Huntington Junior College works to ensure that its classes are of the highest academic standards. Consequently, the college has a firm policy against academic dishonesty, including cheating or plagiarism. Students guilty of academic dishonesty will be administratively dropped from the course with a grade of ‘F’ and subject to disciplinary action, which may include suspension and dismissal. Whenever students doubt what to do, they must check with the instructor before doing it.
Cheating
The following would be considered examples of cheating in the online environment:
- Giving or receiving any information during testing or graded work from another student, family member, or individual
- Sharing the contents of any test or quiz, including lending or borrowing from past tests or quizzes with another student
- Using notes, internet, books, or any other form of information to look up answers on a test or quiz
- Taking a test/quiz for another student
- Working with another student in the class to complete an assignment or quiz unless expressly permitted by the instructor (i.e., You do this part of the assignment, I’ll do the other part, and we will share our work.)
If a student turns in one paper for two classes without gaining consent from both instructors, it is considered an act of cheating (i.e., receiving double credit for a single assignment). The student will receive an F for both classes and possibly be suspended or dismissed from school.
Plagiarism
According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, to "plagiarize" means:
- to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own
- to use (another's production) without crediting the source
- to commit literary theft
- to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source
In other words, plagiarism is an act of fraud. It involves both stealing someone else's work and lying about it afterward. Students must use APA citing guidelines to give credit to the source.
Use of Artificial Intelligence platforms to complete assignments, tests, quizzes, or other assessments.
At HJC, assignments, tests, and all other graded student activities serve two purposes. The first is that assignments are used to measure whether the student has acquired the knowledge and skills required to pass the course. The second is that many assignments are a part of the learning process, and it is in performing these activities that the student acquires the knowledge and skills they will need. In either case, if a student uses an Artificial Intelligence Platform to complete assignments instead of producing their own original work it will be considered as an act of academic misconduct since the intent will be to defraud the institution’s efforts to accurately measure student learning outcomes in accordance with the Department of Education regulations
A.I platforms include ChatGPT, Bard, BingAI, and any other generative tool, regardless of name. Please know that there are ways to check if this type of cheating is taking place and HJC will treat it in the same manner as other forms of academic misconduct (See the HJC Catalog in the Academic Honestly Policy section for details).
To help clarify this policy, below are several example uses of A.I. that are considered proper and improper. This list is certainly not all inclusive and is presented here to provide some guidance.
Acceptable A.I use examples:
- Research sources and bibliography
- Suggested topic outline (if the outline itself is not a graded assessment)
- Refinement of grammar and writing style (only if not a graded part of the assignment)
Unacceptable A.I use examples:
- Composing or writing drafts for written assignments including online discussions
- Producing answers on quizzes, tests, or other assessments
- Using AI to rewrite plagiarized material
Things to be aware of:
- If you are ever unsure about the use of A.I. in an assignment, ask your instructor
- Do not assume A.I. responses are correct. Generated results are often fake.
- If for any reason A.I. produced material does make it into a final draft of your assignment, please properly cite it
Copyright Infringement
In today’s high-tech environment, students must understand the implications of electronic copyright infringement, especially peer-to-peer file sharing. Peer-to-peer programs are generally used to find and download various media files.
Copyright infringement occurs when material/property is used without authorization from the owner. Downloading, uploading, or sharing copyrighted material without permission is illegal. The most common offenses include downloading movies from an unauthorized source and sharing music peer-to-peer (P2P). These actions are considered a form of theft of the copyrighted work of a director, producer, or artist.
According to the Higher Education Opportunity Act, Huntington Junior College MUST take action against such activities when we receive a notice of violation for electronic copyright infringement.
Huntington Junior College reserves the right to remove or block access to any copyrighted materials and/or temporarily restrict access to the campus network pending the outcome of an investigation of an alleged copyright infringement violation. Huntington Junior College will inform the account holder of any action taken to maintain compliance with federal and state copyright infringement laws.
Violations of copyright infringement laws may result in a formal criminal charge of a breach of law, court case proceedings, and fines up to $150,000 per work/property misappropriated. If a student is found to violate the copyright laws utilizing any computer at Huntington Junior College, the student will be dismissed.
Furthermore, Huntington Junior College computers and internet service are for educational purposes only. Therefore, students should not be using the system for any personal business. If the college finds a student is utilizing the system for reasons other than educational, the college reserves the right to suspend all student access to the computer labs except under instructional supervision.
Copyright Policy
As an institution of higher education, Huntington Junior College strongly believes in intellectual property. As such, Huntington Junior College respects intellectual property and has made it a priority to ensure all employees and students respect the copyrights of others. All Huntington Junior College employees and students must comply with copyright law. Copyright infringement through inappropriate copying or distribution of copyrighted content is a personal and a company liability and will result in disciplinary action, including dismissal from the school. Huntington Junior College’s copyright policy does not allow for the application of “fair use.” Please ensure you have permission from the author before using ANY copyrighted material.
Copyright Clearance Center obtained the following information regarding copyrights. For more information, please visit www.copyright.com or the College's Copyright Policy page.