Honor Code/Academic Integrity

Academic Integrity Policy

In addition to the university Honor Code Policies, Smead Aerospace has established the following policy on Academic Integrity:

The Ann and H.J Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences (AES) requires all students to adhere to a strict policy of academic integrity. These expectations are in accordance with the University of Colorado Boulder Honor Code, but this policy is intended to provide more specific guidelines for all undergraduate and graduate students in AES. Ethical behavior in college sets the stage for a lifetime of professional and ethical behavior that is expected of all engineering professionals. This policy describes the academic sanctions that will be imposed by AES faculty members. Faculty retain the right to set academic sanctions, and if they choose individual courses can deviate from the expectations stated below; these changes will be noted in the course syllabus. All incidents of academic misconduct will be reported to the Honor Code Council. Nonacademic sanctions are the purview of the Honor Code Council.

Any activity that could give you an unfair advantage over other students may be cheating. Specific examples of actions that are considered to be cheating and therefore violations of academic integrity:

• Plagiarizing a homework, lab report, software code, or problem set. On assignments that require you to use supplemental materials, you must properly document the sources of information that you used. If you are uncertain about allowable reference materials or how to document your sources, ask your instructor in advance. Specific examples of plagiarism include:
  • copying from a solution manual
  • copying from Internet sites
  • copying from previous semester’s homework set or lab report
  • copying directly from classmates
  • copying lab data that you yourself did not participate in collecting
• Plagiarizing content in a paper, report, thesis, or dissertation, by copying material from a published sources or the internet, without appropriate citation format and attribution
• Using unapproved information during a closed-book test or quiz (such as a reference sheet, information stored in a calculator, smartphone, information written on your skin)
• Copying from another student during a quiz, exam, or test
• Working in groups on web based quizzes, exams, or tests unless group work is authorized
• Working in groups on take-home quizzes, exams, or tests unless group work is authorized
• Asking another student about questions on an exam that you have not yet taken
• Changing the answer on your test/homework after it was graded and then telling the instructor that there was a grading mistake
• Allowing another student to copy your homework, lab report, software code, or allowing another student to look at your answers during a quiz or exam
• The list above is not exhaustive; other violations are possible

Any violation will be reported to the Honor Code Council. Any first violation of academic integrity on graded course activities (i.e. homework, lab reports, exams) will result in a minimum sanction of a zero score and an entry in your department file. Instructors can increase these penalties to assigning a failing grade (F) for the entire course. The department will retain a list of all instances of academic integrity violations. Additional sanctions will be imposed for subsequent violations.

Honor Code Violation Review Process

1. Faculty member suspects/observes an Honor Code violation
2. Faculty member contacts department ethics coordinator and collects relevant information
3. Faculty member and ethics coordinator determine if a violation may have occurred
   • Possible Outcomes:
     1. No Violation: Case Dropped
     2. Maybe: Faculty member and ethics coordinator determine intervention strategies
     3. Yes: Faculty member files an Accusation Form with the University Honor Code Office (HCO) which contacts the student regarding the accusation. (Faculty member may or may not choose to inform the student before filing the accusation with the HCO.)