Students’ Responsibilities and Rights

In meeting the standards for admission to the College of Charleston and choosing to enroll, students are subject to all college regulations. The academic and non-academic policies outlined by the College are intended to promote honorable citizenship that encourage a thriving living and learning environment sensitive to the rights of others and the achievement of knowledge. Our expectations neither advocate the surrender of basic constitutional rights nor dilute those rights but strengthen and complement the rights of each individual enrolled.

By coming to the College of Charleston, students accept the responsibility to adhere to its regulations and codes. It is in the spirit of good citizenship and community stewardship that specific rights and responsibilities are detailed in the Student Handbook: A Guide to Honorable Conduct. The handbook is available at the Student Affairs website (https://deanofstudents.cofc.edu/honor-system/systemhandbook/). It is the responsibility of all students to become familiar with the academic and conduct regulations that govern eligibility to continue at the College. Examples include:

• Academic Integrity and the Honor Code
• Student Code of Conduct
• Alcohol and Drug Abuse Policies
• College of Charleston English Fluency Policy
• Peer to Peer File Sharing Policy
• Student Grievance and Complaint Procedure
• Student Sexual Misconduct Policy
• Non-Discrimination and Sexual Harassment Policy

Course Registration Agreement Regarding Usage of Turnitin.com

By registering for a course students grant permission to the College of Charleston to submit any assignment for textual similarity review to Turnitin.com for the detection of plagiarism.  A textual similarity review is conducted if a faculty member, at the faculty member’s discretion, wishes to assess whether a student assignment or assignments may be inconsistent with the terms of the College of Charleston’s Honor System and/or Student Code of Conduct. All submitted work will be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com reference database solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism. Use of the Turnitin.com service is subject to the Usage Policy posted on the Turnitin.com site.

FERPA: Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), as amended, is a Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. In accordance with regulations issued under FERPA, the College of Charleston provides an annual notification to our enrolled students of their rights (to: inspect, review, and amend the student’s education record; consent to disclosures of personally identifiable information contained in the student’s education records; opt-out from the release of information designated as directory information by the College; and file a complaint with the US Department of Education) under FERPA; as well as an explanation of the exceptions under FERPA that allows the College to disclose information from the student’s education record without consent.

For more information, please contact the Office of the Registrar at 843.953.5668 or visit http://registrar.cofc.edu/ferpa/index.php.

College Requirement for Student Contact Information

All College of Charleston students are required to provide the College accurate and timely information regarding their local and permanent addresses, local and permanent phone numbers, and emergency contact information. Students are required to update their Current Contact Information prior to course registration each semester.  

The Current Contact Information page can be found in MyPortal:

• Login to MyPortal (http://myportal.cofc.edu)
• Click on the Personal Information tile

The following information is required:

• Local/Mailing address: Your local/mailing address is where you live and receive mail while attending the College of Charleston.  This needs to be a physical address and not a PO Box. The phone number used locally is also required. Mail Services assigns College addresses to on-campus students only. This address cannot be updated through MyPortal.
• Permanent address: The address which a student considers home (where you normally reside when not attending the College of Charleston). The College will mail official communications to the permanent address, so the student will need to be able to  receive mail at this address on a timely basis. Often this is the parent/guardian’s address. A phone number is also required.
• Emergency contacts should include the person(s) that the College should contact on the student’s behalf in the event of an emergency. Name, address, phone, and relationship are required. More than one emergency contact may be listed.
• Students under the age of 21 (who are not legally emancipated) are also required to provide and update parent/guardian addresses and phone numbers. This can be done as one Parent/Guardian address and Phone number or as Parent and Parent 2. This information is entered under Update Phones and Update Addresses as a type of phone and a type of address.

Failure to keep this contact information updated may result in a student’s inability to access course registration in MyPortal to add, drop or withdraw from classes, and other benefits.

Upon leaving the College, students are expected to update their permanent address.  College-issued email accounts are deactivated one year after a student separates from the College of Charleston.

College of Charleston English Fluency Policy*

Under the provisions of the 1991 English Fluency in Higher Education Act, the South Carolina Legislature has mandated that each public institution of higher learning establish a mechanism to “ensure that the instructional faculty whose second language is English possess adequate proficiency in both the written and spoken English language.” Additionally, the act requires that the institutions “provide students with a grievance procedure regarding an instructor who is not able to write or speak the English language.”

* Policies and procedures in their entirety may be found in the Student Handbook: A Guide to Honorable Conduct, accessible through the College’s website.