Student Handbook
Academic Misconduct (pp. 15–16)
“Arkansas State University promotes academic integrity and professional ethics among all members of the A‐State academic community. Violations of this policy are considered as serious misconduct and may result in severe penalties, up to and including expulsion from Arkansas State University. A student deemed to have engaged in academic misconduct may not avoid academic sanctions by withdrawing from a class, a program, or the University. Students that participate in organizations such as Honors College or Athletics program(s) are subject to dismissal from those programs in addition to the penalties set forth below. The respective program(s) will be notified of any offense. Colleges and Departments may add to these prohibitions and standards applicable to all students in order to enforce academic integrity and professional ethics to meet their special needs for a specific degree program.
For the purposes of these definitions, an assignment includes any task assigned as a course requirement or program requirement. Assignments include but are not limited to papers, projects, homework, and exams.
A. Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the act of taking, using, and/or presenting the idea(s), work(s), and/or writing(s) of another person or entity (e.g., artificial intelligence) as one's own. Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to:
1) Submitting as one’s own any theme, paper, report, computer program, presentation, creative work, or scholarly work of any nature belonging to, or written or created by another, including artificial intelligence, without prior permission of the instructor and proper citations.
a) To avoid plagiarism, give written credit and acknowledgment to the source of thoughts, ideas, and/or words, whether you have used direct quotation, paraphrasing, or just a reference to a general idea.
b) If you directly quote works written by another person(s) or entity (e.g., artificial intelligence), enclose the quotation with quotation marks and provide an appropriate citation (e.g., footnote, endnote, bibliographical reference).
c) Research for an assignment, as well as the complete assignment, must be the work of the person seeking academic credit for the course. Permission of the instructor to use prior work completed for another course or assignment must be obtained in advance.
B. Cheating/Unapproved Collaboration
Cheating is an act of dishonesty with the intent of obtaining and/or using information in a fraudulent or unauthorized manner. Examples of cheating include, but are not limited to:
1) Observing and/or copying from another student's assignment.
2) Giving or receiving assistance during an examination period. This includes providing specific answers to subsequent examinees and/or dispensing or receiving information that would allow the student to have an unfair advantage in the examination over students who did not possess such information.
3) Using class notes, outlines, and/or other unauthorized information during an examination.
4) Using, buying, selling, stealing, transporting, or soliciting, in part or in whole, the contents of an assignment when such action is not authorized by the instructor of the class.
5) Using for credit in a subsequent class an assignment written for credit in a previous class without the knowledge and permission of the instructor of the subsequent class. This includes when a student is repeating a course for credit.
6) Impersonating or attempting to impersonate another person, or permitting or requesting another person to impersonate you for the purpose of taking an examination or completing other assignments.
8) Altering grades or official records.
9) Falsifying or signing another person’s name on any academically‐related University form or document. 10) Sabotaging or interfering with the academic progress of others. 11) Submitting altered, fraudulent, or falsified data, course, degree program requirements, including but not limited to honor’s thesis; doctoral dissertation; qualifying exam; dissertation defense, and University records/forms.”
Student Academic Grievance Procedure (pg. 19)
“Under certain circumstances, Arkansas State University students have the right to grieve alleged violations of their academic rights. A grievance is a complaint alleging that one or more of the "academic rights of students" (as stated in the Student Handbook on page 14) have been violated. For cases of academic misconduct, refer to the Academic Misconduct section of this handbook.”
Student Rights Grievance Procedure (pg. 19–20)
“Step 1: Since the faculty has the primary responsibility for course development, course delivery, the assessment of student achievement, and the sanction for academic misconduct, any student who has a complaint related to an academic issue should first consult with the course instructor within ten (10) working days of the incident and try to resolve the complaint. If the grievance involves a faculty member who is no longer employed at the university, or with whom the student does not feel comfortable approaching the student should move to step two of this process. If the complaint is resolved, the grievance process ends.
Step 2: If the complaint is not resolved in step one, and if the student wishes to pursue the complaint further, the student shall consult with the department chair/unit supervisor within fifteen (15) working days of the academic incident. The appropriate chair/unit supervisor shall consult informally with the student and the individual against whom the complaint has been made to attempt to resolve the complaint. The chair/unit supervisor shall notify the student and the individual against whom the complaint has been made in writing of the resolution or lack thereof within ten (10) working days of the student's first consultation with the chair/unit supervisor. If the complaint is resolved, the grievance process ends.
Step 3: If the complaint is not resolved in step two, and if the student wishes to pursue the complaint further, the student shall file a formal written complaint with the department chair/supervisor within thirty-five (35) working days from the academic incident. The written complaint must specify the academic right(s) the student alleges has (have) been violated and must include: a) Date and details of the alleged violation; b) Any available evidence of the alleged violation; c) Names, addresses, and phone numbers of witnesses to the violation; d) The requested remedy to the alleged violation. The chair/unit supervisor shall investigate the complaint using whatever processes are appropriate including, but not being limited to, written responses from or interviews with faculty members, other students, and other parties. The chair/unit supervisor shall notify the student and the individual against whom the complaint has been filed in writing of the chair/unit supervisor's finding and recommendation within ten (10) working days of receipt of the written complaint. If both parties in the complaint accept the recommendation, they will sign a statement to that effect and the grievance process ends. The chair/unit supervisor shall retain the written records of the process for five calendar years. Upon request, the chair/unit supervisor shall provide either or both parties with copies of all information gathered during the investigation.
Step 4: If the complaint is not resolved in step three, either party may request that the dean appoint a college hearing committee. The request for a college hearing committee review must be made in writing to the dean within ten (10) working days of completion of the process listed in step three.
A-State Online Students and those residing Out-of-State Students, including A-State Online students and those residing Out-of-State, must follow Arkansas State University's published grievance policy. If any student must report an unresolved grievance, the student may complete the student complaint form for the Arkansas Department of Higher Education (ADHE) found at: https://adhe.edu/students-parents/student-grievance-form. Resolution by ADHE are final.
Students must submit a written grievance to ADHE using the form. The grievant must also provide written documentation from Arkansas State University verifying that the A-State appeal process has been followed.
Grievances regarding student grades or conduct violations are governed entirely by institutional policy and Arkansas law and will not be considered by ADHE.”
For the most current information, consult the online Source Material at Student Handbook