The Honor Code - Academic Integrity

For more information, please review the official policy on the College of Charleston website at https://charleston.edu/policy/.

The Honor Code of the College of Charleston specifically forbids:

1. Lying: knowingly furnishing false information, orally or in writing, including but not limited to deceit or efforts to deceive relating to academic work, to information legitimately sought by an official or employee of the College, and to testimony before individuals authorized to inquire or investigate conduct; lying also includes the fraudulent use of identification cards and fabrication of data, endnotes, footnotes and other information related to academic work.
2. Cheating: the actual giving or receiving of unauthorized, dishonest assistance that might give one student an unfair advantage over another in the performance of any assigned, graded academic work, inside or outside of the classroom, and by any means whatsoever, including but not limited to fraud, duress, deception, theft, talking, making signs, gestures, copying, electronic messaging, photography, unauthorized reuse of previously graded work, unauthorized dual submission, unauthorized collaboration and unauthorized use or possession of study aids, memoranda, books, data, or other information, including the use of generative artificial intelligence (GAI) tools when not authorized by the instructor(s). The term cheating includes engaging in any behavior related to graded academic work specifically prohibited by an instructor in the course syllabus or class discussion.
3. Attempted cheating: a willful act designed to accomplish cheating, but falling short of that goal.
4. Stealing: the unauthorized taking or appropriating of property from the College or from another member of the college community. Note also that stealing includes unauthorized copying of and unauthorized access to computer software.
5. Attempted stealing: a willful act designed to accomplish stealing, but falling short of that goal.
6. Plagiarism:
   1. The verbatim repetition, without acknowledgement, of the writings of another author. All significant phrases, clauses, or passages, taken directly from source material must be enclosed in quotation marks and acknowledged in the text itself and/or in footnotes/endnotes.
   2. Borrowing without acknowledging the source.
   3. Paraphrasing the thoughts of another writer without acknowledgement.
   4. Allowing any other person or organization (including Generative AI) to prepare work which one then submits as his/her own.
7. Sanctions for Violations of the Honor Code:XXF - Transcript Notation (See Section XXF below for full description.)
   1. The grade of XXF means failure due to academic dishonesty. If a student is found responsible for an act of “serious” academic dishonesty, the Registrar’s Office will insert the XXF grade for that course after notice from the Dean of Students. The XXF remains on the student’s official transcript for a minimum of 2 years. After 2 years, the student can petition the Honor Board for removal of the XX. The F grade will remain on the transcript.
      • Instructors, with assistance from the Dean of Students if requested, will assess whether the behavior of the student falls into one of three classes:Penalties: XXF and either suspension or expulsion assigned if student found responsible by Honor Board.

        • Class 1 - act involves significant premeditation; conspiracy and/or intent to deceive, e.g., purchasing a research paper.
          Penalties: XXF and either suspension or expulsion assigned if student found responsible by Honor Board.

        • Class 2 - act involves deliberate failure to comply with assignment directions, some conspiracy and/or intent to deceive, e.g., use of the Internet when prohibited, some fabricated endnotes or data, copying several answers from another student’s test.
          Penalties: XXF and other sanctions assigned if student found responsible by Honor Board.

        • Class 3 - act mostly due to ignorance, confusion and/or poor communication between instructor and class, e.g., unintentional violation of the class rules on collaboration or the rules of citation.
          Penalties: The instructor sets the penalty and discusses it with the student. Both the instructor and student sign a form. The form is forwarded to the Dean of Students. See “Class 3 Report Form” on the Office of the Dean of Students’s Hub site.

   2. Other penalties for violations of the Honor Code range up to and include expulsion from the College. Other penalties may be combined with the XXF. Attempted cheating, attempted stealing, and the knowing possession of stolen property shall be subject to the same punishment as the other offenses. Because the potential penalties for an Honor Code violation are extremely serious, all students should be thoroughly familiar with the above definitions and be guided by them.