Academic Honor Code

North Carolina Central University is dedicated to instilling in its students the highest principles of integrity and responsibility. In this regard, students are expected to demonstrate respect for these principles in the performance of their academic activities. Academic dishonesty, which is a violation of academic integrity, will be dealt with according to the provisions of the Student Code of Academic Integrity.

Academic dishonesty is defined as any conduct that is intended by the student to obtain for him/herself or for others an unfair or false evaluation in connection with any examination or other work for academic credit. Cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, and complicity are examples of conduct that is academically dishonest.

Cheating is the unauthorized use of materials in connection with an examination or other work for academic credit, including, but not limited to (1) the use of books, notes, outlines, etc., during an examination where the instructor has not authorized use of such materials or information; (2) seeking unauthorized materials or information from others in connection with an examination; (3) giving or attempting to give unauthorized assistance to a person in connection with an examination; (4) obtaining or attempting to obtain unauthorized copies of examinations; (5) bringing to an examination, or attempting to use during an examination, unauthorized answers that have been prepared before the examination period; (6) copying or attempting to copy from the work of another student during an examination; and (7) submitting for evaluation work for which credit has been given previously.

Fabrication is the intentional invention, counterfeiting and/or alteration of quotations, data, procedures, experiments, sources or other information for which the student claims authorship in an exercise that he or she submits with the expectation of receiving academic credit.

Plagiarism is the intentional use of the ideas, words, or work of another without attribution, when the information they provide is not common knowledge, either in content or form. Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to, (1) quoting from the published or unpublished work of another without appropriate attribution; (2) paraphrasing or summarizing in one’s own work any portion of the published or unpublished materials of another without attribution; and (3) borrowing from another’s work information that is not in the domain of common knowledge.

Complicity is the intentional giving of assistance or the attempt to give assistance to another for the purpose of perpetrating academic dishonesty.

The penalty for academic dishonesty will be imposed by the instructor responsible for assigning the final grade in the course. The penalty will be assessed in relation to the gravity of the offense, the type of academic exercise on which the offense occurred, and the weight of that exercise in the computation of the final grade.

1. For an academic dishonesty act committed in an exercise counting for up to 10 percent of the final grade, the penalty will be the grade of F/Zero for the entire exercise or parts of it.

2. For an academic dishonesty act committed in an exercise counting for between 11 and 24 percent of the final grade, the penalty will be the grade of F/Zero or a reduced grade for the exercise.

3. For an academic dishonesty act committed in an exercise counting for 25 percent
   or more of the final grade, or for final examinations and papers, the penalty may be as severe as the grade of F for the course.

The penalties for refusing to respond or failing to respond within 48 hours to the formal charge of academic dishonesty will be an automatic F/Zero for the exercise in cases of category (1) or (2) above, and an automatic F/Zero for the course in cases of category (3). In addition, the charge of academic dishonesty will stand and will be recorded.

The dean of the school shall check the records of all students reported for academic dishonesty and refer all cases of second offenses to the Academic Integrity Board.

The penalty for a second act of academic dishonesty committed anytime before the offender’s graduation may be as severe as suspension or expulsion.

To maintain appropriate student records, NCCU follows the policy and procedures described below. They are designed to guide the university’s efforts in maintaining information about students’ academic performance at the university while treating it ethically and appropriately safeguarding student privacy.

"Deficiencies" refers to below standard performance in the academic program, which leads to an academic warning, to probation or to suspension. Anytime a student’s Grade Point Average (GPA) drops below a 2.0, the student is placed on academic probation. (Unsatisfactory earned grades, violation of the undergraduate class attendance policy, and withdrawal from large numbers of courses resulting in a deficiency in earned credit hours may contribute to academic performance deficiencies.)