caution is appropriate.
   2. Upon receiving such a report, the Associate Academic Dean, in consultation with the instructor, shall conclude whether to issue an honor code caution.
   3. The Associate Academic Dean shall maintain an updated list of such cautions, including a description of the type of each incident. Entries in this list will not be considered part of a student’s permanent academic record. However, if a student is alleged to have committed a violation of the honor code that is the same as or similar to a previously reported academic honor code caution, this subsequent offense will be treated as an academic honor code violation with no possibility of resulting in a caution. The Associate Academic Dean will determine whether an alleged violation will be considered the same as or similar to one that previously resulted in a caution. The Associate Academic Dean’s determination will be final and may not be appealed.
   4. In cases of plagiarism, the instructor should offer to work with the student to address the relevant honor code issues in an educational fashion, and will grade the student’s work as the instructor considers appropriate and as is consistent with the course syllabus.

Instances of plagiarism that the instructor concludes are not the result of the student’s genuine incomplete understanding of standard acknowledgment practice or of what constitutes plagiarism, or instances of plagiarism for which the student does not accept an appropriate level of responsibility based on the circumstances involved, shall be handled as all other alleged violations of the honor code, and the provisions of paragraphs 1-7 above shall control.

Standard Sanctions

First offense: F or zero on the assignment
Second offense: F in the course
Third offense: F in the course and Suspension or Dismissal from Guilford College

NOTE: Instructors may direct specific, even if more severe, penalties for academic honor code violations in any particular course that he or she is teaching. Such penalties should be specified in the course syllabus or in some other written form of communication from the instructor to the students in that course.