Academic Integrity

Administrative Procedure 4.407

Definition: Calculation of Time Periods

For the purposes of this policy, the term “days” will refer to any day the college is open (e.g. Monday through Friday, or Monday through Thursday during the summer, not counting observed holidays or campus closures). The Vice President of Teaching, Learning, and Student Development may extend timelines under certain circumstances (e.g. when faculty are not available for consultation).

Statement on Academic Integrity

Elgin Community College is committed to providing a learning environment that values truth, honesty, and accountability. Academic integrity means being honest and responsible regarding any work submitted as one’s own while in a college course. Acts of academic dishonesty include cheating, plagiarism, fabrication, complicity, submitting the same work in multiple courses, misconduct in research, and/or submitting any work as your own which you did not generate (i.e. generated by artificial intelligence or another human) without faculty authorization to do so.

The purpose of academic assignments is to help students learn. The grade a student receives in a course should reflect that student’s efforts. It also indicates how well they have met the learning outcomes of the course. To demonstrate that learning, the work done must always be their own (unless otherwise authorized by their faculty) and if students consult others’ work or outside resources (including artificial intelligence programs), those consulted sources must be properly cited. Students who engage in academic dishonesty may be subject to sanctions imposed by their faculty, up to and including course failure, as well as any sanctions imposed by the Dean of Students or the Student Disciplinary Committee, as applicable.

For guidance on how to maintain academic integrity, students should consult with their faculty, review the Plagiarism Modules available on the main menu on the D2L homepage (under the Student Support tab) or visit the Renner Library Tutorials for “Writing Your Paper/Avoiding Plagiarism” on the Library website.  Students may also seek assistance from Librarians as well as the Write Place faculty.

To help demonstrate authentic student work or to support claims about a submission's academic integrity in situations in which unauthorized artificial intelligence usage is suspected, students are encouraged to engage in the following practices: 

  • Contact faculty early in the writing or assignment completion process to pose questions or to discuss challenges that you are experiencing in completing an assignment. Also consider consulting with the ECC Tutoring Center, The Write Place, or a Librarian. 
  • Save and retain progressive drafts of assignments as they are being developed. This helps demonstrate the writing or thought process and the evolution of ideas over time.
  • When possible and appropriate for the assignment, include personal perspectives and experiences.
  • Be prepared to discuss and explain your assignment completion process and choices made while working on the assignment. 
  • Participate in any drafting and peer review opportunities within the class, which can demonstrate a student is fully engaging with the learning process and is interested in learning to become a better writer or more fully understand course material. 
  • Any citations or references should be accurate, relevant, and readily located. Discuss appropriate attribution with your faculty. 

Acts of Academic Dishonesty

The definitions below provide an overview of common forms of academic dishonesty. This is not an exhaustive list and does not limit the college from determining that other behaviors qualify as acts of academic dishonesty.

  • Cheating is the unauthorized use of outside assistance on coursework or exams. Cheating includes the use of notes, study aids, or other devices that are not expressly allowed by the faculty for the completion of an assignment or an exam. In addition, cheating occurs when a student copies another individual's work or ideas.
  • Plagiarism is the presentation of wording, content or ideas not original to the student without proper acknowledgment and includes the unauthorized use of generative artificial intelligence. 
  • Fabrication is the making up, falsifying or counterfeiting of research or data.
  • Complicity occurs when a student provides assistance in any act that violates the academic integrity policy, including providing or making their coursework available to another student.
  • Multiple Submission occurs when a student submits the same (or largely unaltered) work in multiple courses without faculty approval. Multiple submission does not include coursework in linked courses (in which faculty develop assignments together), nor does it include situations in which a student has received faculty approval to expand or develop previous work.
  • Misconduct in Research occurs when a student violates professional guidelines or standards in research, including College standards and the Student Code of Conduct Administrative Procedure 4.402.

Faculty Initiated Sanctions

If faculty determine that a student has violated the Academic Integrity Policy, the faculty shall decide the appropriate sanction(s) for the violation within the class.

Faculty have the discretion to use the offense as a "teachable moment," which may include a verbal warning, the opportunity to re-do an assignment, and/or referral to the "Writing with Integrity" workshop offered through the Write Place, in response to issues related to minor violations, missed or partial citations, incorrect formatting, etc. In these instances, the faculty does not need to notify the Dean of Students Office.  

If, however, the faculty chooses one of the sanctions listed below as a direct consequence of the academic dishonesty, the faculty shall document the violation with the Dean of Students Office using the Academic Integrity Violation reporting tool. This enables the Dean of Students Office to monitor for multiple offenses across classes and semesters, in addition to ensuring students their due process rights. 

Upon receipt of the Academic Integrity Violation report submitted by the faculty, the Dean of Students Office will provide all relevant information to the Academic Dean and the Registrar, for their records. Faculty are strongly encouraged to discuss any violation with the student prior to submitting an Academic Integrity Violation report to the Dean of Students Office. 

Faculty Sanction Options include any one or a combination of the following:

  • Reduced grade on the assignment
  • Failing grade on the assignment
  • Reduced final grade in the course
  • Failing grade in the course

Students are informed of their right to appeal the violation in communication sent to them by the Dean of Students Office. The student who wishes to appeal must submit an appeal within ten (10) days of being formally notified via their ECC student email of the violation charge by the Dean of Students Office. Should the student choose to appeal the violation charge (see section IV below), the student must be allowed to continue actively participating in the class while the appeal is in progress, as long as the student remains in compliance with the College’s Student Code of Conduct Administrative Procedure 4.402.

