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Academic Integrity Policy
Diablo Valley College is committed to creating an environment where student achievement is championed and celebrated. Because the college values academic integrity as an essential component of academic excellence, students are expected to be truthful and ethical in their academic work. Commitment to academic integrity is the responsibility of every student and faculty member at Diablo Valley College.
Faculty and students come from a variety of backgrounds and cultures, giving rise to different understandings of moral and ethical behavior. Faculty should clearly state well-defined standards to reduce uncertainty and clarify expectations.
Academic dishonesty is defined as: an act of deception in which a student claims credit for the work or art of another person or uses unauthorized materials or fabricated information in any academic work. Academic dishonesty is a violation of the DVC Student Code of Conduct and will not be tolerated. Academic dishonesty diminishes the quality of scholarship at Diablo Valley College and hurts the majority of students who conduct themselves honestly.
Acts of academic dishonesty include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Cheating - unauthorized copying or collaboration on a test or assignment, or the use or attempted use of unauthorized materials;
- Tampering - altering or interfering with evaluation instruments and documents including transcripts;
- Fabrication - falsifying experimental data or results, inventing research or laboratory data or results for work not done, or falsely claiming sources not used; or falsifying participation in a class in any way;
- Plagiarism - representing someone else's words, ideas, artistry, or data as one's own, including copying another person's work (including published and unpublished material, and material from the Internet) without appropriate referencing, presenting someone else's opinions and theories as one's own, or working jointly on a project, then submitting it as one's own;
- Assisting - assisting another student in an act of academic dishonesty, such as taking a test or doing an assignment for someone else, changing someone's grades or academic records, or inappropriately distributing exams to other students.