NOTE: This edition published September 1996 ICS Undergraduate Student Affairs Office

The general policies on academic misconduct as outlined in the UCI Academic Senate Policies on Academic Dishonesty apply within the Department. These policies suffice for much of our work, including examinations and written assignments. However, they do not deal explicitly with course work involving computers; thus the policies must be extended to cover those cases. The specific text of UCI's policies may be found in both the UCI General Catalogue and the quarterly Schedule of Classes; this text is also published electronically. Students may also pick up a copy of the brochure entitled "Academic Dishonesty: Responsibilities, Definitions and Procedures" in the UCI Dean of Students' office.

Definition of Cheating

The decision as to whether a student cheated depends on the intent of an assignment, the ground rules specified by the instructor, and the behavior of the student. Two guidelines help an instructor decide if cheating has occurred:

• Program plagiarism will be suspected if an assignment that calls for independent development and implementation of a program results in two or more solutions so similar that one can be converted to another by a mechanical transformation.
• Cheating will be suspected if a student who was to complete an assignment independently cannot explain both the intricacies of his or her solution and the techniques used to generate that solution.

It is unreasonable to expect a complete definition of cheating; each case is important enough to be given careful, individual scrutiny. It is, however, helpful to have guidelines and precedents. Here are some examples of cases which are clearly cheating and clearly not cheating.

Cheating

• Turning in someone else's work as your own (with or without his or her knowledge). Turning in a completely duplicated assignment is a flagrant offense, but even copying only a portion of the assignment and turning it in as your own is considered cheating.
• Allowing someone else to turn in your work as his or her own.
• Several people writing one program and turning in multiple copies, all represented (implicitly or explicitly) as individual work.
• Using any part of someone else's work without the proper acknowledgment.
• Stealing an examination or a solution from the instructor. This is an extremely flagrant offense.

Not Cheating

• Turning in work done alone with the help of the course's staff.
• Submission of one assignment for a group of students if group work is explicitly permitted (or required).
• Getting or giving help on how to operate the computer or terminal.
• Getting or giving help on how to eliminate minor syntax errors.
• High-level discussion of course material for better understanding.
• Discussion of assignments to understand what is being asked for.

Penalties

The procedures that are followed and the sanctions that may be imposed for an incident of academic dishonesty are outlined in the UCI Academic Senate Policies on Academic Dishonesty. The specific text of UCI's policies may be found in both the UCI General Catalogue and the quarterly Schedule of Classes; this text is also published electronically. Students may also pick up a copy of the brochure entitled "Academic Dishonesty: Responsibilities, Definitions and Procedures" in the UCI Dean of Students'office.

Students should be aware that an incident of academic dishonesty may be sufficient to cause dismissal from the ICS major, denial of a petition to change majors into ICS, or denial of admission into the ICS Honors Program.

Students should also be aware that a recorded incident of academic dishonesty will disqualify them for consideration for honors at graduation.

In the event that an instructor accuses a student of academic dishonesty and imposes a penalty, the student may prepare a statement giving hislher side of the case for inclusion in the student's file.

NOTE: Disciplinary procedures and sanctions will be consistent with those in the UCI implementation of "Interim Policies and Procedures Applying to Campus Activities, Organizations, and Students, Part A."

ICS125 WQ00
David F. Redmiles ­ Home Page
Department of Information and Computer Science
University of California, Irvine CA 92717-3425