All students who receive an Academic Integrity Violation charge will be required to meet with the Dean of Students or that individual's designee. The student will be notified of the meeting details through their ECC student email. The Dean of Students or designee has discretion to impose additional sanctions in addition to those imposed by the faculty. Possible conditions or sanctions to be imposed by the Dean of Students Office may include but are not limited to:

  • Completion of the “Writing with Integrity” course through the Write Place
  • A restorative justice opportunity
  • An educational opportunity
  • Disciplinary warning or probation
  • Suspension (for multiple or repeated or serious offenses)
  • Expulsion (for multiple or repeated or serious offenses)

Students may be restricted from future course registration and unable to obtain official ECC transcripts until they have met all meeting/sanction requirements. 

Right to Appeal

A student charged with a violation of the Academic Integrity policy may appeal the violation charge, but not the sanction. If the violation appeal is supported, the sanction would change accordingly. A student who appeals the charge should notify the Dean of Students Office of their intention to appeal as soon as possible and should continue active participation in the course while the appeal is under review. The steps outlined below shall be followed. All dates will extend from the date of notification of the Academic Integrity Violation charge sent to the student via email from the Dean of Students Office.

Appeal Process:

Step 1: Division Review

The purpose of this step is to allow for an independent review of the student’s appeal:

  1. To formally appeal the Academic Integrity Violation charge, the student must submit a written statement via their ECC student email with supporting documentation (e.g., relevant syllabus sections, drafts of written work or other evidence of progressive assignment development over time, relevant emails, research notations, etc.) to the appropriate Academic Dean (or designee of the Dean) for review within ten (10) days of receiving the Academic Integrity Violation charge notification from the Dean of Students Office.
  2. Within five (5) days of receiving the appeal, the Dean will review the documentation and confer with the faculty member, if available, to determine if the appeal has merit.
  3. If the Dean determines the appeal has merit, the Dean will work with the faculty member, if available, and the student, in an effort to resolve the dispute in a manner that is agreeable to both the faculty member and student. If such a solution is determined, the Dean and faculty member, if available, will work together to implement the change in sanction.
  4. If the Dean denies the appeal, the student will be notified of the decision and rationale via their ECC email. The faculty member will be copied on this email.
  5. If either the student or faculty member is dissatisfied with the Dean’s decision, either party may submit an appeal via their ECC email to the Vice President of Teaching, Learning, & Student Development within five (5) days of the Dean decision notification. The appeal must include all necessary supporting documentation.
Step 2: Vice President/Committee Review

The purpose of this step is to provide due process for students and faculty:

  1. Within five (5) days of receiving the written appeal the Vice President of Teaching, Learning, & Student Development will review the charge, documentation, Dean’s recommendation, and the written appeal submitted by the faculty or student in reference to the Dean’s decision, and determine if the appeal has merit.
  2. If the appeal is denied by the Vice President, the student, faculty, and Dean shall be notified within five (5) days of that decision, and the matter shall be at an end.
  3. If the Vice President determines that the appeal has merit or believes that additional review would be helpful in the decision-making process, within five (5) days of receiving that written appeal, the Vice President will notify the Elgin Community College Faculty Association the (ECCFA) of the need to appoint and convene an Academic Integrity Appeal Advisory Committee (“Committee”). The Vice President, in consultation with the ECCFA, is responsible for ensuring that those designated to serve are not directly involved with the concern nor have any other conflict of interest. The Committee will be comprised of the president of the student government or that person’s designee and three faculty members from three different academic disciplines, including one from the course discipline or closely related field and two from outside of the course discipline.
  4. The ECCFA will consult with the Vice President and will select these members within ten (10) days of receipt of the request. If for any reason the ECCFA is unable to do so, the Vice President will appoint the Committee members by the end of the ten (10) days. The faculty members will elect the chair of the Committee. The Vice President will provide the Committee with the available and relevant appeal documentation to date.
  5. The Committee will hold a formal hearing (or multiple hearings, if necessary as determined by the Committee) at which the student and the faculty member will be invited to address the Committee and provide additional context to the documentation provided. Hearings shall not include both the faculty and student together, and the Committee will try to avoid the two parties interacting as the participate in the hearing process. The student must be advised of their right to be accompanied by an advisor (who may not participate in the hearings directly and may only serve as an advisor to the student). The faculty member may also bring an advisor (who may not participate in the hearings directly and may only serve as an advisor to the faculty member). This is not a legal matter, therefore legal counsel is not permitted to attend the hearing(s). The Committee shall make every effort to schedule and conduct the hearing(s) in a reasonable timeframe. All Committee hearings shall be confidential, with information discussed only with individuals involved with the case, as is relevant and necessary. The Committee shall review the evidence and make a written recommendation to the Vice President within three (3) days of the last hearing. The recommendation will include a determination regarding whether the student is or is not responsible for the academic integrity violation as described in the initial violation report, based upon the preponderance of evidence standard. If the Commitee determines the student to be not responsible for the academic integrity violation, the recommendation will include, to the extent possible and applicable, a remedy for how to amend the final grade. The Vice President may accept or modify the Committee’s recommendations and may determine additional sanctions or responses, as deemed necessary. The Vice President will notify the faculty member, the student, the appropriate Academic Dean, the Dean of Students, and the chair of the Committee of their decision within five (5) days of receiving the Committee’s recommendation.
  6. If the Academic Integrity Appeal is upheld (i.e. it is determined that the student was not in violation of the Academic Integrity Policy), the faculty member, if available, will be given the opportunity by the Vice President to change the student’s final grade, as applicable. If the appeal has been upheld and the faculty member refuses to change the final grade, the Vice President will change the grade administratively, as applicable. If needed, the final course grade may be recalculated based on the course syllabus.

This policy was last reviewed on 04/18/2025.

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