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Academic Code of Conduct

The Academic Dishonesty policy has changed effective Fall 2011. It is now called the Academic Code of Conduct.

Overview and Introduction
RISD seeks to help its students realize their fullest intellectual, artistic, and personal potential through a distinctive combination of studio and liberal arts courses. The College values the creative process and freedom of expression. The College also honors its responsibility to protect the values and standards of an academic community.

The College recognizes the need for risk-taking and experimentation in a challenging art, design, and liberal arts education. Moreover, the long history of appropriation, subversion, and other means of challenging convention in the arts may, at times, complicate attempts to definitively codify forms of acknowledgement/attribution. That said, forms of experimentation that do challenge these boundaries must at all times adhere to the fundamental value underlying academic conduct at RISD: honesty in the creation and presentation of one’s work as well as in one’s relations to others and their work.

Academic writing must follow conventions of documentation and citation. Others’ ideas—whether quoted directly or paraphrased, whether taken from a book, website, or lecture—must be clearly attributed both to provide a record of the writer’s research and to avoid plagiarism, or presenting another’s ideas as one’s own. Liberal Arts faculty will often explicitly address documentation expectations, including preferred styles, in class.

In the studio culture the conventions governing the use and reference to others’ work are less clearly defined than in academic writing. These conventions are often defined by particular disciplinary histories and practices and are best addressed in the context of the particular studio experience.

Given the wide variety of disciplinary histories, conventions, traditions, and practices applicable to liberal arts and studio activities, the individual faculty member defines, within reason, what constitutes academic misconduct within the context of a given course.

Forms of Academic Misconduct
Academic misconduct compromises the academic integrity of the College and subverts the educational process. Primary, but not exclusive, kinds of such misconduct are:

Cheating
The use of unauthorized information, study aids or other materials, or unauthorized communication with, or copying from another student on papers, projects, tests, or other academic work. It is the responsibility of students to consult with their faculty concerning what materials and types of collaboration are permissible.

Plagiarism
The passing off of someone else’s ideas, writing, or work as one’s own is plagiarism. Appropriate methods and forms of attribution vary by discipline. Some courses will include instruction in appropriate conventions for citation and attribution within the field. Students are advised to seek out relevant guidelines on their own (the RISD Writing Center offers resources and guidance), to ask faculty when in doubt about standards, and to recognize that they are ultimately responsible for proper citation.

Falsification and Fabrication
The attribution of information or material included in one’s work to a false or fabricated source, or the falsification or fabrication of the information or materials themselves. Unauthorized Reuse The submission of substantially the same work to satisfy requirements for one course that has previously been submitted in satisfaction of the requirements for another course or that was created for another purpose, without permission of the faculty of the course for which the work is being submitted. Students are expected to create new work in specific response to each assignment, unless expressly authorized to do otherwise.

Unfair Academic Advantage
The theft, destruction, or defacement of, or other interference with, the work of other students for the purpose of gaining academic advantage; the engagement in other activities that place other students at an academic disadvantage, such as theft, concealment, or alteration of needed resources or other materials; or other manipulation of the academic system in one’s favor.

Noncompliance with Course Rules
The violation of specific course rules set forth in a syllabus or otherwise provided to the student.

Reporting Suspected Academic Misconduct Cases
The following procedures are intended to provide guidance to faculty on handling and reporting cases of suspected academic misconduct and to inform students on the procedure for adjudicating charges of academic misconduct.

Procedure
If academic misconduct is suspected, the faculty member should first speak with the student to help determine whether the suspicion is warranted. If so, faculty are encouraged to consult the Office of Student Affairs to determine whether the student has a record of similar misconduct and/or to confer with their Department Head and Dean for advisement or clarification of the following three options.

1. Teachable Moment
   If a faculty member suspects that a student has engaged in academic misconduct, in addition to discussing the matter with the student, the faculty member may elect to require the student to redo the assignment correctly, in accordance with academic standards, or reduce the grade on the assignment. If the assignment grade is lowered to a ‘D’ or higher, and if the faculty feels no further punitive action is necessary, the incident will be considered a “teachable moment.” The grade appeal process is available to provide the student with due process should he/she feel the faculty’s grading was unfair.
   
    
2. Grade of ‘F’ for Assignment and/or Grade of ‘F’ for Class
   If after discussing the matter with the student a faculty member decides to give the student a failing grade for the assignment or course because of academic misconduct, a note of concern should be sent to the student with a copy to the Dean of Students, the student’s Department Head, and Division Dean. A note of concern is an informal admonition that both makes the student aware of academic standards and serves as notice that any future academic misconduct could lead to further review, and the imposition of more serious sanctions by the Disciplinary Committee. This note will be kept on file in Student Affairs, the school-wide repository for all misconduct records from all departments. If the student should wish to challenge the sanction, the Disciplinary Committee will convene to hear the appeal. Otherwise the Disciplinary Committee is not involved in level “B” procedures.
   
   Student Affairs has the right to consult with the faculty member regarding their current note of concern, and disclose whether or not there are past notes of concern filed for that student. For students who have past notes of concern filed, Student Affairs, along with the faculty member involved with the current incident, proceed to Step C and initiate formal disciplinary procedures.
   
    
3. Disciplinary Committee Hearing 
   A student may be called before the Disciplinary Committee in the following situations:

• A faculty member believes he/she has committed an act of academic misconduct that merits severe disciplinary action beyond a failing grade for the assignment or course such as suspension or expulsion.
• A faculty member wishes to have the Disciplinary Committee review the case and make a determination that a violation of the Academic Code occurred as well as provide the appropriate sanction if the student is found responsible.

Disciplinary Committee Procedures
Following is a general summary of hearing procedure, details of which can be found under Disciplinary Code and Procedures in the Student Handbook of Rhode Island School of Design.

The Office of Student Affairs will notify the Disciplinary Committee and the student and faculty member(s) involved as to the time and place of the hearing.

The Disciplinary Committee is comprised of one staff member of the College administration appointed by the Dean of Students, two faculty members, and two alternates elected at large by the Faculty Meeting for a two-year term, and one upper-class student recommended by the Student Alliance and appointed by the Dean of Students. The Committee will review all materials and supporting documentation before the hearing.

• The Disciplinary Committee convenes as quickly as possible, typically within a week.
• Faculty describes misconduct and provides documentation
• As needed, additional consultants or specialists may be called to the hearing.
• After hearing the student’s explanation of his/her conduct in question, the Committee decides whether the student is or is not in violation of academic misconduct if that is in dispute, and, if determined to be in violation, the appropriate educational or punitive sanctions. The Disciplinary Committee may assign a wide range of educational or punitive sanctions including but not limited to: placing a student on warning or probation; suspending a student for a period of time; expelling a student; or failing a student for the course or assignment.
• Student Affairs takes the responsibility to inform all relevant parties, including Deans (i.e. Division Dean of the Department where the alleged Academic Code of Conduct violation occurred and the student’s Division Dean), Department Heads (student’s Department Head and Department Head of where the alleged Academic Code of Conduct violation occurred), and the faculty member(s) involved, regarding the progress of the case and the outcome of the Academic Code of Conduct procedures.

The official disciplinary file resides with the Office of Student Affairs.